I have quickly learned eating is going to be tough, let alone eating something I might consider healthy. So come nap time on Monday I decided to make up some breakfast cookies. Never heard of them? Let me explain to you what they are. Breakfast cookies are basically an over sized glorified oatmeal cookie, pretty simple I know. But they fill you up and hold you over till the next meal or at least they would if I wasn't a breastfeeding mama chasing a toddler ;) So for me they are a great satisfying snack that can hold me over for a couple hours until there is some peace where I can snack yet again.
In theory you want to make these as healthy as you can with dried fruits and natural sugars and such. BUT as I am a new mommy and some times I just want something sweet I went ahead and made them a little 'bad' but still with a few healthy twists to make me feel better about myself. With that I bring you my Almond Toffee Breakfast Cookies!!!
**Note a few ingredients are probably not hiding in your pantry but no fear I found all the 'weird' items at my local grocery store, if you can't find them at your local store I suggest trying a health food store like Whole Foods.
Almond Toffee Breakfast Cookies
the wet:
1/2 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
the dry:
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
2 tbsp ground flax seed meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 tbsp cocoa powder
the flavor:
1/2 cup toffee bits (if you can't find toffee bits finely chop up a few toffee candy bars)
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Mix together all your dry ingredients and set aside. Now in a separate bowl cream together the bananas, butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Stir in baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. Mix in almond extract and eggs.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients, I tend to do this in 3 installments. Also you will want to switch from a mixer to a good old fashioned wooden spoon. I find wooden spoons do a much better job at combining the ingredients plus they remind me of making cookies with Grandma. Once all the dry ingredients have been thoroughly mixed in, set aside. Quickly toss the toffee bits and sliced almonds with the tablespoon of flour to make sure nothing settles to the bottom of the cookies. Dump into cookie batter and fold in.
Now the messy part. You will be using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to dollop out the cookie portions. I find using a cereal spoon helps keep things a little bit less messy. Scoop, form into a ball and plop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. You will want to gently smash the cookies down till they are about 1/4" thick. Note* the cookies will not spread nor rise up all that much but this thickness ensures they will be fully cooked when all is done. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the middles look set (really looking for lightly golden brown edges as well but as we added cocoa powder that is nearly impossible to see).
Cool and enjoy!
Or if you are like me and knowing they are not safe on the counter, freeze them until you are ready to eat. Pull one out and let it defrost at room temp for about 10 mins or pop into the microwave for a few seconds to thaw and gently warm.
Be sure to have a big ol' glass of milk with it, makes them healthier of course!
pssst. They also work as lactation cookies, not strong ones but enough to help you out trust me ;)
So now here is a little fun site I found, it calculates your nutritional facts in any recipe. Just add in all the ingredients that you baked with, add in the # of servings and BAM! instant food scariness. Now I do not recommend you do this with your favorite cheesecake recipe or even those twice baked potatoes. Lets stay ignorant, ignorance is bliss. But this was fun for me to see how bad of a morning breakfast I had made and you know what its not all that bad! Here is what I got:
Nutrition Facts
Calories 241.5
Total Fat 10.2 g
Saturated Fat 4.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.4 g
Cholesterol 33 mg
Sodium 283.9 mg
Potassium 183.3 mg
Total Carbohydrates 39 g
Dietary Fiber 5 g
Sugars 22.9 g
Protein 5 g
Not too shabby, I am sure I could make healthier ones but for now I am happy with some almond toffee ones.
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