Cookies for Breakfast
I never need to go looking for new favorite things, they find me. In one case recently, a friend offered me a “Mesquite Jumble” cookie from one of the vendors at our farmer’s market that I’d inexplicably managed to never buy anything from. As she handed it to me, my friend said that she was addicted to them and had to hide them from her family. I could see why. Maybe it’s the mesquite, maybe it’s the love that goes in when the baker makes them, but addicted is the right word. I’ve had to buy a bag most weeks ever since. jump to recipe
Although I usually can’t help but do a little pro-analysis, with these little 2-bite jumbles I just blissfully chew. I assume there are chocolate chips and some raisins in there with the mesquite, but I don’t actually know. Because they aren’t overly sweet, I’ve been known to talk myself into having one for breakfast. It’s not Bailey’s in my morning coffee, but they probably aren’t the breakfast of champions either. They were just something to pop into my mouth when my tummy started rumbling.
As a child of the 70’s, I was raised on bowls of boxed cereal (mainly Cheerios and Corn Flakes) before heading out the door to school, although mom did mix it up a bit with cream of wheat, oatmeal, and sliced banana in milk. As an adult freshly out on my own, I remember splurging on a box of Captain Crunch once and wondering how I never noticed that it cut my mouth to ribbons by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl. I also found as an adult that a bowl of cereal, and many other common breakfast foods, left me hungry an hour later. I soon learned about complex carbohydrates and fat, and proper satiation in my college nutrition class, though.
As I munched a jumble on my way to the gym last week, I remembered that “breakfast cookies” were a thing, and maybe I ought to make some, saving my regular cookies for the regular time (whenever that is!).
In truth, the breakfast cookie is simply a homemade breakfast bar in the shape of a cookie. Whereas a bar can feel like a “meal replacement” kinda thing, a breakfast cookie just seems like a fully sanctioned breakfast item that comes with the same giddiness as when mom would occasionally let us have Lucky Charms.
Their active prep time is five minutes max, and I am not keen on the precision measuring needed for real baking. With these you just throw everything in a bowl and mash your heart out – a.k.a. stress relief! The peanut butter and oats stay with me, and I have both under-baked and over baked, yet still enjoyed them. They are the perfect grab and go breakfast on busy mornings. My apologies if I have ruined your excuse to eat a donut.
Feel free to add ginger, nuts, or a few grates of nutmeg. You can put ¼ cup cacao nibs in as well, and I love them in mine. These don’t really change shape like a traditional cookie, so what you put in is what you’ll get out.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana
- ½ cup peanut or other nut butter
- 1 ¼ cups rolled oats
- 3 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mash everything together, softening the butter if cold, until well combined.
- Form cookies on a sheet pan (parchment lined, if desired).
- Bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool and store in airtight container.
