Wholesome Breakfast Cookies made with almond butter, oats, eggs, pure maple syrup, and more! Add in your favorite nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips to customize your cookies. 11 grams of protein per cookie!
Ever feel like eating cookies for breakfast is the right move? I see you.
Formulated off of my 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, I wanted to make a healthy cookie recipe with seeds and dried fruit for a little breakfast treat.
I call them breakfast cookies because they are wholesome enough to enjoy for breakfast; however, I definitely eat them for dessert!
Soft with crunchy elements from nuts and seeds, the texture of these cookies is denser than regular cookies, similar to a breakfast bar.
The flavor is easy to customize using your favorite additions, such as chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries or raisins, etc.
These easy breakfast cookies come together in a flash and don’t require any fancy equipment! Simply stir everything up in a bowl, drop the dough onto a baking sheet, and you’re ready to go.
When made into 9 cookies, each cookie contains 11 grams of protein! Pretty impressive for a tasty treat!
I recommend enjoying one with another source of protein such as yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast. And I also support employing this easy recipe for healthy snacks!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for healthy breakfast cookies! The great news is, there is plenty of room to customize these easy cookies, and all of the ingredients can be found at any grocery store.
Ingredients for Breakfast Cookies:
Unsweetened Almond Butter: We need some form of fat for richness and also a glue to hold the ingredients together. The almond butter serves this purpose!
In addition to providing healthy fats, it also enables us to go flourless. All-purpose flour is a binding agent in baked goods, so without it we need a replacement like almond butter.
Unsweetened Applesauce: Applesauce adds moisture to the cookies without adding any extra fat. It also brings a very subtle natural sweetness and some fiber! You can replace it with one large ripe mashed banana.
Oats: The base of these healthy cookies is quick oats, providing enough structure to this healthy morning treat. Oats bring complex carbohydrates because they are whole grains.
Use instant oats or quick cooking oats for the best results. Rolled oats or old-fashioned oats work, but I don’t like the texture as much because they require more chewing.
If you need the recipe to be gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats. I use gluten-free sprouted oats in all of my oatmeal recipes.
Eggs: A couple of eggs help hold all of the ingredients together through the baking process, and also add protein, choline, and fat.
Pure Maple Syrup: The sweetener here! I like using a small amount of pure maple syrup for just the right level of sweetness.
Because I add chocolate chips and dried cranberries, I feel the cookies end up perfectly sweet. Be sure to include a sweet source or two in your additions (below)
Add-Ins of Choice: Here’s your time to shine! Add 1 to 1.5 cups of any combination of chocolate chips, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
Some great options are walnuts, pecans, hemp seeds, ground flaxseed meal, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, and more! Get creative with your concoctions!
When using chia seeds and flax seeds, I recommend using only a couple of tablespoons max because they have a fairly gritty texture.
Ground Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon brings warm flavor to baked goods, which I find irresistible!
Sea Salt: A pinch of sea salt enhances all of the flavors. Don’t skip it!
Looking for ways you can change up these oatmeal breakfast cookies? Here are some ideas!
Recipe Customizations:
- Use peanut butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter. Just note that if you use peanut butter or sunbutter, you will be able to taste it.
- Go egg-free by replacing the eggs with 2 large ripe bananas. If you take this option, you can omit the applesauce.
- Use one large ripe banana instead of the applesauce. Mash it well! Be sure it is very ripe with plenty of brown spots for the best flavor. You will be able to taste it!
- Use honey instead of pure maple syrup.
- If you know you prefer sweet treats, add 1 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar or regular sugar and reduce the oats by the amount of dry sweetener you add.
- Add a splash of pure vanilla extract to the cookie recipe if you have some on hand.
Now that we’ve covered the wholesome ingredients, let’s make a batch of cookies for breakfast!
How to Make Breakfast Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix the eggs, applesauce (or mashed banana), almond butter, and pure maple syrup together in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Note: if your almond butter has been chilling in the refrigerator, microwave it for 30 seconds without the lid on or until it is warm enough to stir easily.
Add the oats, ground cinnamon and sea salt, and mix until everything is well combined. This mixture will seem wet and sticky. This is normal.
Add 1 to 1.5 cups of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. I use ⅓ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, and ¼ cup hemp seeds. Mix well until everything is combined.
Spoon the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, making any size cookies you want. Note that the dough does not stick together on its own, so you will need to form the cookies into the shape you want. I use the spoon to do this.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 9-12 minutes, or until the cookies appear set up. I make large cookies, so I bake them for 12 minutes. Smaller cookies require slightly less time.
Allow the cookies to cool for at least 15 minutes before moving them. Cookies have a tendency to crumble when they are still warm, but they set up after they have cooled.
Storage Tips:
- Room Temperature: Store cookies in an airtight container or a zip lock bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate cookies for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: Freeze cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer bag or a large zip lock bag.
Enjoy these hearty breakfast cookies with another source of protein for a great way to start the day on busy mornings! If you have a sweet tooth like me and you prefer whole ingredients, this breakfast cookie recipe may just be your new favorite treat!
You can make a double batch to have plenty of leftovers on hand for when the craving for something sweet strikes.
For those looking for another easy sweet breakfast option, make my Protein Overnight Oats.
Love making healthier cookies? Here are some great options!
More Healthy Cookie Recipes:
- Oatmeal Cranberry Orange Cookies
- Fudgy Chocolate Sweet Potato Cookies
- Peanut Butter Protein Cookies
- Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Nutty Blueberry Banana Cookies
- 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies
Hippy breakfast cookies, let’s go!
Breakfast Cookies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs *
- ½ cup (120ml) unsweetened applesauce or 1 large ripe banana, mashed**
- ½ cup (120ml) unsweetened almond butter
- ⅓ cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 2 cups (200g) quick oats
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon optional
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 to 1.5 cups (100-200g) add-ins see note***
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the eggs, applesauce (or mashed banana), almond butter, and pure maple syrup together in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Note: if your almond butter has been chilling in the refrigerator, microwave it for 30 seconds without the lid on or until it is warm enough to stir easily.
- Add the oats, ground cinnamon and sea salt, and mix until everything is well combined. This mixture will seem wet and sticky. This is normal.
- Add 1 to 1.5 cups of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. I use ⅓ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, ¼ cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, and ¼ cup hemp seeds. Mix well until everything is combined.
- Spoon the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, making any size cookies you want. Note that the dough does not stick together on its own, so you will need to form the cookies into the shape you want. I use the spoon to do this.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 9-12 minutes, or until the cookies appear set up. I make large cookies, so I bake them for 12 minutes. Smaller cookies require slightly less time.
- Allow the cookies to cool for at least 15 minutes before moving them. Cookies have a tendency to crumble when they are still warm, but they set up after they have cooled.
Notes
Nutrition
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