My husband leaves for work before most of the household is awake. He grabs a cup of coffee and a Balance bar and hits the road. While good sales on protein bars are possible, I am on the hunt to find a more economical, yet still sustaining option. I took my Trail Mix Cookies and tweaked them a little recently. I even experimented with coconut oil, a first for me. The result was a super tasty cookie. They taste too good to be healthy. So, I need to revisit the ingredient profile and make sure.
Whole wheat pastry flour can usually be found in the bulk section of your health food store. If you can’t find it, you can substitute unbleached or whole wheat flour.
I think these would be a sweet addition to a Valentine’s breakfast or afternoon tea.
Breakfast Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup ground flax seed meal
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups quick oats
1/4 cup EACH dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips, pepitas, sesame seeds, chopped nuts OR 1 1/4 cup trail mix
Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheets with silpat mat or parchment paper. In large mixing bowl, combine honey, sugar, and oil. Blend well. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 10-15 minutes or until set. Cool on rack.
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Looks great for my runner food “snob” husband!
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These look great!
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I made these today but used unsweetened applesauce in place of all of the oil. The applesauce adds extra flavour and tang as well as making this a low-fat cookie. I added dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and shredded unsweetened coconut. Talk about delicious! My kids and I can’t stop eating them.
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Looks delicious! I made a pumpkin oatmeal cookie with dried cranberries last year. It was pretty good too.
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Hi Jessica,
I just put my daughter on a Gluten Free diet for her eczema and it’s helping a lot. What do you suggest I replace the whole wheat flour with? I can use all the rest of the ingredients.
Thanks!
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Jessica Reply:
January 5th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
That would be a great question to ask over at Lynn’s Recipe Adventures. We aren’t doing gluten free, so I have no idea. But, Lynn does!
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Hannah Reply:
May 7th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
@Kristen, Hey Kristen, I eat GF as well, and I was just thinking I’d probably replace the 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with:
3/4 c almond flour
1/2 c brown rice flour
1/4 c high protein flour such as millet, quinoa, etc
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yum! Who wouldn’t want cookies for breakfast. What could I use in replace of the flaxseed? more flour?
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Jessica Reply:
January 7th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
@Claire, I think you could just omit it if you want.
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melissa Reply:
April 25th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
@Claire, I used wheat germ
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Deborah Jennings Reply:
February 18th, 2012 at 8:51 am
@Claire, What about using Wheat Germ?
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I needed a healthy cookie quickly today. I remembered your post on these and they were great! Thanks.
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I was looking for something nutritious to give my 18-month-old in the mornings because other than his usual plain Cheerios. I tried these out, but with a few changes: omitted the flaxseed because I didn’t have any, substituted 1/4c. homemade unsweetened applesauce for 1/4c. of the oil, cut back by 1/4c. on the sugar, and added sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and orange zest. They turned out great, but next time I’ll definitely add more orange zest. It was such a great addition! And the dark chocolate sounds great…might add that too. Thanks, Jessica, for a wonderful recipe!
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Jessica Reply:
March 22nd, 2011 at 6:46 am
@Cassie, thanks for letting me know. Reminds me I need to make a few batches.
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Finally got around to making these today, and they are wonderful. Kids love them, hubby loves them. He asked me to make some for him to take in to work. Praise doesn’t come much higher than that. We made a couple of quick subs to fit what we had in the house. Instead of flax meal, just used more oats. For the flavor bits, we used choc chips, coconut, sliced almonds, pepitas, and raisins.
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HI! Here’s another variation, for anyone who’s interested. I omitted both the honey and the flaxseed. I think by omitting basically equal parts dry and wet ingredients, it worked fine in the end result. I just didn’t have either item in my pantry. This might help the people who were asking about a substitute for the flaxseed.
Jessica, I also cut the sugar to 1/3 c., which I think makes them a little healthier. My kids and husband all liked them, so it was fine, but my (processed-foods-eating) neighbor kids didn’t like them.
Thanks for a great recipe for my own little Hobbits!
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OMG! These are perfect for DD’s lunchbox. Quick question – Can I substitute the coconut oil with regular canola oil?
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Jessica Reply:
August 23rd, 2011 at 7:20 am
@Prerna, yes, that should be fine. The texture will be a little different.
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This is my third time making the cookies, all a little different each time. What a fantastic recipe and it is fun to play with. Soooooo good with a cup of coffee in the morning.
Thanks!
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Do you think these would work with old fashioned oats as opposed to quick oats? I’m really searching for some breakfast options I can make ahead!
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Jessica Reply:
September 22nd, 2011 at 9:48 pm
@Mandi, that should be fine. The texture will be a little rougher. But, if you’re used to using those in other cookies, it will be fine.
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can these be frozen
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Jessica Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Yes. Wrap them well and stash in the freezer. Yum!
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What is pepitas??
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Jessica Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 8:51 am
Pepitas are pumpkin seeds w/o the outer coating. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s
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This recipe looks delicious! I’ve been trying with my own granola bar recipe, but having trouble with the chewy vs. crunchy (can’t quite get either one, lol). I think I’ll put that on the back burner and try these instead. Thanks so much!
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Jessica Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
I’m struggling with those also! These are a sure thing.
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I made the breakfast cookies yesterday and they were very good. Thanks! I used everything you said except I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour, so I used white pastry flour + white whole wheat flour (2:1), and I substituted sunflower seeds for the pepitas. I was also thinking of ways to make this a bit healthier, so the comments above were very helpful. I would like to cut down on the sugar and honey substantially. I have hardly used the coconut oil I bought awhile back because I wasn’t sure what to use it in, but it was great in these cookies! I love the flavor and next time I might add some coconut flakes too.
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I’m going to try these for me picky 4 and 6 year old boys!
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Made these cookies today and yum! 4 yr old is eating them like no tomorrow. I did modify a bit like some of the ladies above and cut the brown sugar to 1/2 cup light brown and replaced the oil with unsweetened applesauce, used raw wheat germ in place of flax seed meal, used whole wheat flour and Iodized sea salt. These came out like a soft pillow. I thought they would spread out and be a bit crispy after seeing the picture (are they suppose to come out crispy?). I will definitely make these again with variations on the add in’s. I used dried cherries , semisweet choc chips and almonds, taste like a choc covered cherry! Thanks for sharing.
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Jessica Reply:
April 25th, 2012 at 6:13 am
@Shirlene, changing the sugar and oil and other items will definitely change the texture.
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Made these last night and of course did not wait to test them. Everyone was good with them but I doubt they will eat them for breakfast–I might. We will definitely make more but use them as a healthier/filling snack. I used canola oil since that is what I had. Due to lack of sesame seeds and a nut allergy I used toasted wheat germ (my stand in for “nutty” taste) and sunflower seeds. I saved my dark chocolate chips since I want to use them in one of your other recipes and used mini choc chips instead.
I’ll definitely track down some sesame seeds. What difference in texture does coconut oil make as I’ve never used it—that and I’m leary due to nut allergy (although I haven’t seen a problem with coconut before). I might try to cut back on the oil a smidgen as I use flax a lot and the oil in it often lends to a decrease in other recipes . .. to ponder.
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I just tried this recipe over the weekend and they turned out so well! Everyone, including my twin 15 month old girls love them (**I left out the nuts**). I will continue making these as a healthier version of a cookie for my household. Thank you so much!
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