Breakfast Cookies Recipe

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Looking for healthy breakfast ideas?  Hearty and chewy, this Breakfast Cookies Recipe makes portable snacks, perfect when you are on the go.  Think of these as little breakfast cakes.  Rich in flavor from dried fruit and nuts, these cookies are a delicious and filling way to eat a quick breakfast.

Breakfast Cookies Recipe makes large cookies full of wholesome ingredients such as whole wheat flour and oats and flavored with a touch of cinnamon.   These chewy cookies are easy to pack, travel well, and are a great start to your day.

Fruit as a fat and sugar replacement

Both fat and sugar play integral roles in cookie baking.  Fat provides moisture and richness which in turn makes a pleasing texture in a cookie.  It also affects the spread of a cookie depending on the amount of fat in a recipe.

Sugar contributes in a couple of different capacities. Obviously, it adds sweetness to the cookie batter.  However, it also contributes to the texture, adding crispness and snap to the exterior of a cookie as it bakes.  The addition of sugar also tenderizes cookie batter by drawing out moisture that flour absorbs.  Ultimately this prevents the formation of gluten.

Applesauce

In developing this breakfast cookie recipe, I replaced half of the butter I often use in other cookie recipes.  Applesauce provides several benefits as a replacement for fat.  It adds sweetness without added sugar and the bonus of more fiber.  But it also acts like fat by coating the four and preventing the formation of gluten.

Mashed Banana

Mashed bananas provide many of the same benefits as using apple sauce.  Bananas act as a natural sweetener as well as a fat replacement.  You can cut down on the number of eggs required in a recipe.  Mashed bananas also provide creaminess to enhance the texture of a baked good.

Why use both?

In a nutshell - flavor.  Both fruits provide a different sweetness, acid, and flavor to the cookies.  The one thing to keep in mind when using fruit as a replacement for sugar and fat is the addition of inherent moisture.  If you are making crisp and crunchy cookies this can be a problem.   Since this is a cakey cookie recipe the added moisture from the applesauce and mashed banana is a welcome ingredient.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• whole wheat flour
• old fashioned oats
• light brown sugar
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• cinnamon

Wet ingredients

• room temperature unsalted butter
• honey
• banana
• applesauce
• vanilla extract
• eggs
• dried fruit
• nuts

How to make breakfast cookies

These cookies come together quickly and easily.  Have two medium bowls on hand to mix the wet and dry ingredients.  I use an ice cream scoop to portion the cookies.  Each cookie is about ⅓ cup of batter.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Mix dry ingredients together.  Combine whole wheat flour, oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Make sure the brown sugar is not lumpy and is incorporated with the rest of the ingredients.  Set aside.
• Using a mixer, cream unsalted butter and the honey for 5 minutes.  It may not look completely emulsified.  That's ok.

• Mash ½ banana in the other medium-sized bowl. Add the apple sauce and vanilla extract and combine.

Combine cookie dough

• Add one egg to the creamed butter and honey. Mix until incorporated though the batter may look separated.
• Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the second egg and mix until incorporated.

• Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl again.
• The dry ingredients are added in 3 parts and the wet ingredients in 2 parts, alternatively. Start with the dry ingredients, adding ⅓. Once incorporated add ½ of the wet ingredients.
• Continue with the remaining ingredients - 2 more additions of the dry and 1 more of the wet. Stop mixing when the last addition is just incorporated. Don't overmix the dough.
• Add the dried fruit and the nuts, mixing only for 30 seconds. Again avoid overmixing which will lead to tough cookies.

• Using a large cookie scoop, portion the dough into balls. I use a scoop that measures ⅓ cup. Line the scoops of dough on the prepared baking sheet pan with about 2 inches of space between the cookies. The dough doesn't spread in the oven but spacing the cookies allows them to bake evenly.

• Place the sheet pan in the oven. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes until golden brown. Carefully remove the cookies from the sheet pans after taking them out of the oven.  This will prevent the bottoms of the cookies from continuing to bake on the hot pan. 

• Let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes before eating.
• Store in an airtight container.

Tips

1. Use any combination of dried fruit and nuts you prefer.  It is helpful to use chopped nuts rather than whole ones so that there is better distribution in the batter.
2. Don't use steel cut oats.  They add the wrong texture to the cookies.
3. These cookies freeze beautifully.  Once the cookies are at room temperature, place them on a sheet tray and place them in the freezer.  When the cookies are completely frozen, place them in a ziplock bag for easy storage.
4. It takes 15-20 minutes for a cookie to thaw.
5. This is a great way to use up your ripe bananas.  Here is another banana recipe - https://tenpoundcakecompany.com/buttermilk-banana-bread/

Easy Breakfast Cookies

This easy breakfast cookie recipe makes a delicious alternative to muffins or donuts.  Full of fiber and rich in flavor, these cookies are a healthier breakfast option.

This grab-and-go treat is a favorite in my home so I always try to have a batch of these breakfast cookies in the freezer.  Perfect with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.  These cookies are a great after-school option as well.