With just a hint of sweetness and a whole lot of nourishing ingredients like oats, pumpkin seeds and cranberries, these pumpkin breakfast cookies will be your new favorite fall breakfast or snack!
What are breakfast cookies?
If you’re wondering what exactly is a breakfast cookie or are cookies healthy enough to eat for breakfast, then you’ve come to the right place. I’m not one for many “food rules”, and I think cookies for breakfast is just the cool-mom win you may need this back to school or fall season. My loose definition of a breakfast cookie would be a mixture of wholesome and nourishing ingredients mixed together and baked as a cookie, ideally with no or minimal added sugars.
What ingredients are in breakfast cookies?
Breakfast cookies often have an oat base and include other healthy fats and proteins like nuts, seeds or dried fruit for sweetness. Unlike a granola bar, they often have some sort of flour to help bind everything together and give “cookie texture”. These pumpkin breakfast cookies use almond flour and oats as the primary dry ingredients and pumpkin puree, almond butter, coconut oil and a smidge of maple syrup as the wet ingredients. Just like many other cookies, the fruit and nuts are folded in last.
Are breakfast cookies healthy?
That depends! Store bought or packaged breakfast cookies are not usually as healthy as homemade, but I’ve seen some pretty decadent cookie recipes out there that I probably wouldn’t enjoy for breakfast on a regular basis. As long as you’re only enjoying 1-2 and they are made from nourishing whole ingredients, there isn’t any reason breakfast cookies can’t fit in a healthy diet. I’d also recommend enjoying them with a protein source like a couple hard boiled eggs, yogurt or nut butter.
If you’re a breakfast cookie fan I would highly recommend my Banana Date Breakfast cookies– they are staple in our house and many of you have shared how much you love the gooeyness of the medjool dates in these cookies! That recipe was the inspiration for this pumpkin version and one the swaps I made was pumpkin puree for banana! I used organic canned pumpkin puree, but if you’re all about making your own, this resource from the Kitchn is one of the best.
These breakfast cookies also make a whole snack option. With many families opting for distance learning or home-schooling this unique school year, snacks are needed more than ever. Whip these up in just a few minutes (with or without your kiddo’s help) on a Sunday and have some fun new breakfast or snack options for the week!
If you stumbled upon this recipe and you’re feeling exhausted and heavy from this pandemic, back to school or anything 2020 has brought, we WILL get through this. It may not be easy or painless, but we’ll get through to the other side. Hang in there, Mama!
Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup nut butter of choice
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine oats, almond flour, flax, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, mix coconut oil, almond butter, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree.
- Mix liquid mixture into dry mixture until ingredients are well mixed. Fold in cranberries and pumpkin seeds.
- Scoop about 2 Tbsp of dough, round into a ball and place on baking sheet. Gently press down until slightly flattened (cookies won’t spread while cooking).
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to baking sheet.
Pin for later:
