amazing breakfast cookies. (gluten-free)

The best thing to come out of my kitchen yet – and my first attempt at improv baking. yep.. I’d say it’s a success.

I literally can’t call them anything else. These cookies are just as delicious as they are nourishing for you – protein packed, full of all the goodness that you need to keep going in the morning. (Flax, chia, and hemp seeds supply essential fatty acids & amino acids. Dark chocolate for antioxidants and deliciousness.) But they’re like dessert. I almost didn’t take enough photos because I kept eating them. So let me cut to the chase – here is the recipe for the most delicious, amazing breakfast cookies I’ve ever eaten.

before baking…

and after.

Amazing Breakfast Cookies

• Servings: makes about 3 dozen cookies
• Time: 40 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Protein and nutrient packed cookies that are just slightly sweet and full of flavor.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 tbs coconut milk
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• ½ tbs vanilla extract
• 3 tbs coconut oil, warmed to melt
• ½ c almond butter
• 3 tbs raw honey
• 1 c oat flour
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 4 c rolled oats
• ¼ c chia seeds
• ¼ c hulled hemp seeds
• ¼ c ground flax seeds
• 1½ c dark chocolate chips/chunks (the darker, the better)
• ½ c chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with coconut milk until frothy.
3. Add mashed bananas, vanilla extract, coconut oil, almond butter, and honey. Beat until well-blended, being careful not to over-beat.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together oat flour, sea salt, baking powder, and spices.
5. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet mixture, stirring with each addition. Add seeds, oats, walnuts, and dark chocolate, and mix well. (If mixture seems too dry, add a little coconut milk. If too wet, slowly add more oats. It should be a little wet, but not runny.)
6. Spoon dough balls onto greased baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are just starting to brown.

There you have it. Feel free to substitute any other nut butter for the almond butter, and you can sub additional flax or chia for the hemp seeds if you don’t have any on hand. These are gluten free, as long as you use GF labeled ingredients! Refrigerate or freeze extra cookies for later.

Did I mention, these are perfect with coffee?? Good luck eating anything else for breakfast. Enjoy!

dark chocolate.

Recently, a health-conscious friend of mine was lamenting to me how she just can’t give up having a sweet after dinner every day. My solution for that is always dark chocolate. She was overjoyed (as any reasonable chocolate-lover would be). Yes – you can still enjoy sweets when you’re eating well! Dark chocolate in particular is pretty incredible because… well, it’s chocolate. Duh. Okay, but really, it has lower sugar content as sweets go, and some great health benefits as well!

I was reminded of this incident while grocery shopping and looking at, of all things, soup. I’m currently on a no-added-sugar eating plan, and I was shocked to find that most of the soups had at least 8 or 9 grams of added sugar in a serving! Sure enough, “organic cane sugar” was the second ingredient. But surely, if supposedly healthy soup contains this much sugar… there can be no problem with a little dark chocolate!

If plain dark chocolate is getting a little boring, make your own chocolates by melting some dark chocolate down on low heat in a double boiler (I like to use a Pyrex cup, since it is heat-resistant, in a saucepan full of water). Stir in a drop of peppermint essential oil, a handful of chopped almonds or walnuts, dried cranberries… the possibilities are endless.

and remember: dark chocolate is always the answer.