These lightly sweetened, whole-wheat breakfast cookies are full of texture and flavor from grated carrot, raisins, pumpkin seeds, and coconut.
Over the summer I went to a blogging conference that included our hotel room – complete with surprise roommate. I mean, I knew I would have a roommate, I just didn’t know exactly who it was going to be until I got there. In my mind it was like summer camp: you’re obviously not going to have a tent to yourself, but you don’t necessarily know who you’ll be sharing with beforehand. The woman who checked me in on other other hand… she thought I was crazy (and had no problem telling me as much).
Anyway, I ended up sharing a room with Emily, who writes West of the Loop. She ended up being a total sweetheart. Plus, she brought me cookies! Not just any cookies, but cookies that were meant to be eaten for breakfast. The woman is a genius. (I felt totally rude having not shown up with a gift for her.)
I ate them happily all week long, and then kind of forgot about them until a few weeks ago when my contact at Liberté yogurt asked me if I would be interested in putting together a few more “perfect pairing” recipes.
This pairing works two ways. The yogurt brings some lightness to the cookies, which are dense and chewy and have tons of texture from mix-ins like grated carrot, pumpkin seeds, raisins, and coconut. In turn, the cookies give you something to chew and make the yogurt seem more like a “real” meal.
Liberté comes in tons of tons of great flavors (coffee? yes, please!), but my favorite one to pair these cookies with is the blackberry Méditerranée. It’s decadently creamy with big chunks of blackberries and a straight-from-the-forest feel that compliments the harvest-inspired flavor of the cookies.
Autumn Harvest Breakfast Cookies
The ingredients list for these cookies looks a little long, but it’s really just a little bit of this and a little bit of that – I stroll through the bulk bins at the local co-op and just grab a handful of whatever fruits, nuts, or seeds look food to me that day. The combination here is fanstastic, but you can definitely mix it up if you want – just use 1½ cups of mix-ins in total. Try swapping out apple or zucchini for the carrot or adding some chopped dry fig instead of the raisins. The cookies themselves are only very lightly sweetened; if you want a little more sweetness you can add the optional glaze.
Author: Lauren Keating
Serves: 18
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons apple butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1¼ cup Gold Medal® white whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
- ¼ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
For the glaze (optional):
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
Preparation
- Heat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, apple butter, and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- In a small bowl (or right in your measuring cup), mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the wet ingredients. Fold in the oats, then stir in the remaining ingredients. The dough will be very thick and slightly sticky.
- Scoop two tablespoons of dough into a ball (it will be about the size of a donut hole) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten to about ½-inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake 12 minutes; let cool completely.
- If desired, make a thin glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and orange juice. Drizzle over the cookies.
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Disclosure: This post was brought to you in partnership with Liberté; I was compensated for developing this recipe. Thank you for helping support the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen.
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