A big cookie loaded with goodness from colourful candies, chocolate chips, rolled oats, and sunbutter (making these school-friendly). Being allergic to peanuts my whole life, I love finding ways to enjoy classic peanut butter-loaded treats, but without the allergen. Here's my chewy peanut-free monster cookies!
Healthy monster cookies
I've been making these FUN monster cookies and sending them to school with my oldest. He seems to love them. I keep them in the freezer so we don't eat them all, and so they stay fresh; then I take a frozen cookie and put it straight into his lunchbox. I have to say these are FAT cookies, and I can just barely close his lunch box with one cookie slanted inside in a smaller section of the bento-style box!
To be honest, I don't give my kids that much candy, and I for the most part stay away from dyes, but I'm okay with a fun treat here or there. It's a balance, right? I've made these cookies with less sugar, with seed butter as a protein, and increased fiber from rolled oats and whole-wheat flour, which all help balance blood sugar levels to prevent a big spike and crash in energy. Yep, I'm that healthy mom.
I'm a big believer in cookies for kids at snack time, BUT I'm not keen to feed them cookies that are straight sugar with refined grains. I am about healthy cookies like my whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies with added nutritious whole-food ingredients.
Ingredients needed
- Seedbutter: In a classic monster cookie recipe, it calls for peanut butter. To make these school-friendly, I use seed butter. I personally like to mix sunbutter and tahini to give a more peanut-like taste, but any runny seed butter works in these cookies!
- Chocolate chips: I'm a huge fan of mini chocolate chips in cookies, but use what you have! I like to use dark chocolate chips or semi sweet chocolate chips because I find milk chocolate chips too sweet in already sweet cookies!
M&M's and peanut-free considerations
To make these into iconic monster cookies, we need colorful chocolate candies! I wanted to note you can get M&M's that do not have peanuts in them. I personally, as someone seriously allergic to peanut butter have been able to eat them. In Canada, I buy these M&M's. I like the mini ones because they distribute better! Here's mini M&M's in the USA.
However, M&M's are usually made in the same facility as their peanut M&M's, so be mindful of that! If you are sending these to school with your child and making them peanut-free, be sure to use the M&M's that don't have peanuts.
If you are feeding these to kids with peanut allergies, I would recommend using chocolate smarties instead, as they are peanut-free.
How to make monster oatmeal cookies
Follow the photos from my kitchen to make your monster cookies. Scroll down to see the recipe card for exact ingredient details.
Place the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a stand mixer bowl, and mix together until creamy, 1-2 minutes.
To the bowl, add the seed butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add the rolled oats, flour, baking soda, sea salt, and continue to mix.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, add the chocolate chips and half of the colorful candies, and use a spatula to fold everything together.
Then I use a tablespoon to grab about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough, roll into balls, and place them on the cookie sheet. Dot them with a few more colorful candies!
Bake for 10 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit (175 C). When they come out of the oven, slam the pan down to release any pent-up air. Let them sit for 2 minutes to cool down to stop them from breaking before removing them, then let them cool fully on a cooling rack.
I created an eCookbook for prepping snacks! This was designed to set aside a block of time weekly or monthly to batch prep wholesome snacks. They are freezer-friendly recipes, with a clear plan (grocery list too!) to make the most of a two-hour time block!
Other peanut-free snacks
This blog is dedicated to healthy snack recipes that I make for my family! I use whole-food ingredients and try to make it simple, with not so many ingredients or too many steps.
My recipes are peanut-free because I am allergic to peanuts (however, I have many recipes with other types of nuts). If you are also allergic or looking for peanut-free snacks to send to school next, I suggest making oatmeal bliss balls!
🍪 Did you make my recipe for monster cookies? Would you take 30 seconds to give a star rating and review just below the recipe? That means a lot to me and helps the growth of Beside the Mountain healthy snack blog.
Monster Cookies without Peanut Butter
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ cup sunbutter and/or tahini (I like to use half and half)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup mini coloured chocolate candies ¼ of it to go on top
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Use a stand mixer to cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and honey until smooth and slightly fluffy. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and then add in the sunbutter (and/or tahini), egg, and vanilla until fully combined.
- Scrape down the sides again and add whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt into the cookie batter bowl, and mix until evenly mixed. Then fold in the chocolate chips and about half of the chocolate candies, saving the rest for later.
- Scoop about 1.5 tablespoons of dough to roll it into a cookie balls. Place them on baking sheet, spacing them a couple of inches apart. Then press a few of the saved colourful chocolate candies onto the tops. No need to press the dough down.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are set and lightly golden while the centers are still soft. When you bring the pan out of the oven, slam the pan down on the counter a few times to release any air from the cookies. Then let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Danika Vanderpyl, C.H.N
I create snack recipes with healthy ingredients that are mostly already in your kitchen. I'm certified in Holistic Nutrition and I care about giving my kids real food. Let me share my nutrient-dense easy snacks with you.
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