Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Monster Breakfast Cookies

As a busy wife and mother, I'm always looking for new ways to provide a nutritious and quick breakfast for my family. These breakfast cookies pack a protein punch with a combination of almond butter, chia seeds, and crunchy almond pieces. Plus, you get some hearty omega-3 action from the addition of ground flax seeds. I hope you enjoy these tasty, breakfast-on-the-run style cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (such as Earth Balance)
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder (I use aluminum free.)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tb. chia gel (made from 2 Tb. chia seeds mixed with 1 cup water and allowed to set)
2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 1/2 cups Gluten Free flour blend (I used King Arthur's, but you can use your favorite.) or 
                regular all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups regular or rolled oats (I used half quick, half rolled oats.)
1/3 cup ground flax seeds
1 heaping Tb. almond or peanut butter
1 1/2 cups dried fruit, nuts, coconut, etc.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium sized bowl, cream margarine and coconut oil together. A hand mixer works well for this. Add brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and beat to combine. Spoon chia gel and vanilla extract into mixture and once again beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in flour, oats, flax and nut butter until well combined. Stir nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips of whatever combination you desire into the dough. (I used 2/3 cup chopped almonds, 2/3 cup dried cranberries, and a handful of unsweetened coconut flakes.) 

Using a large ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measure, scoop dough out and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Using the palm of your hand, gently press each cookie into a 4-inch circle. 

Bake for 12 minutes or so, until the tops of the cookies are lightly browned. Cool on the pan for a minute or so. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. After cooled, wrap individual cookies in plastic wrap for optimum freshness. :-)

Yield: 11 cookies
Approx. 298 calories per cookie (This depends on the nut and fruit combos, too.)

Enjoy!