Breakfast Cookies!

February 20, 2012 · 135 comments

Cookies for breakfast. On Monday! You know this week HAS to be good.

But I didn’t make them alone. Oh no.

I had a leeeetle friend.

This is Morgan… the sister of the baby with the crazy faces and my BFF’s daughter. I told you all about how swimmingly we got along two years ago because, well… we’re exactly alike.

It’s also quite possible that she is the most well-behaved, well-mannered and SWEETEST child I have ever come across. And this only means one thing: I basically cannot have children unless someone guarantees me an exact clone of her. That sounds super fair. I’m all for fairness.

Oh… and she wore a little toddler apron. OHMAHGAH.

I told Morgan that we were going to make healthy cookies… cookies that we could like, eat for breakfast and stuff. She was down. I didn’t tell her that I often eat regular cookies for breakfast. She actually eats things like broccoli and carrots and I don’t need her thinking any less of me.

She did everything from mashing the bananas to whisking the egg to dumping in the flour and sneaking chocolate chips. And I told her to “smile really big!” with everything she did so I could exploit her precious little face all over my website. And she listened. Even while eating cookies when she probably wanted to punch me in the face. Man I love this child.

My biggest fear was that this mash of ingredients that we threw together last minute would be a total fail and taste like chalky dust. So glad I was wrong. For once. You know, which is like huge… since I’m never ever wrong. Wait. Where is my husband? He should probably be reading this.

These fat cookies aren’t super sweet but still have some great flavor from the banana, honey, brown sugar, cherries and obviously… chocolate. That’s a mandatory breakfast ingredient, by the way. They are somewhat cakey but not too cakey like traditional banana cookies, and taste just healthy enough that you really can justify eating them for breakfast. Err… I’m not kidding anyone. I never need justifying.

Breakfast Cookies

makes about 12-16 cookies

1 large egg

1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

1 1/2 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons peanut butter, melted

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup dried cherries (or dried fruit of your choice!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, mix flour, oats, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and flaxseed together, then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg and sugar together until smooth. Add in vanilla, mashed banana, melted and cooled butter and honey and mix until combined and somewhat smooth (it’s okay if banana chunks remain).

Gradually add in dry ingredients, mixing gently with a large spoon until the batter has come together. Stir in melted peanut butter. Lastly, add chocolate chips and cherries, mixing until distributed. Using a 1/4 cup measure, an ice cream scoop, or even a large spoon, drop dollops of batter onto a nonstick baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until set and lightly golden around the edges. Cookies will not spread much and will probably hold their form, but get a bit puffy and fat.