Breakfast Cookies
16Ever on the lookout for a healthy carb to eat alongside my eggs/egg whites in the morning, I came across this Ellie Krieger recipe for breakfast cookies. Certainly if you can eat cake in the morning (I suppose when eaten in the morning it’s called a “muffin”) then you can eat cookies, too.
I liked this recipe because of all the whole grains and the fact that it had nuts and raisins in it. Still, I changed this recipe quite a bit. First, I used pumpkin instead of carrot puree because I had some leftover. I also decided to add more spice to these cookies, because I am always a fan of that (and especially cloves), as well as use some almond extract. To make these even healthier, I subbed half the canola oil for unsweetened applesauce and reduced the amount of sugar overall (but used all brown instead of a mix of granulated and brown, both for taste and texture). As you can see just by my changes, these are incredibly easy to adapt to your taste or preference.
The list of ingredients seems incredibly long, I know, but my assumption is that if you have a well-stocked pantry you should already have all or most of them. I believe the only thing I bought for this recipe was the bran cereal. These cookies are easy to make and a nice way to enjoy dessert for breakfast without feeling at all guilty. They keep quite well and will keep even better if wrapped and stored in the freezer for easy grabbing. I definitely plan on making and freezing a batch of these before the baby comes so I have easy access to some healthy snacks.
Breakfast Cookies
Makes 12 cookies
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 heaping tsp. cloves
1/8 heaping tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened or melted
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup walnut pieces, toasted and chopped
Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl.
Combine the butter, oil, applesauce and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high until sugar has dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, pumpkin puree and extracts, and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated (you may need to finish this off with a spatula instead of the mixer). Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Using between 3-4 Tbsp. of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes (mine took closer to 14), until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Heavily adapted from Ellie Krieger
The list is long, but I’ll bet these are delicious!!!
I deal for a breakfast on the run and I have a suspicion that my children will love these cookies with a glass of milk more than any of the healthy cereal I am trying to “push” down their throats….
I’ve wanted to make breakfast cookies for awhile but never really had the motivation. I love the changes you made, and I think this is just the push I needed to finally make some!
Thanks for posting, I have been wanting to try breakfast cookies!
Great cookies!
Bravo Elly!!!
Elly,
This message is totally unrelated to your breakfast cookies. But I made the lamb and orzo recipe that you posted a couple of weeks ago, and it was a huge hit. I think it is honestly the first thing that I have made in two and a half years that my husband seemed very genuinely excited about! (we have agreed to be brutally honest about things we both make so that we don’t end up with a bunch of repeat dishes that one of us doesn’t like). He even suggested that I make it when we have my in-laws over next week, which is huge because my mother-in-law is an amazing cook. So the gist of this is THANK YOU! All of your cooking and recipes are quite impressive! Congrats on your son or daughter-to-be as well!
Donelle Buratto (Mayberry)
So glad you and your husband liked the lamb, Donelle! Thanks for the sweet comments. 🙂
These have been on my list to try for a while… I’ll definitely have to give them a shot soon. Glad you enjoyed them!
Cookies look delicious — but I’m curious what was in the pot that looked like it exploded on the stove (via twitter)?
Oh…THAT. Well, it didn’t so much explode as I somehow managed to completely lose grip of a pot full of brown rice, veggies and chicken broth as it was going into the oven to bake. The lid landed about 6 feet away and needless to say, there was stuff everywhere. Not a fun cleanup!
Elly,
I *LOVE* your blog! I can’t believe I came across it just now. Keep doin what you’re doin and happy 2010 to you. PS. I saw your recipe for Plasto which I’ve been making for ahwile now but with leeks instead. I got the recipe from the Nistiko Arkoudi website and always wondered where in Greece this came from since my family never made it. So cool that your yiayia is an original plasto maker!
Thanks for visiting, Anna and glad to now find your blog, too!
I love the idea of breakfast cookies… especially as someone who frequently runs late in the morning and needs to eat on the go! I might have to try these this week.
Looks yummy! Do you have any suggestions for a substitution for the brown sugar? I’m on a no sugar diet….Thanks! I love your site. I found you through Annies Eats
Hi Mindy. I’ve made Ellie K’s granola and granola bars with maple syrup/honey, so I’m assuming you’d be able to get similar results with those here. Let me know if you try, I would love to replace it next time. I’m not too familiar with things like agave or sugar substitutes, so I’m no help there.
Spicy AND healthy…these look wonderful Elly!