Molasses-Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

Who eats breakfast….cookies?

Molasses-Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

Well, some people do. On the face of it, it sounds decadent. But if you really think about it, it’s not so bad. In fact, it’s better than most of today’s breakfast offerings. The rationale goes something like… whole oats, eggs, raisins, brown sugar = reasonably good for you. And oatmeal cookies actually sound pretty decent compared to, say, Froot Loops, Pop-Tarts, or  chocolate chip pancakes doused in syrup.

The Challenge of a Breakfast Cookie

However, there’s an inherent challenge to breakfast cookies. On the one hand, you don’t want kids on a sugar high (and then crashing) after breakfast. On the other hand, you don’t want to serve them dry hockey pucks that they’ll hate and then look for the nearest sugary cereal afterwards.

Therefore, determined to find a happy middle ground, we decided to do a makeover of our mom’s molasses cookies recipe. We nixed the white flour altogether and added in some peanut butter and almond meal to pump up the protein a little bit. And yes, there’s butter, but we look at it as a “healthier” way to get fat than, say, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Will it lead to a good day ahead for the kids as they head out the door to school? We’ve had no complaints so far.

Molasses-Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

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Molasses-Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

A hearty, healthy-ier cookie with peanuts, almonds, and flaxseed meal that you could eat for breakfast.

Course Breakfast, Breakfast or Snack, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword almonds, cookies, flaxseed meal, molasses, peanut butter

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 37 minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter (chunky is OK)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• sugar for sprinkling on top, if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, use a mixer to cream butter. Add molasses, brown sugar, peanut butter, and egg, and beat until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir until mixed. Add dry ingredient mixture, 1/3 at a time, into butter mixture and stir until ingredients are evenly mixed.

3. Scoop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies have spread out and are dark golden brown. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top if desired. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

When we were making these cookies, we realized that our oat flour and almond meal had been sitting in the pantry for a long time. We checked the expiration dates and those days were long gone. What’s the risk of expired flour? First of all, it could make you sick. But it could also just give your baked goods a rancid taste. Check your expiration dates!

Also, although we had to run out and buy new oat flour, we just went ahead and made our own almond meal. It’s just a matter of chopping up some almonds in your food processor. Let it run until there are no more big pieces of almond left. However, don’t let it run too long or you’ll wind up with almond butter. (Not a bad thing on its own, but not exactly what you’re looking for here.)

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Molasses-Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

Additionally, if you want to see more similar ideas, check out our Pinterest board called “Power Cookies.”