These Chocolate Monster Cookies have five kinds of chocolate and are such a fun Halloween food idea! An easy cookie recipe that is perfect for letting kids decorate with their preferred pattern of M&Ms and candy eyes.
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Halloween is almost here so I thought I’d share an easy cookie recipe that’s been a longtime favorite in our home: Quintuple Chocolate Monster Cookies! As one might imagine, these cookies are intensely chocolatey. There are five kinds of chocolate in these babies: cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate and M&M candies.
We make these anytime of the year, but on Halloween we like to add candy eyes and turn them into “monster cookies.” If you have littles at home they’ll love arranging the M&Ms and candy eyes into faces on each cookie. Do buy extra candy if kids are helping you though. I’ll never forget when my son was 5 and I told him to “get the M&Ms out of the bag” so we could add them to the cookie dough. 5 minutes later he was nowhere to be found and I discovered him in the back of the pantry shoveling M&Ms into his mouth as quickly as possible. He looked me straight in the eyes and said: “I’m getting the candy out of the bag!” Kids, amiright? Love them.
After baking, the cookies have a thin crust and a chewy center that pretty much does me in when it comes to eating “just one” (hasn’t happened).
Tips for Success
These chocolate monster cookies are simple to make, but the recipe does have a few particulars to keep in mind:
- The cookie dough is fudgy – that’s normal! After you’ve melted the solid chocolates together, then mixed in the cocoa powder and M&Ms, the dough will start to resemble a fudge that can be shaped and rolled. This is totally normal and due to the crazy amount of chocolate in this recipe.
- Use candy corn. I don’t often use candy corn because my family doesn’t like it, but if you do like candy corn they would be super cute noses or horns on these cookies.
- Don’t refrigerate the dough, but do let it rest. I usually don’t refrigerate the dough because then the chocolate will start to harden and the dough becomes difficult to scoop. However, when the chocolate is still warm the dough can also be tough to manage. The solution is to let the cookie dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This allows the chocolate to cool and solidify just a touch, which makes the dough hold its shape better.
- Gently press the cookie dough balls before baking. Don’t press them totally flat, that will make your cookies too thin. Just very gently give them a press so that the balls of cookie dough are slightly flattened before baking.
- Let the cookies cool. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. If you try to move them too soon they won’t hold their shape as well.
These Chocolate Monster Cookies have five kinds of chocolate and are such a fun Halloween food idea! An easy cookie recipe that is perfect for letting kids decorate with their preferred pattern of M&Ms and candy eyes.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 18-24 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4oz unsweetened chocolate
- 2oz bittersweet chocolate
- 10oz semisweet chocolate
- 1 cup M&Ms (you could also use semisweet chocolate chips), divided use
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup candy eyes (optional)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl, set aside.
Melt the chocolate. In a medium, microwave safe bowl, combine chopped unsweetened, bittersweet and semisweet chocolate. Microwave at 50% for 1 minute, then stir. Continue in 1 minute increments, stirring each time, until the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a small bowl whisk the eggs and vanilla together. Set aside.
Make the cookie dough. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar at medium speed until combined, about 45 seconds. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the egg mixture.
Mix until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the melted chocolate in a steady stream and mix until combined, about 40 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
With the mixer still running on low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. Fold in ¾ cup of M&Ms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.
Shape the cookies. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll into balls and space about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. (I was able to fit 6 balls onto a sheet.)
Decorate. Use the remaining ¼ cup of M&Ms to decorate the dough by gently pressing 2-3 candies on to the top of each ball. If you are using candy eyes for Halloween cookies add those into the dough as well. With the bottom of a glass or the palm of your hand, slightly press each cookie dough ball so that it is just a bit flattened. (Not by much, just a touch.)
Cover remaining dough with plastic wrap so that you can bake the cookies in batches.
Bake the cookies. Bake until the edges of the cookies have begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
Cool. Let cookies cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a rack with a spatula to finish cooling. The cookies will firm up during the cooling process.
Last Step:
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More Chocolate Dessert Ideas to Try
- Pumpkin Sweet Potato Brownies
- Chocolate Nutella Mug Cake
- Chocolate Mug Cake
- Chocolate Toffee Cookies with Toasted Pecans
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