Hey Dad, what's in the container on the counter?
Oh, those are some breakfast cookies I made today.
Say what? Did you just say breakfast cookies?
Yeah, I thought they'd be great for a breakfast on the fly, they're sort of like a portable bowl of oatmeal.
Shut Up!
No really, they're loaded with grains and nuts and dried fruit, just like a bowl of oatmeal.
So you're telling me that tomorrow morning I can eat cookies for breakfast?
Uh…yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying.
SHUT UP!
Hey relax, will you.
How come I never hear you get this excited when I offer you a bowl of oatmeal?
Oh….and stop saying shut up or I'm giving your cookies to Muppet!
If I were a gambling man I'd be willing to bet that any of you that make these little flavor bombs will experience a conversation eerily like the one I just recounted. Why? Because as weird a concept as breakfast cookies might be to those of us masquerading as adults, the whole idea is even more bizarre to our kids. I can't even imagine what my reaction would have been to my mom telling me she had baked me cookies for breakfast, I probably would have peed myself.
Anyway….you've been warned.
I came across the idea for these lovelies in the January issue of Bon Appétit in the form of Almond-Cranberry Quinoa Cookies. They pitched them as a great quick breakfast alternative, and when I thought about how my kids would bow down before me if I made these for them, I put them on the "to-make" list. Then, after chatting a few days later with my friend Gina who told me she had already tried the recipe and that they were rock-star awesome, I moved them to the tippity-top of the "to-make" list, and the rest as they say is history.
As I often do, I decided to tweak the recipe a bit, partly due to personal taste, partly due to the stark reality of my pantry situation, and partly because I just can't help myself. I kept the basic quinoa-oat base of the cookie, but then switched a bunch of ingredients and their quantities to come up with a Blueberry-Coconut-Pecan version of these little breakfast goodies. And yes, they ARE rock-star good!
Go forth and make these, and prepare yourself for the tidal wave of gratitude that will surely flow from your kids…..it's pretty cool.
Cheers – Steve
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup cooked quinoa, cool
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cups dried blueberries
- 1/2 cup unsweetened, large flaked coconut
- 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375℉
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.
- Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a standing mixer, cream the butter, sugar and honey with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time, giving the dough enough time to incorporate the first egg before adding the second. Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest and cinnamon and mix to combine.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the flour, mixing until just incorporated. Pull the mixing bowl from the stand and hand-stir in the quinoa, oats, blueberry, pecans, and coconut.
- Spoon the dough in 2 tablespoon portions onto the 2 baking sheets, spacing them about an inch apart. bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and transfer to an air-tight container when fully cooled.