These hearty vegan breakfast cookies are packed with nutrient-dense ingredients and all the macronutrients you need to start your day!
“I FORGOT THE SUGAR!” What I thought to myself as I literally face-palmed and planned my fourth attempt of these cookies. Forgetting sugar seems to be a pattern among my baking failures; I did the same in high school.
In my freshman year of high school, I was in a foods class with a very strict teacher. She required us to have our mise en place approved by her before we were allowed to begin cooking. The main problem was that we never had enough custard cups or bowls to hold all the ingredients. One bowl for a pinch of salt?! Whatta waste of dish washing.
On blueberry muffin day (or some other muffin day, I don’t exactly remember which), my group and I were in a kitchen whirlwind trying to get our batter into the oven ASAP so we could have warm muffins before the class ended. After throwing the 6-cup pan into the hot oven, we got started on cleaning up. I started clearing the counters and handed our dishwasher the empty mixing bowls and the countless pretty-much-clean custard cups from our mise en place. Hidden behind one of the largest bowls was our pre-measured brown sugar. OH CRAP WE FORGOT TO ADD THE SUGAR! (Sound familiar? Aiya…) This particular teacher made foods class more stressful than necessary because she would grade our final product. A 100% unsweetened muffin would not taste good… at all. In a panic we pulled our half-baked muffins out, scooped out the batter, and roughly mixed in the sugar. To the friends I fed after that class, I appreciate your tolerance and bravery.
I tested these cookies a total of four times before finally publishing it for you to see. I was certain I nailed it on the second time but wanted to make it once more just to double check. Of course I had to forget the sugar on the day I planned to photograph them. And of course I wouldn’t realize that until after I washed all the dishes (i.e. I didn’t want to rewash everything) To put you at ease, I can tell you I didn’t try and save these vegan breakfast cookies with the same tactic. Instead, I made it a fourth time. Thus you can be sure these vegan breakfast cookies were very thoroughly tested; I even know what they taste like unsweetened (which isn’t terrible, just kinda like a bland crumbly scone).
These vegan breakfast cookies are especially great because they’re 1) flexible and 2) well-rounded. Let me expand on that. They’re flexible in a sense that you can substitute many of the ingredients to suit your preferences. Allergic to almond butter or prefer another nut? Swap it for sunflower seed, peanut, or cashew! You can use whatever dried fruit you like, or leave them out and add in more chocolate (I won’t judge). The combinations of mix-ins are endless, so have fun with it! These cookies also have a well-rounded nutritional profile: healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and plant-based proteins are all part of this simple recipe. Thus, these cookies are the perfect busy-day, on-the-run, fueling breakfast!
- 1 tbsp ground chia seeds + 3 tbsp water
- ⅓ cup natural nut or seed butter (I used almond butter)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil (or any other liquid oil)
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt
- 1 cup oat flour
- ⅓ cup oats (quick or rolled)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
- ¼ cup dried fruit*, chopped if large (I used cherries)
- ¼ cup chocolate chunks
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium or large mixing bowl, make the chia egg by combining the ground chia seeds and water in a small bowl. Add the nut butter, oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and mix with a spatula until homogeneous.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix until everything is incorporated and a dough forms.
- Divide dough into 8 to 10 portions and roll into a ball. Place dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet and press down until about ½" to ¾" thick; smooth around the edges as needed. The dough will not spread much in the oven so you can place them relatively close together if necessary.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-22 minutes, depending on size, until cookies are golden brown. Once done, remove from oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.
Leave a Reply