These Healthy Breakfast Cookies are bursting with great ingredients like peanut butter, cranberries, walnuts, pepitas, sunflower seeds, rolled oats, and more! They make the perfect grab-and-go breakfast that, surprisingly, will keep you full for hours.
Want more healthy breakfast ideas? They try our Chilaquiles with Scrambled Eggs, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, or Easy Breakfast Quesadillas.
Are Cookies Okay for Breakfast?
I would say a resounding yes if the cookies are jam-packed with this many excellent ingredients. Just having one of these cookies for breakfast and some fresh fruit lasts me the whole morning.
They are so filling, nutritious, delicious, and also gluten-free. We have made this recipe endless times, making them even better as we go!! These cookies will give you the energy you need to keep going all morning long.
Now I wouldn’t recommend grabbing a bag of cookies from the grocery store and thinking you would have the same benefits of these cookies. Store-bought cookies are very high in fats and are a poor choice really for any time of the day.
Helpful Items For This Recipe
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3 Piece Baker’s Delight Set, 1 Pack, Aluminum
Oven-Safe, Dishwasher-Safe 100% Stainless Steel Cooling and Baking Rack, Set of 2
What are in Breakfast Cookies?
These ingredients are easy to find at most grocery stores. Even pepitas or pumpkin seeds are now a popular choice on the shelves. Try and get the best quality for all your ingredients. A store like a bulk food store can be really helpful if you don’t want larger quantities of ingredients. You can buy exactly what you need therefore saving you money.
Ingredients
Peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) – Get a good brand of peanut butter and one that isn’t loaded with sugar, as you will get the sweetness from the brown sugar too. Peanut butter is a healthy choice; it is loaded with vitamin E, magnesium, iron, selenium, and vitamin B6. You also can use other kinds of nut butter like almond butter etc.
Brown sugar, firmly packed – Brown sugar has the benefit of having molasses added, so you will get not only sweetness but flavor when adding this sugar to cookies like these ones.
Vanilla extract – Even a little goes a long way but don’t use artificial vanilla but the real thing.
Cinnamon – I always use good-quality cinnamon to get the best flavor. I love using a local spice merchant to get my spices; it really makes a difference in all my cooking and baking.
Eggs – Wholesome eggs are needed in cookies to bind everything together.
Rolled oats – Rolled oats are crazy good for you and have the benefits of lots of fiber and protein. They also keep you feeling full longer. If wanting the cookie to be gluten-free, then make sure your oats have not been contaminated with flour and are certified gluten-free oats.
Dried cranberries – Not only do these little fruits have a load of antioxidants and vitamins, but they pack a lot of flavor into our cookies.
Roasted pepitas – Pumpkin seeds or pepitas are full of vitamins and minerals and make an excellent crunchy addition to these cookies. They provide a punch of manganese and vitamin K plus zinc and phosphorus too.
Roasted and salted sunflower seeds – Sunflower seeds are a good immune booster as they are also loaded with zinc. These cookies just may help you fight off that nasty cold.
Walnuts, chopped – Walnuts are a healthy choice, they have a high amount of polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, which can lower your bad cholesterol, but again they leave a lovely crunch and flavor to the cookies.
How to Make Breakfast Cookies
These cookies come together like a dream even though they are full of nutty, fruity, and wholesome ingredients and have no flour, so they are naturally gluten-free.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs. Mix with the stand mixer or a hand blender until smooth.
Add the oats, cranberries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, and walnuts to the bowl and mix until just combined.
Using a 2 Tbsp scoop, place the dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Using your hand, press the dough into a cookie shape on the pan. You can also place the dough into your hand, whichever you find better to shape the cookie. Make sure you leave at least 1 inch of space between each cookie.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 -15 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes; this will help them firm up.
Serve them warm or allow them to cool completely and store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. These cookies also freeze well.
Recipe Pro Tips!
These wonderful breakfast cookies are filling and delicious. For storage and alternate ingredients, here are our pro tips.
- Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.
- Store in the refrigerator for 7 days in an air-tight container.
- For longer storage, these cookies freeze very well and, again, in an air-tight container, will last up to 3 months. Just grab one in the morning. Let defrost for 30 minutes, and you are good to grab and go.
- Alternate with other dried fruit ingredients like raisins, apricots, dried blueberries, cherries, etc.
- Alternate with other nuts and seeds like pecans, almonds, peanuts, cashews, chia seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, etc.
- Try other nut butter like sunflower seed butter, almond butter, and more.
How Many Calories in a Breakfast Cookie?
The calories per breakfast cookie are high as they are loaded with ingredients. Nuts and seeds are higher in calories, but you will last on one cookie for the whole morning if you have it with fresh fruit. The calories are 275 per cookie, and they are so filling. I recommend only one cookie per serving, so these cookies will last a long time with the recipe making 20 cookies.
I love these cookies and am so happy to share the recipe with you!! Enjoy!!
Healthy Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups peanut butter smooth or crunchy
- 3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup roasted pepitas
- 1/4 cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs. Mix with the stand mixer or a hand blender until smooth.
- Add the oats, cranberries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, and walnuts to the bowl and mix until just combined.
- Using a 2 Tbsp scoop, place the dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Using your hand, press the dough into a cookie shape on the pan. You can also place the dough into your hand, whichever you find better to shape the cookie. Make sure you leave at least 1 inch of space between each cookie.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 -15 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes; this will help them firm up.
- Serve them warm or allow them to cool completely and store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. These cookies also freeze well.
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