Cookies for breakfast. On Monday! You know this week is going to be good.
I didn’t make them by myself. Oh no — I had a little helper.
She was a tad bit excited.
This is Morgan, the sister of the baby with the crazy faces and my best friend’s daughter. We hit it off instantly two years ago because, well, we’re a lot alike.
She might be the most well-behaved, polite, and genuinely sweet child I’ve ever met. Which leads me to one simple conclusion: I can’t have kids unless someone guarantees me an exact clone of her. Totally reasonable. I’m all for fairness.
Oh — and she wore a tiny toddler apron. Absolutely adorable.
I told Morgan we were making “healthy” cookies — breakfast cookies — and she was totally on board. I didn’t mention that sometimes I eat regular cookies for breakfast. She actually eats things like broccoli and carrots, and I didn’t want her to think any less of me.
She helped with everything: mashing the bananas, whisking the egg, dumping in the flour, and sneaking chocolate chips. I kept telling her to “smile really big!” so I could plaster her adorable face all over my site. She complied, even while eating cookies and possibly wanting to punch me. I adore this kid.
I was nervous this last-minute mash-up of ingredients would fail and taste like cardboard. Thankfully, I was wrong. These cookies turned out great.
They’re not overly sweet but have good flavor from banana, honey, brown sugar, cherries and, of course, chocolate — a mandatory breakfast ingredient. The texture is somewhat cakey but not as dense as traditional banana cookies. They taste just healthy enough that you can comfortably call them breakfast cookies. Not that I ever need a reason to eat cookies for breakfast.
Breakfast Cookies
Makes about 12–16 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 medium ripe banana, mashed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter, melted
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup dried cherries (or dried fruit of your choice)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). In a bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and flaxseed. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, mashed banana, melted and cooled butter, and honey; mix until combined. It’s fine if small banana pieces remain.
Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture using a large spoon until the batter comes together. Stir in the melted peanut butter. Fold in chocolate chips and dried cherries until evenly distributed.
Using a 1/4-cup measure, ice cream scoop, or large spoon, drop mounds of batter onto a nonstick baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 10–12 minutes, until set and lightly golden at the edges. The cookies won’t spread much; they’ll stay fairly tall and slightly puffy.
Looks like Mondays can be pretty alright after all.