These are a slight twist on some cookies I made a couple of years back that I pitched as a perfect breakfast treat.
I know, cookies for breakfast….what could be better, huh? Especially if you’ve got kids. I mean can you imagine the love that will be flowing your way when you tell them you’ve made them cookies for breakfast?
I’m not suggesting that you make these a staple of your breakfast routine (though I dare say that they’re considerably healthier than what many folks eat for breakfast), but I love having a bin of these on-hand to pull from when I’m rushing out the door for a morning appointment. They’re a no-mess breakfast alternative to be noshed in the car or on the train that is relatively short on sugar, but high in nutrition from eggs, dried fruit, oats, quinoa, and nuts.
As I often do, I recently revised the original recipe to tweak it a bit, 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 Craisin-Coconut-Pistachio version of these little breakfast goodies.
Go forth and make these, and prepare yourself for the tidal wave of gratitude that will surely flow from your kids…..it’ll be 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 or dark 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, cooled
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup unsweetened, large flaked coconut
- 1 cup roughly chopped pistachios
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, craisins, pistachios, 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.