Healthy Cookies You Can Eat

Cookies for Breakfast

Move over, granola - breakfast cookies are here to shake up the morning menu.

"If you're craving something sweet in the morning to go with your coffee, breakfast cookies are a fun way to add variety to your typical breakfast," says Rachel Helfferich, RDN, of Everglow Nutrition in Chicago.

Many breakfast cookie recipes trade refined sugar for honey and maple syrup. Unlike refined sugar, those two natural sweeteners offer nutritional benefits. "Maple syrup contains a variety of antioxidants, while honey is known for its antimicrobial benefits," says Helfferich.

Keep in mind that while the sugars in these sources are natural, your body still processes them as sugar. "The way we digest and absorb sugar is the same across the board," says Meredith Price, RDN, who specializes in plant-based nutrition in Brooklyn, New York. Still, breakfast cookies are often a healthier option than sugary breakfast cereals or granola bars, he says.

There are other reasons why breakfast cookies can be a good idea. For example, fruits like bananas, dried cherries, and raisins add natural sweetness while offering nutrients to boot. For example, a medium banana provides 3 grams (g), or 11 percent of your daily value (DV) for fiber, along with 422 milligrams (mg), or 9 percent of your DV for potassium, according to the Department of Agriculture of the EE. USA (USDA) Potassium is a mineral that plays a key role in maintaining fluid balance in your body, as well as in muscle and kidney function, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "And then adding extracts and spices gives it another dimension of calorie-free flavor," says Price.

You may need to add a couple of eggs or a bit of turkey sausage mostly to complete your breakfast. "In general, as a full breakfast, just cookies are probably not enough to keep you full," Price says.

Ready to eat cookies for breakfast? Try one of these healthy options.

Healthiest Breakfast Cookies

These Choosing Chia blog cookies contain gluten-free rolled oats, almond flour, nut butter, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds, plus four different types of seeds: sunflower, chia, squash, and sesame. Walnuts and seeds offer many omega-3 fatty acids, which are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid that may play a role in reducing inflammation and cholesterol, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. A cookie also provides 4 g of fiber (14 percent of the DV) and 4 g of protein.

Healthy Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies

This Clean Eating Couple recipe combines pumpkin puree with flavorful spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. To make these cookies vegan, substitute the flaxseed for the egg. Like chia seeds, flaxseed is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Easy Vegan Breakfast Cookies

These vegan Sally’s Baking Addiction cookies combine healthy ingredients like oatmeal, walnut and apple butter, maple syrup, banana, and a handful of dried cranberries, raisins, and pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds (also known as pips) add a touch of flavor and crisp, as well as plenty of nutrients. Just one ounce of unsalted (shelled) pumpkin seeds offers 1.84 g of fiber (about 7 percent DV), 2.3 mg of iron (12.8 percent DV), 156 mg of magnesium (37 percent DV), and 2.2 mg of zinc (20 DV percent), according to the USDA. Magnesium, for example, is a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, as well as build bone and DNA, according to the NIH. If you don't have apple butter, use unsweetened applesauce.

Gluten-Free Breakfast Cookies

For hearty gluten-free breakfast cookies, start with a gluten-free rolled oatmeal base, almond flour, and unsweetened grated coconut. Then choose a variety of mixes, such as dried fruits (raisins, blueberries, or cherries), nuts (walnuts, walnuts, or hazelnuts), and seeds (pumpkins, sunflowers, or flaxseeds). This recipe from My Darling Vegan incorporates chia seeds, which offer tons of nutrients in a single ounce: 4.7 g of protein, 9.8 g of fiber (35 percent of DV), 2.2 mg of iron (12 percent of DV) and 1.3 mg of zinc (12 percent DV), according to the USDA.

Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies

This Chocolate Covered Katie recipe starts with a rolled oatmeal base, applesauce, or banana puree and pecan butter. Then combine the sweetness of mini chocolate chips (go for sugar-free chocolate chips if you want to reduce sugar content) with the acidity of freeze-dried raspberries. Each cookie offers 1 g of fiber (about 4 percent of the DV) and 1.3 g of protein. Optional: Add chia seeds, grated coconut, or more dried fruit.

Spiced Almond Breakfast Cookies

With this Oh Sweet Basil recipe, you'll get spicy and tasty breakfast cookies, thanks to cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and dried orange zest. Additionally, these cookies contain almonds, which offer plenty of vitamin E (6.8 mg, or 45 percent DV per ounce, according to the savor health) and magnesium (80 mg, or 19 percent DV per ounce, according to the academic.oup). Vitamin E is an antioxidant found in immune cells and works to eliminate free radicals and direct the function of T cells (a type of white blood cell), according to a November 2018 review in IUBMB Life. Meanwhile, magnesium helps regulate blood pressure and keep bones healthy.

Healthy Breakfast Cookies with Nut Butter

Just a Taste breakfast cookies contain beneficial ingredients like oatmeal, bananas, honey, dried fruit, nuts, and creamy peanut butter. Peanut butter, for example, provides approximately 3.5 g of protein, 1.5 mg of vitamin E (10 percent of DV), 27 mg of magnesium (6.4 percent of DV), and 2 mg of niacin (12.5 percent of DV) per tablespoon. Niacin, or vitamin B3, helps your body use food for energy, the NIH notes. Additionally, the oatmeal in this recipe offers soluble fiber, which can help lower cholesterol, according to a January 2018 review in the International Journal of Molecular Medicine.

Peanut Butter Coconut Breakfast Cookies

For a sweet, salty pecan cookie, try this Mile High Mitts recipe. These gluten-free cookies combine oatmeal, flaxseed, walnuts, peanut butter, honey, grated coconut, and oatmeal, which offers fiber and protein. A single ¼ cup serving of oatmeal provides 4 g of protein and 3 g of fiber. To make this vegan recipe, use maple syrup instead of honey and flax eggs instead of regular eggs.

Chewy Blueberry Breakfast Cookies

These Sally’s Baking Addiction chewy breakfast cookies are filled with juicy blueberries. Berries generally have some of the highest levels of antioxidants among common fruits like melons, bananas, and apples, according to previous research. Vitamin C is an example of an antioxidant that protects your body from damage by free radicals, which are often found in cigarette smoke and industrial chemicals, according to an article in Pharmacognosy Review. Exposure to free radicals causes oxidative damage, which is associated with conditions including kidney disease, cancer, and heart disease, notes a review published in April 2018 in Clinical Interventions in Aging. Eat a cup of fresh blueberries and you'll get 14.4 mg of vitamin C (16 percent DV), not to mention 3.55 g of fiber (about 13 percent DV), according to the USDA.

Ultimate Breakfast Cookies

This hearty recipe combines almonds, oatmeal, flax flour, almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, and egg. Mix extras like raisins, dried cherries, and chocolate chips to add flavor and texture. Cherries provide beneficial plant compounds called anthocyanins, which give cherries their color, according to research. Such plant compounds have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can help protect against disease, according to a review published in the August 2017 issue of the journal Food & Nutrition Research. One of these Choosing Chia cookies also provides 3 g of fiber (11 percent of the DV) and 4 g of protein.

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