It’s officially spooky times, so I’m putting out a whole week of fun Halloween-centric recipes over on Instagram. If you end up making any, tag them with #FBTGSpookySweets so I can see them/share! I kicked the fun off with Healthier Chocolate Dirt Cupcakes yesterday, which are a lighter take on a childhood classic, complete with Oreo ‘dirt’ and creepy crawly worms. At just 6 SP each, they are the perfect treat that won’t leave you feeling nearly as guilty as when you inevitably eat half a bag of Halloween candy (it’s cool, I do it too). For my next trick (well, treat)- Chocolate Peanut Butter Monster Cookies. These cookies are as tasty as they are cute, and my favorite thing about them is that they’re made without butter. Sound too good to be true?
No-butter cookies
The main reasoning for making a no-butter cookie is this: I rarely remember to take my butter out of the freezer, and then when it’s time to make cookies I end up shouting at a block of frozen butter. No fun. There are tricks for getting butter to room temp faster (such as filling a mug with boiling water so its super hot, dumping the water and putting the hot mug over the butter to soften it faster. You can also nuke it in the microwave in 10 second intervals, but if you melt it too much it can throw the texture off. Cookies are a dang science.
Lucky for you, this cookie recipe doesn’t require ANY prepping ahead, since it uses vegetable oil which is likely sitting in your pantry right this second. No thawing, no screaming at butter, just delicious cocoa cookies.
Making the cookies
Putting these together is super easy too. Combine your dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, and then mix it all together. The dough will be shaggy and oily, but should stick together when you form it into a ball. You can add 1/2 tsp more oil if needed, but mine came out well as is.
When you bake these, you’ll bake them most of the way, then press them down, and bake for another few minutes. This ensure they’re cooked through and spread like a regular cookie (the lack of butter means these generally don’t spread as much). The end result is a delicious, cakey cookie that’s full of cocoa and peanut butter flavor. I find that these are even better the next day as well, as they get softer with each day. Store them in an airtight container on your counter, or freeze the cookies or dough if you only want to make half.
More cookie inspo
Cookies are basically a food group in my house. If you’re looking for some other fun cookies to throw into your rotation, check out some of my other recipes:
- Gluten Free PB&J Thumbprint Cookies
- Pistachio Pudding Cookies
- Healthier Pumpkin Chocolate Drop Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter S’mores Cookies
- Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Cookie Sheet
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 Egg
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
- Sprinkles/candy eyes to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Stir until mixture clumps together into a dough (it will be oily)
- Add peanut butter chips and spooky sprinkles and combine
- Using wet hands, form into roughly 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet (I prefer a silicone baking mat)
- Press candy eyes, additional sprinkles and/or additional peanut butter chips onto the tops of the cookies
- Bake at 350 for 9 minutes (cookies will be very soft)
- Remove cookies from oven, press them down with the back of a spoon or spatula to flatten them a bit, return to oven for 2 minutes
- Let cool and enjoy!
- Store in airtight container (they get softer and taste even better the next day)
4 thoughts on “Chocolate Peanut Butter Monster Cookies”
These are adorable!! I love all the colorful sprinkles 😍
Thank you!!
Love love this!!
Surely going to make these!