It’s time to switch up your breakfast routine by adding in these Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies to the rotation! These breakfast cookies are soft and packed with delicious flavors like cinnamon, banana and almond butter!

Everyone loves an easy, yet healthy, breakfast recipe! Some of our favorite breakfast recipes that are in our rotation include Banana Oatmeal Pancakes, Baked Oatmeal Bites (another grab-and-go food), and Homemade Granola

A stack of 5 Breakfast Cookies on a wooden cutting board.

Why This Recipe Works

  • Add your favorite add-ins. This recipe is versatile and forgiving, meaning you can add ingredients you have on hand and still come out with delicious results! Do you have cashew butter, but the recipe calls for almond butter? Not a problem! Do you prefer raisins over dried cranberries? Go for it! Add your favorite add-ins to really makes these healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies your own! 
  • Breakfast on the go! I’m always looking for a great grab-n-go breakfast option for those busy mornings. These breakfast cookies are perfect to grab on your way out the door, to send with the kiddos on the morning bus, or for your husband to take during the drive to work. 
  • Soft, flavorful and packed with healthy ingredients. These oatmeal breakfast cookies are really soft and packed with flavor! The sweet honey and the cinnamon really hit home a delicious and warm flavor profile. They are also packed with deliciously healthy ingredients, meaning you can eat 5+ of these breakfast cookies and not feel bad about it! 

Ingredient Notes

Breakfast Cookies ingredients portioned into glass bowls on a light gray background.
  • Quick Cooking Oats: You’ll want to use the quick oats because old fashioned rolled oats are much bigger. Using the small ones will help these oatmeal breakfast cookies be more like a cookie dough, which will help them bake up better. 
  • Almond Butter: Feel free to use your nut butter of choice (cashew butter, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter etc).
  • Cinnamon: You can really load up on the cinnamon if you’d like. I used 1 1/2 tsp, but you could do 2-3 teaspoons easily. 
  • Banana: Use a ripe banana so it’s easy to mash and so it’s a bit sweeter.  
  • Honey: Feel free to substitute maple syrup if you’d like. Honey is my sweetener of choice.
  • Apple Butter: If you don’t have apple butter, you can use apple sauce. Brown Eyed Baker has a delicious apple butter recipe if you want to make your own.
  • Add-Ins: This is really where you can customize these apple oatmeal breakfast cookies. Some examples of great add-ins are hemp hearts, ground flaxseed, dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips, chopped nuts, toasted coconut, etc.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Combine the ingredients. Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer and mix until combined.
Healthy Breakfast Cookies ingredients in a glass mixing bowl: nut butter, chocolate, oats, apple sauce etc.
  1. Form into balls. Using a large cookie scoop (I used a 3T scoop), form into dough balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 
  1. Flatten into cookies. Using the palm of your hand, flatten the chocolate chip oatmeal breakfast cookies into disks.
  2. Bake. Bake at 325°F for 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely. 
Healthy Breakfast Cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Recipe Tips

Before baking, make sure you’ve flatten the cookies to however flat you want them to be. These cookies won’t spread in the oven, so whatever size and shape you have them when they go into the oven will be how they look coming out.

You can use whatever add-ins you’d like. You can omit the chocolate chips altogether if you are wanting them to be healthier. Feel free to add toasted coconut, golden raisins, or pecans as well.

You can even mix up some of the spices you add! These breakfast cookies would also be good with apple pie spice, cardamom, maybe a dash of nutmeg.

These healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies look similar to Erin Baker’s Breakfast Cookies that you can buy online. I haven’t tried them before though, so I’m not sure if these taste the same.

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

This is the perfect make ahead breakfast recipe. Double the recipe and store half in the freezer to grab and go. This recipe (1x) makes about 14 cookies. 

Store the healthy breakfast cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days or in the fridge for 1 week.

To freeze, let the oatmeal breakfast cookies cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container or Ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Breakfast Cookies studded with dried cranberries and nuts on a light brown background.

FAQs

Will these cookies flatten out?

Nope! As mentioned above, these cookies won’t flatten out in the oven. So, if you want them really flat, shape them flatter before baking them. If you want them in thick disks, form them into thick disks. 

Can I use maple syrup?

Yes you can! I prefer honey as a sweetener, but you can definitely use maple syrup instead.

Can I use rolled oats instead of quick oats?

I would recommend using quick oats because they are smaller. The oats are acting a bit like how flour would act in real cookies. With smaller oats, the breakfast cookie dough will become more dough like than if you were to use rolled oats. 

Are these breakfast cookies healthy?

Yes they totally are! These cookies are packed with oats, honey, flax seed, almond butter, apple butter, banana, and more! They are super customizable and you can really pack in some of those super ingredients like flax and hemp hearts since you won’t really be able to taste them. 

A stack of three healthy breakfast cookies with chocolate and raisins agains a white background.

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a rating and review, or scroll below the recipe card and do so there. 

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A stack of healthy breakfast cookies on top of each other, against a white background.
Print Save Review
5 from 2 votes

Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

A healthy breakfast alternative! These breakfast cookies are very versatile and you can taper the recipe freely according to what you have on hand. Do you have cashew butter, but the recipe calls for almond butter? Not a problem! You can make substitutions and taper the ingredients according to your preferences. We love this recipe because it's easy to make and perfect for when you're on-the-go!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 18 minutes
Servings: 14 cookies

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup almond butter - or nut butter of your choice. (Cashew butter, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter etc).
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup mashed banana
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 cup apple butter - or apple sauce
  • 3 tablespoons hemp hearts
  • 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips - optional
  • 1/4 cup chopped nuts - any kind will do!

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325°F. 
  • To a stand mixer add all of the ingredients.
  • Mix until combined. Use a large cookie scoop (3T scoop) and scoop dough into balls.
  • Place the balls of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Use palm of your hand and flatten the cookies into disks (These cookies don’t spread. Shape them how you want because that’s how they’ll come out of the oven.) I do about 1/2 inch thickness. Bake for 13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Notes

You can use whatever add-ins you’d like. You can omit the chocolate chips altogether if you are wanting them to be healthier. Feel free to add toasted coconut, golden raisins, or pecans as well.
Store cookies at room temp in an airtight container for 3-4 days and in fridge for 1 week.
Can freeze cookies after baking them, store in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Will last 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 247kcal (12%)Carbohydrates: 25g (8%)Protein: 7g (14%)Fat: 15g (23%)Saturated Fat: 2g (10%)Cholesterol: 1mgSodium: 91mg (4%)Potassium: 254mg (7%)Fiber: 4g (16%)Sugar: 11g (12%)Vitamin A: 20IUVitamin C: 0.7mg (1%)Calcium: 93mg (9%)Iron: 1.9mg (11%)
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Did you make this recipe?Leave a star rating and review on the blog post letting me know how you liked this recipe! Take a picture and tag @saltandbaker on Instagram and Facebook so I can see what you’re making!

This recipe was originally published on Aug. 12, 2019. It was republished on Feb. 14, 2022, to include additional information and photos.