Cookies for breakfast? Of course when they are Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies. These are loaded with high energy, great for you ingredients. This cookie batter comes together quick. It’s got gluten free oat flour, fresh apples, almond butter, thick greek yogurt and sweet potato purée. You can also add in a handful of toasted nuts, dried fruit or chocolate chips. Or you can smear a giant dab of peanut or almond butter on top.
I came up with this cookie recipe on our recent ski trip to Telluride, CO. We love having huge batches of whole grain baked goods to grab for active, busy days on the slopes. One of the mornings when I was up at my usual 4am I decided to experiment with cookies for breakfast and came up with these.
These were stashed in the pockets of my ski jacket and were munched throughout the day. They would be great for summertime hikes too.
I am a big fan of healthy cookies for breakfast. They are decadence in disguise. Two more breakfast cookie we love are Cranberry Pumpkin Ricotta Cookies and Peanut Butter Maple Oatmeal Cookies which are another gluten free option. It is very important in this house that we sit at the table to enjoy our meals. On the off chance that time is too tight, these cookies can easily be packed and brought on the road. They are also great packed in lunch boxes.
Do you ever have a cookie recipe that you make for breakfast?
Serving Suggestions
- Not only for breakfast: enjoy these cookies as a guilt free dessert, anytime snack or pre/post workout mini meal.
- Have them crumbled over thick greek yogurt, frozen yogurt or lightly sweetened ricotta cheese.
- You could also go “guilt” if you serve ’em up with a big bowl of ice cream!
Breakfast Cookies Recipe Links
- Banana Oatmeal Date Cookies The Sweets Life
- Cranberry Pumpkin Ricotta Cookies MarlaMeridith.com
- Cranberry Pecan Breakfast Cookies Sweet Diversions
- Happy Wholesome Breakfast Cookies Foy update
- Oat Coffee Crinkles Running Foodie
I love breakfast cookies! Any excuse to eat a cookie 🙂
These look delicious!
Love these! Cookies for breakfast – guilt free!
It’s great to see a recipe with Stevia drops in it. I began baking with Stevia in the Raw and sometimes have a difficult time converting a recipe. These cookies look scrumptious and nutritious. My whole family would enjoy them. I sent the link to a few friends as well who are going gluten-free and feeling overwhelmed. Your photos are beautiful as always 🙂
Sarah: About 95% of my baking is done with stevia. I am a total convert. I never felt better and it is so much easier to keep weight in check. My whole family loves stevia sweetened baked goods and cannot tell the difference between refined sugar and the stevia. They have actually grown to like the sugar free baked goods better! They leave us feeling so much healthier when we are done eating them (no energy dips and crashes.)
Thanks for passing this link around. I hope your friends enjoy this recipe. Have you ever tried the vanilla stevia drops?? It has so much flavor and the vanilla they use (Singing Dog) is awesome.
Yum! I LOVE breakfast cookies!
These cookies sound amazing! Great recipe.
i’m all about breakfast cookies…they feel like such a treat but when they’re healthy I feel good about it too! yum 🙂
LOVE THESE!! And love how they are nestled just so on a beautiful cloud of white dreams… amazing pictures and recipe girl!!
Amanda: “nestled just so on a beautiful cloud of white dreams” I love that!!! Had to slow down to make that cloud oh so perfect! xo
How fun! A guilt-free treat for breakfast!
I have to make these! They look incredible! Your blog is gorgeous, Marla…absolutely gorgeous!
Nicole: Thanks so much! Your kind words make me so happy & bring great encouragement. We have known each other since I started this ‘lil project 🙂
I would love one right now. My daughter just saw them and said, “Can we make those?”
Alison: I love that! My kids do the same thing when I am on everyone’s blogs 🙂
OMG, I’d love to eat that every morning! They look so divine. Pretty presentation.
Cheers,
Rosa
How healthy are these? And they still make my mouth water!
cookies for breakfast? Yes, please!
I don’t think it gets much better than healthy, nourishing cookies for breakfast! Talk about the perfect way to start the day. Once the weather gets a bit warmer I could totally see myself packing up a few of these and heading off for one of my long bikerides!
Oh Marla!
This is MY kind of COOKIE!
Love cookies I can ENJOY and know they are GOOD for me!
