In Pursuit of a Breakfast Cookie

I’m always in pursuit of finding things my family will eat for a quick breakfast on the go.  Muffins and burritos are a standby; but I had it on my brain the other day to find a breakfast cookie that would have some healthy qualities for a good start to the day.  Especially on weekends when we are sometimes out the door very early to get to a soccer game.   I wanted something that will have some carbs for energy and some protein.  Kind of like having a slice of whole wheat toast with a little peanut butter, which is great before a game.  But not that, just for the sake of having variety, does that make sense?

The first thing I did was look at my friend Allison’s blog and her recipe for a breakfast cookie.  She does a great job of packing in all kinds of good stuff.  Problem is, I’ve got picky eaters who have already snubbed homemade granola bars or muffins with too much stuff like nuts or dried fruit.  I looked at oatmeal cookie recipes because I knew they love those and so I thought maybe I would just add a few things to increase the bulk of an oatmeal cookie.  Then I also looked at another breakfast cookie recipe and decided to mainly use that, but consider the base of an oatmeal cookie and the health qualities of Allison’s cookie.

The results are pretty good as far as taste is concerned and there’s room for improvement and making variations to increase nutritional qualities.  And I suppose it's not exactly a cookie, the texture is much more like the top of a muffin.  But that’s the best part of a muffin anyway, right?  I actually started with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda and then I looked at the batter and was nervous it would all run together, so I added more flour and another ½ teaspoon of baking soda.  So I think that gives it a cake-like texture.  If my peanut butter jar wasn't close to empty, I would have added some and if I had people who liked nuts in things I would have added chopped nuts.  I could probably add raisins and they would like them and one of my kids would have loved it with mini chocolate chips.  What I like is the slight banana flavor with the molasses and the oats give it a crunch.  There’s lots of room to be creative and experiment.  The bottom line for me is that although it’s still got quite a bit of sugar (which I think could be reduced), I tried to boost it’s nutritional value with some more protein, fiber and iron.  I can use this as a benchmark to continue to improve it from here.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie

Adapted from All Recipes
Makes about 24 depending on the size of your scoop

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. sugar
1 very ripe banana
1/4 c. molasses
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 heaping tablespoons ground flax
1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda

Heat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, oil and sugar until incorporated.  Then add banana, molasses, eggs and vanilla, mix well and then add the ground flax and almond milk and mix together at medium speed until incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine the flours, oats, salt, cinnamon and baking soda.  Combine the flours with the sugar mixture in portions, mixing with each addition just until there are no pockets of flour.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet leaving ample space between each as it spreads while baking.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until just browned on the edges and not wet in the center.

After they cool, wrap each individual cookie to store in the fridge or freezer.  It takes just 8-10 seconds to heat one in the microwave, maybe a few more seconds if it is frozen.  You could even try warming it in the toaster oven which would make it a little crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside.