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These easy oatmeal cookies are healthy enough for breakfast, yet delicious enough for dessert. They make great energy snacks and lunchbox treats, too! Loaded with fiber and healthy fats, not to mention oil-free, gluten-free and refined sugar-free, you can feel good about reaching for more than one!
We all know oatmeal is a great breakfast choice.
My Easy Customizable Healthy Oatmeal is one of the most popular recipes on this blog and it’s often our go-to morning meal. The kids love to add their own toppings and make it their own.
Oats are not just for oatmeal, though. They’re great in granola, no bake bars, protein balls, muffins, and even smoothies.
And, would you believe, they’re great for healthy breakfast cookies, too?
These cookies are full of nutritious ingredients and just sweet enough to keep the kids coming back for more.
Ingredients notes
These speckled beauties are full of nutritious ingredients.
- Oats: lots of fiber, which may help lower cholesterol, helps you to feel full
- Banana: lots of potassium, which may help lower blood pressure
- Flax: incredibly high in omega-3 fatty acids, which can fight inflammation, and support eye, brain, and heart health
- Almond Butter/Flour: high in antioxidants, particularly vitamin E, which can protect cells from damage
- Hemp Seeds: contains all 10 essential amino acids, making it a great plant based complete protein source
How to make the recipe
Step 1: Mash the banana really well with a fork.
Step 2: Add the remaining liquid ingredients to the mashed banana and mix well until smooth.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, except for the dried fruit.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine well.
Step 5: Mix in the dried fruit.
Step 5: Shape into cookies and bake!
Storage/Freezing
These healthy oatmeal cookies will keep in an air-tight container on the counter for a couple days.
You can also freeze these oatmeal breakfast cookies. Spread them out on a large plate or baking sheet in one even layer and place in the freezer until frozen. Once frozen, wrap each cookie in parchment paper and transfer them to a freezer-safe container or plastic bag (be sure to squeeze all the air out!). They should keep well for up to 4 months.
FAQs
I almost always use old fashioned rolled oats. They are perfect for baking as they are soft, cook quickly, and absorb moisture well, unlike steel cut oats that need a much longer cooking time.
Quick oats, as the name suggests, cook even quicker than rolled oats. However, they lack texture. You may substitute quick oats for the rolled oats in this breakfast cookie recipe, if that’s what you have on hand, but I love the heartiness of the rolled oats.
One of the great things about these cookies is that they freeze beautifully.
Make a double batch, set a few aside for breakfasts and snacks for the week, and freeze the rest for those days when you are running late and need a quick grab-n-go option.
I like to freeze them on a cookie sheet or large plate in one even layer. Once the cookies are frozen, I wrap them individually in parchment paper and transfer them to plastic bags or other freezer safe containers. That way it’s easy to take out just what you need.
Obviously, homemade cookies are healthier than store bought varieties. And when they are this easy to make, there is no reason not to bake up a batch at home.
Breakfast cookies are some of the healthiest cookies around, so dig in without guilt! But, don’t worry, while these cookies aren’t super sweet, they taste amazing enough to enjoy for dessert, too!
More vegan breakfast recipes that freeze well:
- Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes
- Peanut Butter No-Bake Protein Balls
- Flax and Walnut Zucchini Muffins
- Vegan Breakfast Casserole
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you tried it, please use the rating system in the recipe card and leave a comment below with your feedback.
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For even more easy family recipes, be sure to check out my cookbook, The Meatless Monday Family Cookbook!
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 medium very ripe bananas smashed well
- ½ cup almond butter I like Trader Joe's Creamy Raw Almond Butter
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup unsweetened original almond milk or milk of choice – nothing too thick like canned coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup flax meal
- ¼ cup shelled hemp seeds also called hemp hearts
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup dried fruit, liked cranberries or raisins I used a mix of dried cranberries, blueberries, and golden raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add the mashed bananas, almond butter, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla, to a medium mixing bowl and whisk well until smooth.
- Add all of the dry ingredients, except for the dried fruit, to a small mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the dry to the wet and stir until well incorporated.
- Add the dried fruit and stir to distribute evenly.
- Scoop up the mixture, about ¼ cup at a time, and form into a round cookie shape. Flatten the cookies out as you place them on the prepared baking sheet as they won’t spread while baking.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes until lightly browned on the bottoms and firm on the tops. Cookies will continue to firm up as they cool, but will stay soft in texture.
Katie says
Could I replace the banana with apple sauce (natural, unsweetened)? I don’t have bananas right now and the market has been out! Thanks!
Jenn Sebestyen says
Yes, that should work, but they’ll be less sweet. 2 smashed bananas is roughly 2/3 of a cup (though I didn’t measure exactly)…you could use a little less than that of applesauce and add a bit more maple syrup if you like.
Jo says
Just made them and they are delicious! Because I am a chocolate fiend I added cacao nibs with the dried fruits.Wonderful….thank you so much.
Jo
Jenn Sebestyen says
Oh, I love cacao nibs. Great addition. Thanks, Jo!
Paula says
Can I use peanut butter instead of almond butter.
Jenn Sebestyen says
Yes! Obviously, they will have a peanut butter flavor, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. Let me know how they turn out!