I’m taking this recipe to my nutritionist when I meet with her this week!
This may have to be a STAPLE in our HOME!
I’d make this right now if I had a Sweet Potato and Gluten Free Flour.
Gotta study up more on this Gluten~Free thing!
Do you get up at 4 a.m. every morning!
I would LOVE to get up at 5!
How do you do it?
I just adore you!
YOU are my ROLE model!
Seriously! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
LOVE your HEALTHY cooking!
I really need to spend a day over here copying recipes!
ENJOY the day!
xo
Teresa: I do hope you try a bunch of my guilt free treats. I know you will be so happy with the flavors and how you will feel after.
Even though these cookies are packed with great for you ingredients we always need to be mindful of portion sizes. Portions that are too large equal caloric overload no matter how healthy the ingredients are.
The nice thing with this recipe & my other “everyday” baked goods is they are filled with whole grains and super foods.
I am enjoying experimenting with the gluten free thing. So many folks these days have issues with gluten. I think it is a very important topic & also very easy to accommodate. xo
Yum!! These sound delicious!
I love eating cookies for breakfast!
I love the Quaker breakfast cookies but for some reason
I’ve never thought to made breakfast cookies myself. I bet these
are 100X more tasty and healthy, and I love your easy recipe! Such
a great, creative idea. I’ll have to give these a try sometime
soon. Thanks for sharing!
Georgia: The packaged breakfast cookies tend to have a decent amount of added sugars and they can get a bit pricey. With your cooking skills these would be a breeze! Can’t wait to hear if you give them a whirl 🙂
Those look really wonderful and would be awesome with
Nutella smeared on top.
Carolina: Nutella sounds like a wonderful idea smeared on top of these cookies!
These look very delicious. I was curious about the fat
content though with the almond butter and greek yogurt. Would
happen to know?
Tami: Great question about the fat in these cookies. The whole batch (16 cookies) has just over 20 grams of fat which is hardly anything. Almond butter and peanut butter are healthy fats that are awesome as part of a balanced diet. Whole eggs are great too, best when they are organic. The yogurt used in these cookies is fat free. I generally eat 2-3 of these cookies as one serving and that is only few grams of fat. I also add nut butter to satiate me even more.
Another cool thing is there is a great carb/protein/healthy fat ratio in these cookies. They can go way beyond breakfast and be enjoyed for pre or post workouts too.
Oh my goodness these look so delicious!! What a way to
start the day!
cookies for breakfast – you are my kind of gal. this reminds me of an granola bar that I make. once you have your base(which you do), the add ins are endless! thanks, Marla, for yet another healthy treat!
Susan: You are right, these cookies are a great “base.” Add-ins are fun too. I like to bake up a big batch-plain for me and chocolate chips for the kids & hubs.
These look wonderful, Marla! I love anything that’s fast,
easy, and combines cookie + healthy in the same sentence 🙂 I have
been making microwave “cakes” with bananas, oatmeal, cinnamon
& sugar, etc. and nuking them. It’s the best I can do when
I dont want to turn on my oven and have a kid being like…but mom,
I’m hungry 🙂
Averie: I have been loving your microwave cakes. It is so helpful when we can toss together all these healthy ingredients to make treats! I gotta try your zapped oat cakes 🙂
Cookies for breakfast makes me very happy! I love all the
wholesome ingredients in these. The yogurt and egg for filling
protein gives them much needed breakfast staying power. Yum! Your
recipes are always impressive Marla and beautifully photographed
too.
Heather: Yes, you are so right. The Greek yogurt, egg and almond butter add a good amount of protein as well as healthy fats. These cookies will help get you through the toughest workouts! Thanks for your sweet compliments 🙂
Yum, these look amazing, what fun to have a cookie for breakfast that’s also healthy. An all in one cookie, with fruit, veggies, grains and protein!
Jeanette: Yup, that’s the way we roll – all in one. Fruit, veggies, grains & protein. Disguised as cookie!
I am going to have to try these! On a side note – my MIL has celiac disease so I am pretty familiar with gluten free ingredients/food. Now, my husband is thinking he has it as well:( He is taking these next two weeks to elimate gluten from his diet to see if it helps his stomach issues…..question….I always thought oats were out of the question? Or is this oat flour specially made? Help!
Ally: There are certified gluten free oat flour and old fashioned rolled oats out there. There is no one in our house with gluten intolerance, so please be sure to check with your doctor if you have further concerns. Here are a few GF products that I found:
GF Oat Flour Bob’s Red Mill
GF Old Fashioned Rolled Oats Bob’s Red Mill
Bob’s Red Mill is really on top of the gluten free thing. Their line is huge and the quality is awesome!
<3 <3 <3 that these are gluten free. Going to be trying out a batch asap! My little gluten free guy is going to lurve them I'm sure!
These look great! I love eating cookies for breakfast but usually the ones I eat are not good for me…haha.
You’ve managed to pack so much nutrition in these cookies, with all that energy no wonder you’re up at 4am!
Cookies for breakfast! I like!
Breakfast cookies for the win! Love having something like this around, especially when I’m just not that motivated to make up something quick to eat before I run out. Keeping them in the freezer is a great option too.
I KNEW there was something about you that I liked! Anyone who recommends cookies for breakfast – gluten free cookies at that – HAS to be some kind of kindred spirit! I thank you sincerely for this recipe and please know I’m really looking forward to trying it…soon!
I will be trying these! They sound perfect for hikes, like you mentioned. Great post!
These look amazing Marla! And a cookie for breakfast…I’m in!! I have been experimenting with gluten-free baking lately and have really enjoyed it. Love the combination of flavors with the sweet potato and apples in these cookies. Thanks again for a fabulous recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
These little cookies are powerhouses of nutrients. We are
always looking for something quick to snack on before heading to
the gym. I can’t wait to try these!
Yum. What’s better than cookies for breakfast?
What a delightful treat this would be for breakfast! I love
the almond butter and the sweet potato puree here, yum!
SO glad I followed the link from a retweet on twitter! Best
find of the day…week…month!!! I am in love with healthy
breakfast cookies! My kids are so wonderful to eat anything healthy
I put in front of them, but cookies really score me big points of
love! 🙂 THANK YOU for being so creative and healthy with your
recipe! Can’t wait to try these (and the links to your other
cookies, too!).
I have never made a breakfast cookie, but I’m sure my kids
would delight in them! Great recipe, Marla.
Yes please! Even better with the PB spread!
I’ll never complain about cookies for breakfast 🙂 I
actually just made cookies with Greek yogurt the other day – they
don’t seem nearly as nutritious as yours, though!
Marla, this is sure a treat for breakfast…looks
delicious. Love all the ingredients in it 🙂
I bet my daughter would love these Marla!
Delicious and what a clever presentation, I know my boys
would love these!
Cookies for breakfast sound like a great idea to me! These look like a great thing to wake up to 🙂
Oooh, the perfect snack to re-energize with. Plus, it beats store-bought granola bars any day. 😉
These look so delicious and nutritious too… what a great way to start the day!
They sound divine and cookies for breakfast would get anyone out of bed! 😀
i have breakfast cookies. They’re called “granola.” 🙂 I’ve admitted to myself that they’re just cookie crumbs. Delicious.
I love the almond butter in these. Yummm. I may have to whip up a batch. You’re almost making me want to try stevia. I’ve been scared to because I just hate hate hate the way fake sugars taste. But I see that you’re saying it doesn’t taste like that (and it’s not really fake, just alternative.). I really like brown rice syrup as my go to sugar alternative actually. Not that it’s low calorie or anything.
Mariko: Your post has made it clear again how much I need to write a post that is only about stevia. I only use a few brands. If you use the wrong ones the results could be awful, tasteless and just weird. No one wants that. I want your first experience & everyone’s for that matter to be amazing. I will start working on a post to clear everything up for my readers. I want us all to have the same wonderful experiences! There is really no need for refined sugar (or higher calorie natural sweeteners) in day to day baking, sweet drinks, parfaits etc. if you don’t want it. If you tasted my baking you would never know the difference. Really.
I would love to see a post about stevia! I haven’t had much
luck baking with it and would love to know what brands you
recommend.
These look fantastic! The perfect thing to grab on the way out the door!
apple oats, what a great way to start the day! 🙂 is there a substitute for crunchy almond butter? would you recommend good ol’ crunchy peanut butter?
Min: Yes, do try these with PB. I am always a fan of all natural crunchy peanut butter. Just thought I would give you guys a nutty twist in this recipe with the almond butter. I have tried these cookies both ways and we love them no matter what!
I LOVE the cast of nutritional all-stars in these cookies! This makes them breakfast-worthy for sure. And they look so tasty, I bet they could double as a guilt free dessert. My favorite kind.
Joanne: Of course, these cookies could easily double as a guilt free dessert, anytime snack or pre/post workout mini meal. Enjoy them crumbled over thick greek yogurt, frozen yogurt or lightly sweetened ricotta cheese. You could also go “guilt” if you serve ’em up with a big bowl of ice cream!
I posted my Breakfast cookie recipe in the fall and I recall you saying your would be developing a recipe – you have certainly outdone yourself on this one! Gluten free makes it that much healthier than mine, for sure!!! The only thing similar is the title – which I love about you, Marla. You take your inspiration and run past the finish line with it every time. Great photos.
Pink is for Marla. For sure.
🙂
Valerie
Valerie: I love busting through that finish line at full speed. Nothing understated, everything bold and big. Yet all in moderation if that makes sense. As my blog grows and my recipes get more refined I am getting to be known as the “queen of the healthy sweets” and I dig that 🙂 Wait until you see what I am posting tomorrow. Answers to a lot of the questions my readers have been asking about stevia, etc.
These are a great idea Marla! I need something for my daughter on school mornings that is grab and go. Perfect!
This is such a great idea. Perfect on-the-go food and good for you too. Love it!
I’m always letting my kids eat weird things for breakfast—cold pizza, pie, whatever. Now I’ll make these and not feel so guilty.
Jaime: You just reminded me how much I need to post breakfast pizza. Now I will obsess on that until I do!!
peanut butter on top would be PERFECT! great breakfast option, marla. 🙂
What beautiful breakfast cookies! I loved that you used
Barney Butter, it’s my favorite almond butter too. I can’t get
enough of it. 🙂 These cookies sound soooo good!
These are fabulous Marla! Kind of like a homemade energy bar all wrapped up in a beautiful cookie form. I will definitely be whipping up a batch of these for our spring camping trip.
This looks INCREDIBLE! Apple and oats go so well together…and in cookie form? Yum! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love oatmeal raisin cookies but sometimes find myself
picking out the raisins…the apple and oats are a great texture
combination. The warm smell of apple and oats takes me back to
childhood.
Georgia: Silly girl 😉 My kids pick out the raisins too. Sometimes I like them and sometimes they get a bit too sweet. I agree with you, the apple is a nice change for comforting oatmeal cookies.
Yummy gluten free! I love the idea of having these to grab for a snack too, topped as you did with almond butter. Beautiful.
Steph: So glad you like my breakfast cookies recipe. I am going to be diving further into gluten free recipes. I love GF baking and honestly I don’t miss the wheat at all when I leave it out. I am getting used to the textures and flavors of all the other great GF flours out there.
Gorgeous cookies! I love your photography. I’m with you-
cookies for breakfast should be an option!!!
I can imagine the smell of this freshly apple cookies out from my oven. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait to try this one when my grandparents go here.
I love the idea of apple in cookies – these look so delicious, Marla! Love your photos, too – absolutely beautiful!
I just saw a pineapple cookie recipe and now apple in cookies. I think these cookie recipes involving fruits are the best and the most nutritious one. I think I can make these entire fruit cookie recipe for our food exhibit. Thanks for the idea.
Melanie: I would love to try pineapple in cookies. Think that needs to go on the to-do list. Thanks for the great idea!
Oh my! These look amazing! I can’t wait to try them out!
I found these to be a little plain, so I put in tsp white sugar, and 1 tsp brown sugar, along with ~1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut and 2 tsp flax seeds. I tasted the batter and it was delicious!!
Kathy, I am so happy that you made adaptations that worked out for you. I try to keep my baked goods unfussy and open to interpretation and experimentation. I love your idea of the coconut. I often sprinkle some stevia on the top of mine for a little extra sweetness….just depends on my mood. Thanks for stopping by!
