Baking Back to Back: Chocolate Breakfast Cookies

While perusing a kids cookbook in Michael's one day, I saw a rawther interesting breakfast item: cookies. I thought: "Holy cow! I could give my kids cookies for breakfast!" It was an amazing revelation.

So, being a good little researcher (we all have to learn something in college, right?), I searched on the internet. I came up with two HEALTHY cookie recipes. The first one was peanut butter and banana (I substitute the dried fruit with chocolate chips). The second I will put below with my variations, but here is the original link.


Chocolate PB Craisin Cookies - for Breakfast!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa (such as Hershey's Extra Dark Cocoa)
1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (I use wheat pastry flour)
1-1/4 cups precooked steel-cut oatmeal
1/2 cup granulated white sugar or brown sugar, plus 4-5 drops liquid stevia
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 - 3/4 cup craisins, chopped nuts, or other dried fruit in small pieces
2 large eggs (I like mine cakey)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (or almond butter)

(Please note: my cookies look worse than they taste; they're almost the consistency of brownie)

Instructions: Preheat oven 350 degrees. Mix sugar and peanut butter. Add applesauce, vanilla, stevia, oatmeal and eggs. Mix well. Add the rest of ingredients and mix. You may or may not need to add a few Tablespoons of liquid (milk, water, soy milk). If you want to shape the dough, refrigerate it 1/2 hour, then roll into small balls with lightly oiled hands, pressing the ball down with your thumb. Otherwise, drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 min, or until slightly firm to the touch. Keep what you don't eat in the fridge. I warm mine in the toaster on cool mornings. Great for a morning on the run.