These Granola Breakfast cookies are a healthy way to start the day with dessert! Made totally gluten-free, vegan, and with natural sweeteners, they're satisfying and full of plant-powered protein. Easily customized!
What are granola breakfast cookies?
Granola Breakfast Cookies are a healthy baked good with all of the ingredients of your favorite granola or oatmeal breakfast. However, since they're baked individually, they're easily packed and great for travel. If you like granola bars, you'll love this customizable breakfast option!
I love that this recipe is:
- Made with pantry-staple ingredients, like oats and nuts
- Easily gluten-free for my GF friends, when made using certified gluten-free oats
- Sweetened with ripe banana, dried fruit, and maple syrup (so not saccharine)
- Very easy to modify based on what your have on hand/your personal preference
- Actually filling as a snack, with nearly 4 grams of protein per cookie
Ingredients Needed
- Rolled oats, for the base of the cookie
- Baking powder, for leavening
- Sea salt
- Cinnamon, for flavor
- 1 ripe banana, to help bind things and sweetnen
- Smooth nut butter, to bring things together
- Maple syrup, to sweeten
- Ground flax, to take the place of an egg
- Dried fruit of choice
- Seeds or nuts of choice, for protein
- Candied ginger, to add some excitement
Possible Substitutions in this Recipe
Cardamom pairs very well with tahini if you have it on hand! Sometimes I like swapping that for the cinnamon listed above.
Any runny nut butter will work as a binding agent here. I prefer tahini as I usually have it (thanks to this 6 lb. tub of tahini from Amazon), but think that almond butter or even cashew butter would work very well. If you are a peanut butter lover, that is an obvious choice for you.
Canned pumpkin or vegan yogurt will work in place of the banana.
Would you like to save this?
Chia seeds can be substituted for flax seeds. Honestly I have left these out before and they turn out fine!
Any small, chopped dried fruit (like pineapples, apples, or raisins) can be substituted for craisins.
If you enjoy chocolate at breakfast (I don't 😂 ), feel free to add chocolate chips in place of or alongside candied ginger.
As you can tell, this is very much a "choose your own adventure" breakfast cookie recipe. These have been a great mid-morning snack option in my routine and they are very easy to pack to take on trips.
Other Vegan and Gluten-Free Oat Breakfast Recipes to Try
Granola Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon or cardamom if you have it
- 1 medium banana mashed (about ½ cup when mashed)
- ¾ cup tahini or other runny nut butter like almond, peanut, or cashew
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 TBS ground flax or chia seed
- ½ cup dried cranberries or other small dried, fruit, like raisins
- ½ cup roasted pepitas or other small seeds/nuts
- ¼ cup candied ginger chopped or chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine rolled oats, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine, mashed banana, tahini, maple syrup, ground flax, dried cranberries, pepitas, and candied ginger.
- Add dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until no dry spots remain.
- Drop cookies in large tablespoons onto a silicone or parchment-lined baking sheet. They will not spread much when baking, so it's OK if they are close together. Press down on each cookie slightly to flatten into an even round. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until they begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet (they will firm up a bit more while cooling).
gardengirl6330 says
Once again, perfect Sunday morning breakfast and post-workout snack. Love these!
Emily says
Thank you for five stars!!
Sue0523 says
Perfect for a little energy before my XC skiing this morning. Used chopped figs instead of choc chips - delicious!
Emily says
Thank you for trying + commenting! Figs sound like a great addition 🙂
Susannahwf says
Right up my alley; thanks, GH!
Emily says
So glad! Thank you for reading!! 🙂