Yesterday I spent some time recovering from the almost 4 days without power...laundry, shopping, and cooking. I wanted to make something for the kids snack time at school, something healthy that they would enjoy eating. Little Red is a bit of a picky eater. He will pretty much consume any carb I put in front of him, but we have to negotiate for vegetables and any fruit that isn't apples, mangos or pear. I was looking online for some inspiration for this recipe and went to the Food Network site to see what they might have that would be healthy.
Not to be disappointed, I found just what I was looking for on Ellie Krieger's recipes. She had something called "Breakfast Cookies". Well, now we're talking. We've all got a sweet tooth here, and the kids aren't unfamiliar with the concept of cookies, but for breakfast? I knew they would be on board, but I had to be sure that it would be remotely healthy, too. Maestro helped me make them, and they came out soft and chewy and yummy. The only problem with them was, I forgot to leave out the nuts so that the kids could bring them to school. Their classrooms are nut-free, so anything sent for snacks (which they eat in the classroom) has to be nut free. So, they became the cookies they actually ate before they left for school this morning. No problem getting those down, no negotiations with Little Red, he even wanted milk to wash them down. Kid also hates to drink anything, I have no idea why.
I did double the recipe so I could get a few days out of them. Doubling it worked fine and I'm sure they would freeze fine as well. Next time, I'll remember to leave out the nuts and will probably replace them with ground flax seeds or oat bran. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Ellie Krieger's Breakfast Cookies
Makes 12 large cookies
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (didn't have any, used white whole wheat and it worked fine)
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbls butter
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c dark brown sugar (I used maple syrup, worked great and added a nice flavor)
3 Tbls granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 c strained carrot baby food (I used my applesauce that I canned this fall, didn't have baby food, also worked nicely)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c bran cereal flakes
1/3 c raisins (next time I'm going to try mixing dried cranberries and raisins for a change)
1/3 c walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes until fragrant, chopped
Instructions:
Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium size bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat and additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive then traditional cookie dough.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3-4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use the palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for about 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you try them, please leave a comment to let me know how they came out and if you enjoyed them.
Happy Cookie breakfast to ya!
~Peacemom
