These Breakfast Cookies are like a bowl of homemade granola in cookie form! They’re healthy oatmeal cookies that taste like your favourite oatmeal raisin cookies – but they’re refined sugar free, gluten free, and will keep you full for ages.
Copycat of the popular Muesli Cookies sold in cafes across Australia, these are a terrific make ahead breakfast. Fill a jar with to grab ‘n run!
Breakfast Cookies
The only 2 ingredients in these Healthy Oatmeal Cookies that I don’t put in homemade granola are almond meal and egg. So I’m not exaggerating when I say these are like a bowl of granola in cookie form!
These are a copycat of muesli breakfast cookies I’ve been eyeing at my local coffee shop for years, wanting to make a version that was actually acceptable to have for breakfast. I’ve tried multiple times and they’ve always been meh – the main problem being too dry and hard to swallow.
Finally, the penny dropped when I was smushing soaked dates for Sticky Date Pudding. MASHED DATES!!!! Thoroughly unappetising and sludge-like as it looks, this is the secret to sweetness, moisture, colour and terrific texture for healthy sugar-free cookies!!!
Customisable!
These Healthy Oatmeal Cookies are great for customising. It’s actually a very forgiving recipe – thanks to the mashed dates that makes a solid batter base. These are the ingredients you can customise:
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Flavourings: I’ve used cinnamon and vanilla. Try: orange blossom, almond essence, all spice, cloves – whatever takes your fancy!
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Add Ins: I’ve used coconut, almonds and raisins. Use any combination of coconut, nuts and dried fruit that you want… or CHOC CHIPS!!!
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Sweet: I use maple syrup or honey. Agave or any other liquid form of sweetness should work fine here. Sweetness can also be controlled – from a range of 1 to 4 tablespoons;
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Oil: In the spirit of keeping this healthy, I use coconut oil (most of the time). Any oil will be fine here – or melted butter or margarine;
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Almond Meal: Can be substituted with hazelnut meal / flour. I use these two interchangeably. Do not sub with normal flour – it makes the cookies dry and cardboardy.
Quick and easy
Breakfast cookies are so simple to make, you can make them today for a grab ‘n run breakfast tomorrow!! Soak dates, mash (strangely satisfying, despite how unattractive date sludge looks), mix with remaining ingredients, form cookies and bake.
No food processor, no beater – terrifically simple.
Go big or go home!
I’ve made these breakfast cookies hefty instead of wimpy little cookies because they are intended to be a breakfast. I made the mistake of having two of them when I took these photos and I was full for hours. So full for so long, I didn’t even have a full dinner that night.
Self control is a trait I admire from afar. – Nagi x
PS I don’t recommend making them normal cookie size/thickness. They are soft-chewy and lack the crispy edges you find in classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, I wasn’t thrilled with the texture. Best chunky and “meaty” – appropriate for breakfast!
More Make Ahead Breakfast – Grab ‘n Go!
And more cookie / cracker copycats
Other recipes I’ve created in the past for the same reason as these Byron Bay cookie copycat recipe (ie because I love ’em but they’re expensive!)
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Byron Bay Cookies Copycat White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies – big, thick, buttery cookies loaded with white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Crisp with a tender melt-in-your-mouth texture, just like Byron Bay Cookies!
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Gourmet Fruit & Nut Crackers for Cheese – homemade version of the rather expensive fruit and nut crackers to serve with cheese! Homemade is incredible – the flavour is so much better than the store bought. Plus it’s way WAY cheaper!
Breakfast Cookies
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 100 g / 3.5 oz pitted dates (1 heaped packed cup)
- 1/3 cup / 85 ml boiling water
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey (Note 1)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil , melted, or other plain oil (Note 2)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence (Note 5)
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup flaked almonds (Note 3)
- 1/4 cups desiccated coconut (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup raisins or sultanas (Note 3)
- 3/4 cup almond meal (almond flour) (Note 4)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (Note 5)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan/convection). Line a tray with parchment/baking paper.
- Roughly chop dates. Place in bowl, pour over water. Cover and leave to soak for 10 minutes+.
- Mash with potato masher or fork until it becomes a paste.
- Add remaining Wet ingredients. Mix well with wooden spoon.
- Add Dry ingredients. Mix until all flour is incorporated - should be a thick batter (see video).
- Measure out just shy of 1/2 cup (6 cookies) or 1/3 cup flat (8 cookies). Flatten to 1.7cm / 2/3" thick rounds. (Note 9) Bake 20 minutes until golden.