Marla, how can I adapt these for dairy-free? I don’t need to remove the eggs, and maybe not the yogurt (because it is low lactose), but definitely the milk. Any suggestions? Coconut milk or rice milk maybe? Thank you!
Hi Sarah, I would try the coconut milk. Let me know how they turn out 🙂
trying these tonight- with applesauce and doing egg free and dairy free (yogurt ok for us) so using almond milk and a “flax seed egg”
i found the batter a bit plain also, so i added some agave nectar, some dried cranberries and some whole oats for more texture…can’t wait to see how they turn out…
I’m excited about these. Baseball season is coming up and we’ll be up at the ball park all day on Saturdays. This would be a much better choice than the burgers, fries, and hotdogs (although you gotta have a hotdog at least once at a game during baseball season.) I love the idea of sweet potato puree. Thanks again for providing another alternative to unhealthy snack food.
Love your site and these cookies look great…I’ve been looking for some good options for HEALTHY “car snacks” for the kids (I always hate giving them the packaged granola bars, etc. that seem to have way to much sugar). Have you had any feedback on how much regular sugar and/or honey to use if you don’t use Stevia? I have no idea how much to start trying with…don’t really want to eat too much raw batter since there’s egg, but don’t want to waste a lot of ingredients either. I’m happy to error on the side of less sweet and add from there. My kids don’t seem to WANT lots of sweetness, which makes it all the more painful to give them store-bought sugary snacks…since I know they’d be perfectly happy with a fraction of the sugar…and giving them the store-bought is training them to then WANT the overly sweet stuff. Ugh!
Thanks again!
Deb, it is so true that the store bought stuff trains our palates to crave waaayy to sweet.
Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to try these cookies with any other sweetener. When I sometimes replace the stevia in my recipes I usually start with a 1/4 cup of honey or maple & taste. You might need to up the baking time a smidge too. Let me know if this works out.
this looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!
These had a nice texture, I had to change a few things (i.e. added extra egg b/c I did not have yogurt, applesauce instead of puree). I will say they were not sweet at all. I used a 3/4 dropper of stevia and to me they were really bland. So I ate mine with jelly and I put a drizzle of icing on for the kids. Definitely would benefit from some sugar, honey, etc… Maybe dates would be a good addition too
Hi Adrienne, sounds like you made some great adaptations to this recipe. To make them sweeter you could always double up on the amount of stevia used too. I always taste our batter & sweeten before I bake 🙂
this sounds super yummy, healthy and filling. I will try it and have them at work for my mid-morning snack. thanks!
These sound yummy! I only have stevia powder. Could I use that with vanilla extract? If so, how much? Thanks!
Nicole, I generally add stevia powder to taste. I also use one without filler, so only a small amount is needed. Here is the link to one I use.
I don’t have oat flour…can I sub whole wheat flour?? Is it the same ratio??
Kim, go ahead and try it. The oat flour has a lighter flavor though. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Just found you through Pinterest and these cookies look AMAZING! I am already seeing tons of healthy and delicious ideas here and I can tell your site will be one I’ll visit again and again. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Bailey, thanks so much for your comment! Hope you get to try those cookies soon. Glad you are having fun checking out my recipes 🙂
Any suggestions on how to make these without the nut butter? Love love love the ideas of a GF breakfast cookie – just need to figure out how to avoid both gluten and nuts!
Use sunflower butter instead of the nut butter
Thank you for another wonderful recipe! I found this tonight and, it being 9:00 pm was not about to run to the store, but I knew I had most of the called-for ingredients. I thought I would share what I used in case others find themselves in the same situation! I should start by ‘fessing up that, try as I might, I dislike Stevia in baking. That said, here’s what I used: Per your suggestion, I used applesauce (didn’t have pumpkin at home), 1 C oat flour + 1 C whole wheat pastry flour, vanilla Greek yogurt, and 1/4 C palm sugar (trying to get rid of it…. not as healthy as I originally thought – LOL). I also added 1t vanilla. Some may prefer them a bit sweeter than these, but I think they are just right, especially for a “breakfast cookie”. Thank you again!
Hi Vicky! Love when you guys take the liberty to make adaptations that suit you & what you got in the house. I will try your suggestions as they sound wonderful. Thanks for sharing!
Creativity on this recipe is a knock-out! Totally answers lots of needs! hardly wait to eat!