Gluten-Free Monster Cookies

These gluten-free monster cookies are studded with chocolate chips, M&Ms, and loads of peanut butter for a treat everyone will love! No flour needed, these flourless cookies come together in about 30 minutes and they’re incredibly chewy.

I love how simple these are. Just cream the peanut butter and butter together, mix in the oats and candy, then bake. The hardest part is waiting for them to cool before eating them warm off the pan (which I never manage to do).

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• Flourless and easy. No gluten-free flour blend needed. These cookies use oats and peanut butter instead. Just make sure to use certified gluten-free or purity protocol oats.
• Loaded with mix-ins. Every bite has chocolate chips, M&Ms, and peanut butter.
• Perfect texture. Crispy edges with soft, chewy centers that stay fresh for days.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Creamy Peanut Butter – Use creamy peanut butter for best results. I use Skippy. Do not use natural peanut butter as it will make these cookies spread too much and a bit too oily.
• Gluten-Free Oats – Not all oats are considered gluten-free because they are often grown in fields that co-mingle with wheat. I used purity protocol oats, which have very strict standards and are grown in fields that have not grown gluten for a specific amount of years.
• M&Ms – Plain milk chocolate M&Ms don’t contain wheat and are considered safe for those with celiac disease, though Mars doesn’t officially label them gluten-free.

Use a kitchen scale for this recipe!

Measuring sticky ingredients like peanut butter and butter with cups is messy and inaccurate. Place your mixing bowl on a scale, tare it to zero, and add each ingredient by weight. No more scraping peanut butter out of measuring cups or guessing if you packed the brown sugar enough. Weighing is faster, more accurate, and means fewer dishes to wash. Once you start weighing ingredients, you’ll never go back to measuring cups.

Expert Tips

• Don’t overbake these cookies. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, then let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes where they’ll continue to set up.
• Use a 1.6 fl oz/3 tablespoon (#20 scoop) cookie scoop for consistent sizing. If you don’t have one, use a heaping 1/8 cup measuring cup to create dough balls about the same size. Consistent sizing means even baking.

Recipe FAQs

To make this recipe dairy-free, use vegan butter, dairy-free chocolate chips, and dairy-free chocolate candy pieces instead of M&Ms.

No, you don’t need to chill the dough. These cookies bake up perfectly straight from mixing. Since this recipe is flourless, there’s no gluten-free flour that needs time to hydrate. The combination of peanut butter and oats gives the dough enough structure to hold its shape without chilling. Just scoop and bake immediately.

Storage Instructions

Store monster cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They stay soft and chewy without refrigeration.

For longer storage, freeze baked cookies between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving, or eat them straight from the freezer for a firmer texture.

You can also freeze unbaked dough. Scoop the dough into balls, flash-freeze them on a baking sheet for an hour, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes to the bake time.

Serving Suggestions

These monster cookies are perfect with a cold glass of milk or scooped on top of vanilla ice cream for an indulgent sundae.

If you’re putting together a cookie platter, set out a variety for guests to choose from. My gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and gluten-free sugar cookies pair perfectly with these.

For more gluten-free peanut butter treats, try my gluten-free peanut butter cookies or flourless peanut butter blossoms for a classic combination.

More gluten-free cookies to try

• 

  Gluten-Free Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

• 

  The Best Gluten Free Christmas Cookies

• 

  Gluten-Free Cookie Cake

Did you make this recipe?

I’d love to know! Please rate it and leave a comment below. You can also share your pictures and tag @adashofmegnut on Instagram.