Birthday week treat #3: Peanut butter monster cookies

I have a confession: these weren't the cookies I set out to make for my birthday. 

I had originally wanted to make these S'mores cookies that I had found on Pinterest ages ago.  They even had these adorable mini marshmallows in them.  But when I sat down and started scrolling though my "Things I Want to Bake" board, I couldn't find the recipe anywhere.  It vanished off the page!  See, the reason for wanting to make the s'mores cookies was that I made s'mores cupcakes for my birthday last year (as well as Kit Kat cupcakes, but this isn't about those).  While not in love with s'mores any more than the next person, I decided that for some birthday week continuity, I would make some s'mores cookies this year.  But lack of a recipe meant I had to scrap that idea. 

So I started looking through my Pinterest board trying to find another cookie that I would want to make for my birthday week of treats.  I came across these Peanut Butter Monster cookies.  HUGE peanut butter cookies with peanut butter and chocolate chips, covered in Reese's Pieces.  Cookies + candy + chocolate chips are definitely birthday treats!  Happy Birthday to me!  (These cookies would also be good for Halloween because, well, Reese's closely resemble Halloween colors.)

 These are not for the faint of heart.....or peanut allergic!

Peanut Butter Monster Cookies
(I got 21 cookies.....BIG cookies)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Reese’s Pieces mini candies, 1 bag (They suggested two bags, since there weren't enough to coat all of the cookies with one bag - and I needed about 1/5 of an additional bag)

Directions:

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Set aside.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) cream together butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar (I used light brown sugar).
Beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add vanilla, and beat to combine.
Slowly add dry ingredients, and beat just until combined.
Don’t over beat at this stage.
Stir in oats, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.
Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes, meanwhile preheating oven to 350 degrees (F).

Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Pour Reese’s Pieces candies onto a plate or into a flat bowl.

Using a large cookie scoop (about 3 Tablespoons - I actually used an ice cream scooper, which I purchased specifically for these cookies!) drop cookie dough into the bowl of candies.
Gently use your hand to press the dough down into the candies and flatten the dough into a disc, then transfer to cookie sheet.
Bake, six at a time, for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to darken.

Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes.
*If you skip this step, the cookies might break when you transfer them to a cooling rack.*

Allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!