Hearty and healthy, this breakfast cookie recipe is low in sugar, vegan, and easily gluten-free adaptable. Filled with oats, seeds, warming spices, tahini, and dried fruit, they are easy to make and ready in 30 minutes! Perfect for a healthy snack or breakfast on the go. Video.
We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body. ~ Mary Oliver
The secret is out! First time ever released…here is our “legendary” Mizuna breakfast cookie recipe! Well, OK, no claims for world-renowned fame, but in our corner of the world these cookies were highly sought after- we could never keep them in stock at our restaurant!
For a while, in the midst of the chaos of starting a restaurant, there was no recipe for this healthy breakfast cookie, so it was just thrown together each time, hoping that it was close enough. When we started to get breakfast cookie regulars, as well as requests from a few local markets and coffee shops in the area wanting to sell the cookies, it seemed a recipe might make things easier!
There was a LOT of winging it in those days, the kind of experiences that can force us to dig deep inside for what we didn’t know we had. Looking back I think, “Holy crap! I did not know what I signed up for! AND… I learned that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought.” True soul-growing experiences often push us far out of our comfort zone. But somehow we survive, and possibly even thrive. We are stronger than we realize.
Why you’ll love About These Breakfast Cookies
- Vegan and gluten-free adaptable, low-sugar and egg-free. Perfectly chewy with warming, subtle spices, and a delightful combination of flavors that keep you coming back for more. Beware, they are a bit addictive- they taste amazing!
- They are great for meal prep! Need a quick, easy, grab-and-go breakfast? These can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for 10 days. Or in the freezer for up to 3 months, wrapped tightly. Thaw overnight on the counter, warm them up if you like.
- Highly Adaptable! Use gluten-free flour, change up the seeds, nuts and dried fruit and make any additions you like! I love adding chia seeds! We try to keep the ingredeints as simple as possible with minimal sweetness and healthy fats- feel free to experiment.
- Read all the glowing reviews! This recipe is a reader favorite, with over 50 5-star reviews.
Breakfast Cookie Recipe Ingredients (and substitutions)
*See recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions!
- Organic Rolled Oats (regular cut) use gluten-free oats if you prefer.
- Flour- use all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour– or sub gluten-free flour blend (Like Arrowmills Organic GF Flour Blend)
- Coconut sugar – for sweetness – feel free to use cane sugar
- Baking soda – to leaven the cookies
- Salt and warming spices – cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, ground cloves, and nutmeg
- Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds for great texture – but feel free to sub other nuts or seeds (chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, almonds)
- Dried fruit: currants or dried cranberries, or use raisins.
- Vanilla extract
- Tahini paste – to add nutty richness to the cookies. (Feel free to substitute almond butter, natural peanut butter, cashew butter or other nut butter)
- A fresh orange- the secret to the best-tasting breakfast cookie! You’ll need both the zest and juice
- Olive oil- or sub coconut oil
How to Make Healthy Breakfast Cookies
Step 1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, including the seeds and dried fruit.
Step 2. Mix all the wet ingredeints in a medium bowl- vanilla, tahini, orange zest, orange juice, and olive oil.
Step 3. Combine! Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Step 4. Scoop. The cookie dough will almost have the consistency of granola- and you may wonder if it will indeed adhere to a cookie form. Yes! It will. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
A cookie scoop works best here. Really pack it in. Alternatively, using lightly wet (or oiled) hands, roll into 9-10 balls, roughly the size of a golf ball. Place the oatmeal breakfast cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Step 5. Flatten the balls with a wet hand to 1/2 inch thick.
Step 6. Bake for 13 minutes on the middle rack in the oven, or until the edges are golden brown, and let cool 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack.
Easy to store and Made ahead
Make a double or triple batch of the breakfast cookies and freeze them!
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days on the counter, 10 days in the fridge, or wrap them individually and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight for eating in the morning.
Rather than resisting all things hard or challenging these days, I try to focus more on resiliency. One sure thing to count on is that everything will always ebb and flow. So I practice allowing the process. Trusting that “this too shall pass”, and even welcoming in challenges, along with the fear and the pain, trying to remember to ask with curiosity, “what are you here to teach me?” Somehow, this way of being more fluid with life has brought me so much more freedom and ease in my whole being. When the unexpected hits I seem to have more of a reserve to look at things objectively. It is a “muscle” that I will be training for a lifetime. Life is a journey.
