Best Ever Breakfast Cookies
These Breakfast Cookies are the BEST. They’re easy to make ahead for a healthy breakfast all week, they’re a nutritional powerhouse, packed with fiber and protein, and they won’t fall apart and aren’t too dry! And you can use any combination of nut butters, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit you happen to have lying around in your pantry.
It took me a long time to develop this recipe. I’ve tried a lot of breakfast cookie recipes and was often disappointed- they either tasted too dry, or they completely crumbled apart, or they were so bland I didn’t want to eat them.
But now I feel confident enough that these breakfast cookies are “blog-worthy.”
They’re sweetened ever so slightly with pure maple syrup, and otherwise flavored by the nut butter, nuts and seeds, and dried fruit.
They’re chewy and hearty- I love their texture. Just one is enough to satisfy your appetite for a long time.
And my toddler likes them. Hallelujah!
What are breakfast cookies?
I’m glad you asked. Because if you’re thinking this is going to be a soft, chewy, super sweet, buttery treat that is magically healthy enough to have for breakfast, you’re going to be disappointed.
Really, breakfast cookies are kind of like a granola bar or homemade energy bar in circle form. These are delicious, but obviously not as delicious as your favorite traditional chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookie recipe.
These breakfast cookies are a mixture of rolled oats, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, and nut butter, with a little salt and cinnamon for a boost of flavor and a mashed banana, egg, and a little flour to help bind it all together.
But calling them breakfast cookies is fun, especially for kiddos!
How do I make these so they don’t fall apart?
There are a few ingredients in these breakfast cookies that are crucial for helping them bind together well.
First, an egg. Just as eggs help bind together meatballs and veggie burgers, an egg helps bring everything together in these cookies as they bake. (Vegan? You can use a flax or chia seed egg! See recipe notes.)
Second, a mashed banana. Not only does it help naturally sweeten these breakfast cookies, but as it bakes it firms up, helping the cookie ingredients bind together.
Finally, a little bit of flour. I used whole wheat, but you can use all-purpose, gluten free, or oat flour. It helps absorb some of the liquid from the egg and banana so the cookies are more firm.
What kinds of nuts, seeds, or dried fruit should I use?
The thing I like best about these breakfast cookies is how versatile they are. I always seem to have some random nuts or dried fruit lingering around in my pantry, and this is a great way to use them up.
For fruit, I used dried figs and apricots, along with cranberries. I chopped up the figs and apricots- make sure that whatever you use is in small pieces. Raisins, prunes, dates, and other dried fruit would be delicious.
For nuts/seeds, I actually only used seeds- a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds. You can use slivered or sliced almonds, chopped cashews, chopped macadamia nuts… anything you want! Again, make sure they’re cut into small pieces- whole almonds probably won’t work very well for this.
You can also throw in chocolate chips, lemon or orange zest, nutmeg… so many possibilities! I love the taste of butterscotch with oats, too – for a little extra treat, try adding butterscotch chips, like in these oatmeal butterscotch cookies with walnuts.
Here are some flavor combinations I think would be great:
- Dark Chocolate and Raspberry (freeze-dried raspberries and dark chocolate chips, with cocoa powder)
- Lemon Blueberry (freeze-dried blueberries and lemon zest)
- Piña Colada (shredded coconut and dried pineapple)
When you bake these, make sure you flatten them out before putting them in the oven. Unlike traditional cookies, these will not spread out when you cook them. I scooped them onto my baking sheet and then formed them almost like a burger patty.
And another great thing: these will keep at room temperature in an airtight container or bag for up to 5 days, and can be frozen for up to 6 months!
Other easy recipes made with oats:
- Cherry Almond Overnight Oats
- Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal Squares
- Whole Grain Apple Pie Muffins
- DIY No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
- 5 Ingredient Peanut Butter and Banana Energy Bars
You might also like these chocolate coconut energy balls.
Best Ever Breakfast Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup peanut butter or other nut butter or allergy-friendly substitute
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour or all-purpose, or oat flour, or gluten-free flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup nuts and/or seeds I used pumpkin and sunflower seeds
- 3/4 cup dried fruit I used chopped figs, apricots, and cranberries
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix together the mashed banana, the egg, maple syrup (1/4 cup), salt (1/2 teaspoon), cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon), and peanut butter (1/4 cup) until very well blended, using an electric mixer or by vigorously whisking.
- Add the whole wheat flour (1/4 cup) and stir to combine.
- Add the oats (1 cup), nuts/seeds (3/4 cup), and dried fruit (3/4 cup). Stir together.
- Using a large cookie scoop (or 1/4 cup measuring cup), scoop out the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Press down on the top of the scoops to flatten them out, as they will not spread out during baking. I pressed the sides in as well, almost like I was forming a burger patty.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until slightly golden brown on the edges.
Notes
- Money Saving Tip: some dried fruit and nuts are more expensive than others. Raisins are pretty cheap, as are walnuts. Take a look to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck!
- Time Saving Tip: buy dried fruit and nuts that have already been chopped up.
- You can make smaller cookies as well using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon measure- make sure you bake them for a shorter amount of time.
- For a nut-free version, make sure you use a nut-free butter like sunflower seed butter, and only add seeds rather than nuts.
- For a gluten-free version, make sure you use certified gluten-free oats and a gluten-free flour mix or oat flour.
- To make these vegan, substitute a flax or chia egg for the fresh egg.
