Vehement Solutions for Trivial Problems: Monster Cookies

I generally make these once per year, which makes sense when you see the quantity.

The original recipe is from a church cookbook we got as a wedding gift, the Salem Sampler II, and believe it or not, I worked out this version as HALF of the original version. There is a more reasonable "anyday" version to follow.

Monster Cookies (big batch)

Note: This will make too much dough to fit in a large Kitchen Aid mixing bowl. I use a hand-held mixer and a very large ceramic bowl we got as a wedding present from my wonderful uncle Malcom and aunt Rochelle. Use 4 cookie sheets if you have them- that way you're dropping dough while a pair is baking, and allowing a few minutes to cool on the sheet before transferring to a rack. You'll run out of rack space quickly, so then move them again to another surface or storage. These freeze wonderfully, and can last some time frozen.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter

2 1/3 c. brown sugar

2 c. white sugar

6 eggs

2 2/3 c. creamy peanut butter (you'll need a large jar, like Jiff or Skippy, not natural style)

1/2 Tbsp vanilla

1 Tbsp corn syrup

4 tsp baking soda

9 c. oatmeal (I use quick rolled outs, the better part of a large 42 oz container)

1/2 c. flour

8-12 oz chocolate chips

1 lb M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 (convection bake works well for this recipe).

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and blend. Add PB and blend, add everything except the chips and M&M's and blend. Add the chips and M&M's and blend just until combined. Drop in large (or very large) spoonfuls on cookie sheets (mine are about scant 1/4 c. per drop). Bake about 8-12 min or 8 min on convection (timing varies based on the size of the cookies, etc.) You want them chewy and not overbaked. Cool for a bit, or until you run out of space on the rack. We store these in 1 gallon ice cream buckets. Freezes well.

Makes about 112 large cookies,but I can't be certain, as there were cookie monsters around while I was baking the monster cookies.