I hope you enjoy these simple, easy breakfast cookies! Play around and adapt them to your taste. Add nuts, your favorite dried fruit, coconut, cocoa nibs, and chocolate chips….so many options and potential! Let us know what you create!
More Favorite Baking Recipes!
- Vegan Energy Balls with Masala Spice
- Chocolate Sesame Cookies
- Homemade Maple Granola Recipe (Vegan & Gluten-free)
- Spicy Chai Molasses Cookies
- Overnight Oats
- How to make Muesli!
- Skillet Baked Oats w/ Maple Glazed Apples
- 65 Best Breakfast Ideas!
- Cowgirl Cookies
Watch how to make Vegan Breakfast Cookies
Best Breakfast Cookie Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 large cookies
- Category: Breakfast, Baked, Cookies, Vegan, Snacks, vegan breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These healthy, vegan Breakfast Cookies can be made in under 30 minutes! They are chock-full of flavor and sustenance -filled with oats, seeds, spices and dried fruit they are vegan and deliciously addicting! Perfect for breakfast on the go.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (162 grams) quick or old-fashioned rolled oats (do not use thick-cut)
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) whole wheat pastry flour (or sub all-purpose flour or a GF flour blend)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (50 grams) (cane sugar works fine too)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon each of: allspice, ground ginger, ground cloves, nutmeg
- 1/4 cup each of: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, currants, dried cranberries (feel free to make substitutions, so that you have 1 cup total)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 2 teaspoons orange zest (from one large orange)
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon – or sub melted coconut oil
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 F degrees.
- Combine dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, currants, and cranberries in a large bowl.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix together vanilla, tahini, orange zest and juice, and olive oil.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. It may be a little crumbly.
- Form: Using a 1.5 ounce scoop or forming by hand (make sure to wet or oil your hands!) press cookie dough firmly into a scoop or firmly press together into a ball and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You should have 9-10 cookies. Press the cookie to flatten so it is a little less than 1/2-inch thick.
- Bake: Turn the oven temperature down to 350F. Bake for 13 minutes. Or until just starting to color.
Notes
Storing: Stored in an airtight container, cookies will keep for 5 days on the counter, 10 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer (wrap individually).
Getting the cookies to stick together:
Using a cookie scoop makes a world of difference because you can really pack them in.
Make sure the oats are not thick-cut.
If the flour is grainy it can effect the adhering of the dough. Using a softer flour (not a strong whole wheat) is helpful. Fresh whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose works, as well as oat or barley flour.
Try adding a flax “egg” (1 tablespoon flax meal to 2.5 tablespoons water)
Put 1/2 of the dough into the food processor and pulse a few times. An extra step but maybe a helpful without having to add anything in.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 12.3 g
- Sodium: 97.5 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.4 g
- Fiber: 3.5 g
- Protein: 5.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
These are just the best anytime cookie. So satisfying with the texture of the oats, seeds and dried fruit. The spice mixture along with the orange zest and juice is so flavorful. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, though not necessary. This time I added an egg and it helped with binding the mixture. Using a scoop and hands dipped in water is a must to form the cookies. I keep these in the freezer for a healthy snack.
Great to hear all this Joan! Glad you are enjoying.
Yummm! These look so good! I wonder if I can substitute peanut butter for tahini and some other fruit juice for orange juice? Thank you!
Sure!
I was an unbeliever about whether these would come together but wow! No wonder people paid to get these at a bakery! Yum and thank you!
Yay! So glad they worked for you Michelle!
Very good healthy breakfast cookies! Thanks so much for the recipe, will make them again and again.
Glad you enjoyed these Jacy!
Great recipe! Simple & easy steps to follow. Husband & friends enjoying it and I had tried several times within a week 🙂
Thank you for the recipe!
Yay! Great to hear Christine!
Delicious! Husband didn’t even wait for them to cool before digging in. I didn’t have roasted tahini so subbed almond butter. Didn’t have currants but used dried cherries. Used 1/4 c white sugar plus about a tsp or so of honey. Perfect sweetness level and no issue with dryness.
Awesome Gina – thanks so much!
I started making these for my “Littlest Angel” and they are now called “Granma’s Cookies”. I added more ingredients; sesame seeds, small dark chocolate chips, a smidge of cardamon. Changed the Tahini for Almond butter and added an egg as they tended to fall apart. She loves them
Love how you make them your own Loraine! I have such fond memories of time with my grandma and eating her cookies, warms my heart to hear this!💛
Really delicious, can’t stop at one
Glad you are enjoying them Bev.