- Remove from oven, leave to cool on the tray.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published December 2018, updated for housekeeping matters April 2019. No change to recipe!
LIFE OF DOZER
“C’mon, let’s play tug-o-war! I swear the rope is totally clean and slobber free!!”
2nd or 3rd time I’ve made these. I use 1/3 c. of dough and pat it down inside a 2 1/2” biscuit cutter. This gets me about 10-11 cookies. I wrap them and freeze them in a container. Either lay out night before or low defrost in Micro. Or just pack and they will be thawed by lunchtime. Usually make double batches. Dried cherries are delicious in these also. Love this recipe !
These are so nourishing and yummy! So many breakfast cookies are not actually good for you, but these are very clean and so good.
I made these for my husband as a quick breakfast alternative because he’s been skipping breakfast & then eating crap during the day to fill up & he’s gained an excessive amount of weight & he now has diabetes! His Dr has put him on a diet so these are perfect for him to grab & go! He absolutely loves them & says they are filling, I think they are yummy too! There’s not much he doesn’t like so it’s win win! Thank you Nagi, we love many of your recipes 😋😋
Wow …no kidding on a good healthy snack….an easy to make….Thanx Nagi….nice pic of Dozer 🙂
Just made these and oh my! They are The BEST! ✨ I’m as full as a 🥾 They are going to be great when I’m back at work, flying out the door, to just grab one (probably running a tad late!) to have with my morning coffee on the way ☕️🍪😋
Any idea on what you could substitute the oats for? Would like to make these gluten free.
These cookies are also great using mashed over ripe bananas instead of dates.
How much mashed banana did you sub please?
About 190 grams of mashed banana instead of the dates and the water.
These have become a staple in my freezer, I always make a double batch!! They’re delicious, healthy and freeze well.
I add chia, but change nothing else, I make the less sweet version as we get enough sugar in other foods. Also if you have a postpartum friend these are a perfect gift, a nourishing meal, which helps with the post birth toilet issues and helps with bringing in your milk, no need for expensive lactation cookies, just serve these with Milo!!
My two year old loves them!! I love them
These have become a staple in my freezer, I always make a double batch!! They’re delicious, healthy and freeze well.
I add chia, but change nothing else, I make the less sweet version as we get enough sugar in other foods. Also if you have a postpartum friend these are a perfect gift, a nourishing meal, which helps with the post birth toilet issues and helps with bringing in your milk, no need for expensive lactation cookies, just serve these with Milo!!
My two year old loves them!! I love them!!
I love these as a pre-powerhouse breakfast before a really long day hike. I found that the dates don’t mash with a fork, so I blended them with the other wet ingredients, and it works perfectly. For my 2nd batch, I omitted the maple syrup as I found they were sweet enough with just the dates. I also weigh out 100 g of dates which is less than 1 cup, and it was the perfect level of sweetness for my taste.
Love these, I add chia and flax seeds. They freeze very well
These are a winner, so delicious with a coffee. No complaints from this house. Seriously we eat Nagi, Morning, Noon and Night, can’t remember what we ate pre Nagi 😜
Horrid. All you can taste is dates. Totally wet/raw and mushy after cooking for specified time. Another total fail. I believe that 1 packed cup of dates is far too much. Were edible after more cooking but awful texture and overpowering date taste.
Make this recipe as my go to travel food…works a treat every time
These were a hit! I substituted the oats with buckwheat and they worked really well. I have Coeliac disease and also react to oats. They were delicious and enjoyed by the non- Coeliacs in my family too. They go fast so make a double batch!
Sooooo goooood! And truly healthy. Kept me full till lunch.
Freezing works great. We eat straight out of the freezer or defrosted. Biscutes maintain taste and texture perfectly. We make in bulk, so love foods that freeze well.
YUM! These are so good!!
these biscuits are really delicious, I substitute the coconut oil for butter and melt it with the honey to give them an Anzac biscuit sort of vibe, scrumptious!
Most delicious oatmeal cookie ever! PLUS healthy ingredients make it perfect for breakfast or quick snack. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe…my new favorite! ❤️
Has anyone tried mashed banana in these as a sub for the egg??
I have tried the mashed banana substitute, it does work but they end up being a bit softer and don’t hold together as well, could taste the banana flavour so that’s a bonus. I only tried it once so with experimentation it could work perfectly.