- These can be stored in an airtight container or bag for up to 5 days at room temperature, or frozen for up to 6 months.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Dearest Elizabeth! Another hit and I am not surprised! I eat one when I have porridge in the morning so I get enough protein and so I dont get wobbly while walking my dog on a long walk. Laura
Yay! So glad you liked these!
I make these every few months and quadruple the recipe as they freeze really well. They are delicious and filling (and super easy to make). Also, the recipe is fantastic as shown but sometimes I use this as a chance to use up ingredients that maybe be laying around from other recipes (sunflower butter, almond butter, alternative flours, sunflower seeds, etc).
So glad you like them! And I agree, it’s such a great opportunity to use up ingredients. Thanks so much for sharing your tips!
Love!! Made with a few semi sweet choc chips! For the unhealthier version! Baked longer! ♥️ I used sunflower seed butter! Tasty. Will print on recipe card and make it every time I want a cookie!
So glad you liked it!
I make these at least once a week.
Pumpkin Spice Season is here! Have you ever used pumpkin purée instead of banana? Add cloves, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin seeds. Gonna try it this weekend.
I love this idea! I’ve never tried it, but I think it would work really well. If you give it a try, let us know how it turns out!
What else could you use to substitute peanut butter?
I think you can theoretically use any kind of nut or seed butter – keep in mind, some have vastly different flavors and may be a bit dryer or have more fat. Sunbutter is probably the best for a nut free option!
Delicious! Doubled the recipe. I did half Nutella and half almond butter with dried mango and cranberry, almonds and pumpkin seeds. Added vanilla protein powder with the flour. Yum!
So glad you liked it! Love your modifications, thanks for sharing!
Could I bake these in a bar pan? If so how long for a 9″×11″?
Good question! I’d never done this before but here’s what I’d try. I’d line the pan with parchment paper and kind of press the mixture in. I think it won’t need much more time to bake, maybe 5 more minutes? And let it cool in the pan for a while before you try to remove it and cut it. I’d be interested to hear how it turns out if you try it!
So good and love the versatility. I made mine smaller and got 16 cookies. I also added some fresh chopped apple, less nuts and extra oats plus a 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips to entice the kids haha.
So glad you liked it! Love your additions!
I decreased the maple syrup and sub apple sauce, dark chocolate, cranberries, walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Wonderful sweet treat, they turned out amazing! thank you
So glad you liked it!
Love this recipe. The breakfast cookies are amazingly tasty. I especially love the way you write your recipe with the amounts within the instructions/directions.
So glad you liked it, and I’m happy to hear the ingredient amounts in the instructions was helpful for you!
Hello! Should I use raw or roasted seeds? What will change using raw vs roasted? I’m planning on making these with sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Thank you!
If something is going back in the oven, I usually use raw seeds, since they will toast up a bit when the cookies bake. I do this with granola too. That said, either one will work! The difference won’t be too noticeable. Hope you like them!
YUM!!! These are great cookies. I subbed out some of the maple syrup for sugar alcohol, added vanilla, used almond butter. These are great on the go. I can’t eat very much sugar at all so these are perfect. I have also omitted the banana and added more almond butter. The banana flavor is strong when they are warm, but it settles down a bit. I think i like them without the banana more (just need more almond butter for liquid). I add in some stevia chocolate chips for some of the dried fruit, also. Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
Hi there
Im in GB – Great Britain
May I ask you to put metric in your recipes – Grams – as well as cups
This would be so helpful to those who live (and sub) outside the USA
Kindest Regards – RJ
Thanks so much for this feedback! I’m actually in the process of adding metric measurements to my recipes and will make these breakfast cookies a priority. Hoping to have all my recipes done soon!
There are conversion calculators on line fyi
Delicious. I made the following changes: I used 1 ½ cups of ground oatmeal, no flour; added 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 tsp vanilla. My daughter likes her with chocolate chips so I put some of those in the mix. I am sure they would be great with some dried fruits in as well! Then scooped using a large cookie scoop into a bowl that had pumpkin seeds and slivered almonds and coated each cookie. Baked for about 15-20 minutes. They were delicious! Loved the crunchy coating on the outside and tender cookie on the inside!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your modifications. Love the idea of adding chocolate chips!
Can I use fresh figs in these?
I’ve never tried it but I bet it would work really well!
Another easy delicious winner! Love, love, love as healthy snack. Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
These delicious cookies were a hit with my toddler. For dried fruit, I used dates and cranberries. For the nuts, I crushed pecans.
So glad these were good for your kiddo!
Just made these and they turned out delicious! Will definitely make double the quantity next time.
So glad you liked them!
So easy and delish! I used the pumpkin and sunflower seeds with sunflower butter. I also used 4 tbsp of apple sauce instead of the egg. My son has allergies. Thx for the recipe. They’re great!
So happy you liked it, and thanks for the suggestion about the applesauce!
Hi does this recipe work without using a banana? I just hate bananas.
You might be able to get away with using applesauce instead of banana! They may be a bit crumbly but it’s worth a shot :-)
I m pretty sure I ve left a review before. These are my go-to breakfast cookie. I always make a double batch and have them in the freezer. Today I used white choc chips and added dried blueberries. FANTASTIC!!! I ll never not add blueberries ever again LOL!
SO glad you liked them!!
Hi,
Great recipe ! Any substitute for maple syrup ? Would honey work ?
You can definitely use honey in place of the maple syrup! Honey is a touch sweeter than maple syrup so maybe reduce the amount just a tad. Hope that helps!