The Ultimate Healthy Breakfast Cookies
Who doesn’t want to eat cookies for breakfast? These breakfast cookies from Good For Your Gut Cookbook are vegan, gluten free, low FODMAP, peanut free, low sugar and packed with plant protein from almond meal + hemp hearts. Just 30 minutes and you’ll have a great vegan breakfast on-the-go!
Breakfast cookies have officially become a thing around here. It started with my old show The Urban Vegetarian, because the breakfast cookies became one of the most popular recipes from the show! So I wanted to see if I could top that for my new gut health cookbook, Good For Your Gut. The dietitian in me wanted them to be nutrient-dense, low in sugar, gluten free and low FODMAP for all of my gut-challenged friends. The cookie lover in me wanted chocolate, lol. Because plant-based recipes should still taste really good and be fun to eat.
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I can’t believe that Good For Your Gut is here!!! I am SO freaking excited to share this book with you. This book contains 90+ plant-based recipes that are delicious and easy to prepare. They’re also designed with your gut health in mind.
The recipes are designed to Protect, Heal and Soothe. Protect recipes are all about high fibre + high in fermentable carbohydrates and prebiotics to help regulate digestion and feed the gut microbiome. Heal recipes are totally low FODMAP for my IBS friends who are doing the temporary low FODMAP diet. And Soothe recipes are gluten free and easier to digest, for those with the most irritated guts who are having difficulty eating whole plant foods. I am particularly proud of the low FODMAP recipes because plant-based low FODMAP recipes are really hard to find online!
Good For Your Gut also contains ~100 pages upfront with everything you need to know about how the digestive system works, what normal gut function looks like and what to do when something is off, whether it’s bloating, constipation or even irritable bowel syndrome.
Okay, now that’s sorted…let’s talk cookies!!
Why you’ll love these breakfast cookies
- They’re easy to make: Just stir, scoop and bake and in 30 minutes start to finish, you’ll be snacking.
- These vegan breakfast cookies are also really delicious!!! Chewy and satisfying, with a gentle sweetness and a little hit of chocolate and zingy ginger.
- They’re good for your gut: these breakfast cookies are gluten free for those with celiac disease, low FODMAP for folks with IBS on a low FODMAP diet and contain plenty of high fibre ingredients like coconut, ground flax, and rolled oats, which contain soluble fibre.
- They’re also healthy enough for an everyday breakfast option. Plenty of plant-based protein from almond flour and hemp hearts, healthy omega 3 fats, and low in added sugars. Just 2 tablespoons of maple syrup sweeten 16 cookies!
How to make these vegan breakfast cookies
These breakfast cookies couldn’t be simpler: just stir, scoop and bake! They only take about 30 minutes from start to finish and they make a great meal prep item for a busy week. They freeze well too.
- Step One: in a medium bowl, stir together the oats, coconut, almond flour, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, ground flax, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Then, stir in the chocolate chips and ginger.
- Step Two: in a small bowl, mash the banana and mix in olive oil and maple syrup. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine.
- Step Three: Scoop using a 1/4 cup (60 ml) measure and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 17-19 minutes at 375F (190C) until bottoms are browned.
Breakfast Cookies Tips, Tricks + Substitutions
- These cookies are not a traditional dough. So use a 1/4 cup (60 ml) scoop and wet hands to avoid sticking as you press the dough into cookies.
- These breakfast cookies won’t spread as they bake, so you can get them all onto a single baking sheet.
- You can swap the mix-ins! Sub any chopped nut or seed for the pumpkin seeds. Don’t love ginger? Add in cranberries or raisins or just extra chocolate!
- If you can, use mini chocolate chips, and be sure to finely dice the ginger. Having smaller mix-ins helps with structure in these cookies.
- You can freeze these cookies easily for a month. They’ll thaw in about 10-15 minutes so you can take them right out of the freezer each morning so no worries about waste!
Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats, gluten free if desired (learn about the benefits of oats!)
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¾ cup almond flour
- ½ cup hemp hearts, (learn about the benefits of hemp hearts!)
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 3 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup mini dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
- 1⅓ cups mashed banana, about 3 medium
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the rolled oats, coconut, almond flour, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking power, and salt. Stir in the crystallized ginger and chocolate chips.
- In a small bowl, mix together the banana, olive oil, and maple syrup until well blended. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine.
- Working with wet hands so the batter does not stick too much, scoop ¼ cup (60 mL) of the batter and pat into 2-inch (5 cm) circles. Place evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet. If the batter starts to stick to your hands, simply rinse them off and keep working with wet hands. The cookies will not spread, so you can easily fit them on one baking sheet.
- Bake until the cookies are golden on the bottom and starting to brown on top, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to fully cool. Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
More healthy vegan breakfast ideas
- 15-Minute Vegan Apple Pie Oatmeal
- Easy Protein-Packed Chickpea Scramble
- Turmeric Ginger Smoothie with Greens
- Vegan Breakfast Sandwich with Chickpea Flour Eggs
- Healthy Vegan Black Bean Breakfast Burrito
Photo Credit: Janis Nicolay for Good For Your Gut Cookbook
61 Comments on “The Ultimate Healthy Breakfast Cookies”
Great with a bowl of yogurt on the side for breakfast or as an after school snack for the kids!
Oh love that idea! Loaded yogurt bowl 🙂
Forgot to mention – I didn’t have quite enough banana so used one cup mashed banana and 1/3 cup of apple sauce. I also used raisins in place of the ginger as I didn’t have any but would love to try that next time. Had one right after they were baked yesterday after school and then one this morning with a bowl of plain yogurt (dairy or coconut dairy free) with a drop of vanilla topped with strawberries and hemp seed.
Oh thank you for sharing that!
these look so good but i don’t use banana’s – is there something i can substitute?
thanks.
My only concern is that bananas do offer a lot of structure to this recipe, that applesauce might not. If you were feeling adventurous (if they don’t work out, you could use them as a granola??) you could try substituting 1 cup applesauce. I am thinking slightly less applesauce to keep the dough drier….
Hi Desiree!
If you wanted to make these school-safe (no nuts), what would be a good sub for the almond flour? Wheat flour (if not worried about gluten/FODMAPs)? A mix of wheat flour and protein powder if you want the extra protein the almond flour would provide? Thinking of stuff I already have in my house, too 🙂
Hi Melanie!
I haven’t tried with any subs yet, so I can’t guarantee. Do you have any sunflower seeds? If so, you could whir them into a flour with your food processor or blender and that might be the closest sub. You can try wheat flour, but if you notice the dough looks dry, add more liquid. And please let me know if a sub works for you and I will add it to the blog to help others!
Mmmm these were delicious! Both my kids gobbled them up. My daughter has an almond allergy and I happen to have some buckwheat flour. Substituted it 1:1 and turned out great! Thank you!
P.s.. What would you generally recommend for almond flour substitute in your baking recipes?!
YAY! So glad you liked them…and that buckwheat flour worked! I will add that to the blog post. I typically recommend walnut flour if not all nuts are an issue, and I’ve been suggesting ground sunflower seeds on this recipe because I think it could work too but not sure!
Is there a substitute to almond flour in the breakfast cookies ?
My daughter works in daycare where nuts, including almonds are not allowed.
Hi Annie!
So, I haven’t tested the recipe with any substitutions, but I expect that if you grind sunflower seeds and use that in place of almond flour it might work?!?
Hey! i made a comment below but tried these cookies with 1/2 cup garbanzo/fava flour (1/4 cup rice flour) and while the smelled funny as a batter, they taste perfect once cooked! another nut free option (I originally used oat/rice flour).
Oh love this!! Thank you Tiffany
These were absolutely delicious! Any chance you can post the nutritional information?
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! I don’t post nutritional information but if you need nutritionals for your own therapeutic reasons, Cronometer app makes it pretty easy to crunch the numbers 🙂
My new favourite breakfast cookie! Love the addition of crystallized ginger. The 1/4 cup measuring cup mold made these turn out consistently (I did need closer to the 19 minute mark using this technique). The best part is calling to my daughter to “come eat her cookie” before school 🙂
Ah, that’s so awesome!! It’s the ginger for me too 🙂
Just made a batch and enjoying my first one as we type. I love them!! Perfect with a cup of tea. Followed the recipe but didn’t have any ginger. Are you sure we can only have one on low fodmap? lol! Thank you for the recipe Desiree.
YAY!! Depending on your tolerance, perhaps two 🙂 But I would keep to one in the initial, learning phase.
Honestly loved these! Super easy and great for snacking. I ended up using about 1.5 c bananas (4 medium) because I wanted to use them so I used only 1 Tbsp maple syrup and they were still great. I also skipped the ginger and used 1/2 cup chocolate chips. I froze half right away for future busy days. Already getting rave reviews from everyone I shared them with! Thanks for the recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed them! They freeze super well. And good to know that extra banana works, thank you for that.