On our fourth or fifth batch. They are terrific. We’ve started making the recipe at 1.5 times the amounts listed and add a quarter cup of raisins along with the currents and cranberries. Really, really good!! Thank you
Great Chris! So glad they are working well for you.
How can I make these non-vegan? Thank you!
Hi Catherine, is there a certain ingredient you are trying to add or avoid with the recipe? Just curious. 😉 You can always add an egg if you like.
Easy, clear & simple steps to follow to make a cookies!
I dont have an oven with 375c setting but 250c. How long do I need to bake the cookies? Thank you!
We are using fahrenheit here. I believe that 375 F would be 190 Celsius. Around 13 minutes baking time. 🙂
Thx! I think I hv overbake it but it just taste awesome & delicious!
I’m glad you like them!
This was a nice breakfast on the go option.
Oh dear- why not do you think?
A favorite recipe! I’ve made many times without substitution and they always turn out perfectly. I love grabbing a couple of cookies to enjoy for breakfast while at work – such a pleasant and healthy treat in an otherwise chaotic time.
Thanks Heather! So good to hear these cookies are working for you!
I made these for my sons to grab out of the freezer, but I think I ate more of them than they did. Amazing! Thanks Sylvia
Can I use bob’s red mill 1to 1 gf flour?
That sounds like it should work!
I used dried tart cherries and used 2 – 3 tsp maple syrup instead of the coconut sugar. I used gluten free flour and I added walnuts. Brought them to work this morning and we all loved them 🙂 The tart cherry, orange, walnut and spices all worked really well together. Thanks for the great recipe! I have to go gluten free and low sugar so I love recipes I can adapt <3
Sounds perfect Jenifer!
These are unbelievably delicious!! I feel like I just hit the jackpot with this recipe!
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a long time and finally just had the time and ingredients to make it. Delicious! Did not disappoint .. very addictive! Light and dense at the same time and the spices melded perfectly together. Perfect for breakfast on the go.
Hi Sylvia,
I was wondering if I could sub maple syrup for the coconut sugar. The recipe looks wonderful.
Hey Sherri- Yes I think that will work fine. They may darken up a bit.
How many calories (approximately) are in the recipe?
Hi Helen, check out the nutrition facts at the bottom of the post, under the recipe.
OMG ! These are sooo delicious. I used bobs gf 1-1 flour. Almond butter instead of tahini & pecans, almonds, cranberry’s & mini choc chips. The only thing I had difficulty with was after I used the scoop & put it on baking sheet they just crumbled & wouldn’t stay together despite wetting my hands. They weren’t pretty but they were amazing.
Yum! These are delicious and satisfying, especially with a cup of coffee or tea. I made 10 and baked for about 20 minutes. These are great with that amount of time, but I’ll try baking for 15 minutes next time and see how that works for my oven. I’m also going to use almond flour next time to see how some of my GF friends like it. And I might cut back a bit on the sugar. Now that I have tahini, I’ll be making these often. I used a well-packed scoop, and then, with wet hands, a little more smooshing on the baking tray was all that was needed. I think I need another one now!
Made these last night following your recipe except I didn’t have sunflower seeds so I added raisins, dried cherries and hazelnuts.
There are 3 left out of a batch of maybe 16. They are SO DELICIOUS. I just love the taste and the texture is wonderful.
I tried to forego using the scoop and used my hands. Bad idea! And then I thought I’d wet my hands to make it easier to shape the mixture. Worse idea! Used the cookie scoop and it was perfect.
Thanks!
These cookies are so delicious! I will definitely be making them again and again. I was looking for a “ healthy “ cookie to add into my kids lunchboxes and this fits the bill for sure! I used a touch less of the coconut sugar and added a smidge of maple syrup and this seemed to help them bind together more. And I also used my hands to form the cookie balls and really pressed them together which also seemed to help them hold together well. Thank you for another great recipe. Everything I have made from your site has become a family favorite!!
Thanks Yara! So happy to hear all of this!
I made my second double batch of these today and they did not hold together as well this time- I think it is because I was a bit relaxed with my measurements this time. I put it in my food processor for a quick spin and after that it was fine so if anyone is having trouble getting the mix to form balls ( and like me you don’t own a cookie scoop) hopefully this will help. I have really appreciated having a big batch of these in the freezer- an instant healthy breakfast or snack for busy days. Thanks again for a great recipe.
thanks for the tip Rachel!