Our breakfasts usually consist of oatmeal, frozen Kashi blueberry waffles, banana bread, whole wheat pancakes, egg in a basket, and French toast.  I don’t like to give my kids cereal since most are so high in sugar and I don’t find it all that filling.  (I’m slowly weaning my Honey Nut Cheerio loving family from that stuff…I bought bran flakes instead…a much healthier option!)  Last night I found this recipe from nutritionist Ellie Krieger and it is a winner!  A breakfast cookie.  Genius!  I had most of the ingredients on hand and I tweaked the recipe a bit for the ingredients that I was lacking.  My kids LOVED the cookies.  After all, it does taste like an oatmeal raisin cookie.  I think my son’s response was “A cookie??  For breakfast?!”

Being the bottomless pits that they are, I had to find something else to go along with it so I quickly made a two egg frittata with my leftover baked potato from dinner last night and some Canadian bacon.  My son had three cookies, some frittata, sliced bananas with blueberries and a yogurt tube.  Like I said, bottomless pits.  This recipe is definitely going to be added to the breakfast rotation!  I think your kids will love it!

Breakfast Cookies
Recipe Courtesy Of:  Ellie Krieger

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food (I used applesauce)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped (I omitted this since I didn’t have any nuts)

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree (or applesauce) and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, bran flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yields 12 cookies