Monster Cookies

I'm getting ready to go on my annual neighborhood girls' weekend up north. We split up some food responsibilities and I'm responsible for lunch on the day that we spend hiking. Last year, we did about 15 miles and were short on food and water, so we're going more prepared this time. I made monster cookies and mmm...mmmm...are these good. I don't think I've ever made them before - how weird is that?  I will definitely make these again, hike or no hike.

I searched a while for a recipe that I liked, in writing. I only had one shot to make a good batch, so I took the best of the best recipes that I could find and made a couple of tweaks to them based on what I did or didn't like and what reviewers said they'd do differently. If you're curious, here are some of my changes...slightly less sugar, added baking powder and decreased baking soda, added more chips (nothing magical about my weird amounts - it's just what I had. One recipe suggested 3/4 cups of each), using a peanut butter based cookie instead of just an oatmeal one.

Maybe this is the kind of cookie you can't really mess up. I mean, give me a break, it's not brain surgery. But a good cookie is a good cookie is a good cookie.

So here's the recipe.

Monster Cookies

 3 eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1 teaspoon corn syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter

4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup M&Ms (I used dark)

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (If you don’t have three baking sheets, just be sure to cool the ones coming out of the oven before placing more cookie dough on them.)
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, both sugars, vanilla extract, corn syrup, baking soda and salt. Then stir in the melted butter and peanut butter, followed by the oats and flour. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips and M & M's.  Let the dough rest for 30 minutes (I refrigerated).
Drop the dough by ¼ cupfuls onto baking sheets. Use your fingers to flatten the dough slightly. Baking for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are a light golden brown. Cool on a rack and then store in an airtight container at room temperature. These freeze well too! Or, you can freeze the dough and bake them later.