I made these, cooled them, put them all in snack sized bags destined for the freezer. Before I could get them in the freezer, my dog helped herself to over half of these cookies. So I guess you get her paws up approval on them. I love the texture, but i think I could have baked mine just a bit longer.
I will be making more, and will keep them away from my Juno. My beautiful 11 year old German Shepherd.
Ha ha, oh no!!! Well, that’s a well fed pup right there 🙂 Yes, baking them enough is key to ensure structure.
I really like how moist these cookies are and of course how nutritious. I have all of the ingredients handy so it’s nice to find a recipe that I could finally use them in.
Although I love the chocolate chip minis, I could like it just as well with a few less. The taste was marvelous and sweetened just right without being too sweet.
These were easy to make and came out perfectly. Thank you!
I love a person who will love a breakfast cookie even without chocolate, ha ha! Thank you for taking the time to comment and review…it’s means a lot!
We like these a lot; but my whole family prefers to eat them frozen, straight out of the freezer! Thanks for a great recipe! So happy to be giving my kids all this extra fiber and extra nutrients!
All the good stuff, in cookie form 🙂 Thank you Michelle!
These were easy enough to make & amazingly I had every ingredient. A perfect treat with a cup of coffee in the morning! I used my 1 & 1/2 inch cookie scoop, first sprayed lightly with oil so I didn’t even need to use my hands except to press them down just a bit. This made 29 1 & 3/4 inch cookies. I adjusted the time to 15-17 minutes. Next time….more ginger!! Thanks for this lovely recipe.
Hi Gayle,
I am so glad you like them! And YES to more ginger for the ginger lovers.
Made the breakfast cookies. Just followed the recipe (easy) love the cookies. I wrap each cookie then put them in a freezer ziploc.
I was wondering what was the calorie count for a cookie.
It feels good to be eating healthy.
Hi Erlinda,
I am so glad you are enjoying the cookies! I don’t do calorie counting as a rule, but if you need to know nutritional information for a specific health purpose, you can pop the recipe into the Cronometer app and it will give you the breakdown.
These breakfast cookies have become a staple in my home. There are times when I forget to feed myself after my kid has been taken care of and I’m always relieved to have a stash of these in the fridge.
For years I ate a similar breakfast cookie sold at Whole Foods. It was made with spelt flour and was always a little too big for my liking. Not only are these breakfast cookies *better* tasting than the WF cookies but I like how I can adjust the sweetness in this recipe by either using super ripe bananas or mini chocolate chips. Just one fills me up for a while and they don’t make my stomach feel heavy and uncomfortable like some breakfast cookies do.
I am SO glad you like them Nicole…and oh my gosh, I totally relate to forgetting to feed yourself after the kids have been sent off.
Desiree
*nut (tree nut) free house feedback. Hi all, i made these this morning and I wanted to give feedback.
Deeeelish cookies, we used 1/2 cup oat flour and 1/3 cup brown rice flour instead of almond flour. I have nothing to compare with but they turned out so well. The flavours are amazing and while I was worried my hubs was allergic to hemp, he’s not turns out. They are so similar to coconut macaroons but much healthier and delish.
Hi Tiffany,
Thank you so much for sharing this swap! I am so glad you’ve found a way to customize these cookies for your family 🙂
Desiree
Hi
Just made my first batch! I wasn’t sure about the ginger so just put it in half. Both ways are delicious!
Do you think I could add peanut butter next time? How much would you suggest?
Thanks,
Diana
Hi Diana,
I am so glad you like them! I haven’t tried this but I suspect that you could swap 1/3 cup of the banana for peanut butter. If you do, please report back and let me know how it went!
Delicious thanks so much for this recipe! I followed it very loosely because I didn’t have coconut or almond flour or ginger and didn’t want to put too much maple syrup, and they still taste great! Used whole wheat flour and threw in some cacao nibs and almond butter. The chocolate really stands out so I think the coconut would be necessary if the chocolate was omitted to get that extra satisfaction. Loved hemp hearts in a cookie.
Love this! Yes, it’s a very malleable recipe…my favourite kind, because I love to mess with recipes too 🙂
My whole family love these cookies. Especially my teenage daughter which is saying a lot. The crystallized ginger combined with the chocolate chips is just enough sweetness. And they’re super easy to make. This is going to be a staple!
That’s HIGH praise Alison! I am so glad your family enjoys them. Thanks for leaving a rating 🙂
Would this work with 1:1 chickpea flour instead of almond flour? I love this recipe (I make a double-batch every 2 weeks like clockwork) but need to make it nut-free so I can take my favourite snack to work! I might try making this with my students in our foods class next semester if I can find a good nut-free variation!
Hi Libby,
Chickpea flour behaves very differently than almond flour, particularly in water binding. I might substitute a gluten free all purpose flour instead? If you try it, let me now how it works for you!
Hi Libby,
I’ve made them with chickpea flour. Add a bit of rice flour to loosen them up but otherwise they are good!
I don’t like banana at all – sadly
Any substitute ideas?
TIIA
Hi Colleen, I haven’t tested any substitutions…but pumpkin might work (might!!). Please let me know if you experiment and it works out!
Man, I could stay on your site all day because you are such a wonderful source of helpful information, recipes, and knowledge on so many levels. I
I have one of your cookbooks. It’s more than a cookbook, as it teaches how and why. I also have to say, you have a delightful and refreshing personality.
I’m going to try out just a few recipes this next week; breakfast and night time cookies and Oat milk hot chocolate. Thank you
Hi Emily,
I am so glad you have found my little corner of the internet! Let me know how the other recipes go 🙂
Desiree
How many calories in one delicious cookie?
These are my fav to have on hand .
Hi Jan,
I am so glad you like them! I don’t offer nutritional facts for the recipes; however, if you are tracking for medical reasons, the app Cronometer is really helpful! You can put in the recipe and it will calculate everything you need.
Warmly,
Desiree
I love these cookies, so nourishing and yummy. I like how you can adapt it for your own preferences so easily, it doesn’t seem to effect the cooking time but some of my changes make them more crumbly – which I like.
The original recipe is a little “banana forward” for me so I use a banana applesauce combo. I use 1/4 the coconut, sub dried Goji berries or cranberries for the choc chips, and up the pumpkin seeds because we love them. I’ve been cutting the oil in half but today left it out entirely and they were as yummy as ever. Thanks for creating this!
I am so glad that the recipe has been so flexible for you! The banana, oil and coconut do a lot to bind so yes absolutely, they may get a little crumblier if you alter them but it’s awesome you’ve been able to make them your own.
I have a question on the quantity of coconut. We’re watching our intake of saturated fats as we get older and as much as I LOVE coconut, have cut back on using coconut oil and only use a small amount of shredded coconut when I make granola, etc. So I wondered what your take on this is, as a nutritionist?
Hi Sylvia,
In general, you can think of saturated fats as a “budget”…it’s okay to eat some but we want to be mindful. So for those who consume full fat dairy and higher fat meats, it’s more important to cut back than it is for someone who is fully plant-based (who eats relatively fewer saturated fats). I agree on coconut oil, it’s a sometimes oil in this house and we consume olive and avocado for daily use.
When it comes to whole food coconut, again, it needs to fit your “budget” but in my view it is a bit different. Coconut offers other nutrients like fibre and potassium – both important for heart health – as well as iron and it tends to be filling.
Make your “budget” with your healthcare practitioner and coconut may very well fit!
This recipe looks great and very versatile. I am allergic to coconut (and a bunch of other healthy stuff). Can you recommend a substitute? I have a recipe I love that includes shredded carrots. Maybe 3/4 cup with carrots and 1/4 additional hemp seeds??? Thanks for sharing your recipes and your knowledge!
Hi Joyce,
I might recommend trying 1/2 cup more almond flour and 1/2 cup shredded carrots. Please let me know how it goes!!
The perfect mid-morning snack to have with a cup of tea. I’ve made three or four batches of these since I came across the recipe in the last couple of months! I would describe the texture as a hybrid between a muffin and cookie. I like to swap out the ginger for pecans.
Pecans would be delicious!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review.
Awesome!
I heard your interview on the Bon appetit podcast months ago and I went and got ground flaxseed and hemp hearts. Today I happened to have 3 super ripe bananas, found this recipe, and I love the results!
I pretty much did the recipe as written, and it was so easy!
Next time I think I’ll add a little cardamom, because with the ginger and cinnamon it’s super close to that spice combo which I love. It already has such a nice complex flavor with the super ripe bananas, and the hint of almond. I love that they aren’t hard or crumbly!
So glad you found me! And I fully endorse the cardamom addition…it’s my fave sweet spice ever 🙂