Breakfast Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Cherries (one-bowl recipe)

another cookie recipe? this one has 6g protein in each WHUT. 🙌

Can I tell you a dum-dum? I recently realized my years of intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast) meant that I’ve been missing an opportunity to meet my daily protein needs — about 100g for me based on my ‘research’ aka 15 minutes on the internet. But I’m one of those people who can’t stomach much in the morning so I wanted something uncomplicated to grab for breakfast or post-workout snack. It also had to meet certain criteria.

Cookie commandments:

✔️ good source of protein (#1 most important) - each cookie has 6.5g of protein vs 6g in one large egg. Because eating eggs for protein gets old real fast.

✔️ refined sugar free - sweetened with maple syrup

✔️ no bananas - lots of breakfast cookies have bananas for sweetness and moisture but I wanted to achieve that without the banana-y flavour. Did I just indiscrimately throw shade at all breakfast cookies with mashed bananas? Yes I did 😏

✔️ no protein powder - I rather drink my protein powder

✔️ taste really good obviously

✔️ one-bowl recipe

Plus, I also really wanted my breakfast cookies to vibe like these bars:

Have you had them? It’s this specific flavour I’m obsessed with but unfortunately these bars contain ingredients like palm kernel oil, sugar, glucose syrup and soy lecithin - stuff I prefer not to consume regularly. That’s why I took matters into my own hands.

The result:

Cookies that are nutrient-dense and taste like a treat but are made with only wholesome ingredients. They’re naturally sweetened, rich in protein and healthy fats, and made in one bowl. Basically, they taste like a hearty, chewy oatmeal cookie studded with dried cherries and dark chocolate chips - so good for for breakfast or post workout snack.

By-product of recipe development - a freezer full of test cookies and many packages of nuts:

Eat well and be well,

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Breakfast Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Cherries

These are nutrient-dense and taste like a treat but are made with only wholesome ingredients. They’re naturally sweetened, rich in protein and healthy fats, and made in one bowl. Basically, they taste like a hearty, chewy oatmeal cookie studded with dried cherries and dark chocolate chips - so good for for breakfast or post workout snack.

Go to full recipe post for Breakfast Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Cherries

INGREDIENTS

Wet ingredients:

• 1 egg

• ¾ C (180g) smooth peanut butter (can sub almond butter or tahini)

• 2/3 C (160ml) pure maple syrup

• 3 tbsp avocado oil (can sub melted coconut oil)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:

• 1¼ C (100g) old fashioned rolled oats

• 1¼ C (150g) finely ground almond flour

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp baking powder

• ¾ tsp fine sea salt

Mix-ins:

• 2/3 C (95g) dried cherries (can sub dried blueberries, currants or cranberries)

• 1/3 C (30g) sliced almonds

• ¼ C (40g) dairy-free dark chocolate chips

• ¼ C (35g) chopped unsalted peanuts or cashews

• ¼ C (40g) hemp seeds

Chocolate drizzle (optional):

½ C (80g) dairy-free dark chocolate chips

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350f. Line two baking sheets with parchment (or line one and bake in two batches).

In a large mixing bowl, first add the egg and whisk well. Add remaining wet ingredients and whisk again. Add dry ingredients and mix with a spatula, making sure to dig down to the bottom of the bowl to properly combine everything. Add mix-ins and fold until evenly distributed.

Use a medium-sized cookie scoop (or two spoons because dough is sticky to handle with hands), scoop dough into 3-tablespoon balls (~50g each) dividing between the two baking sheets. They spread a little during baking so leave some space between them. There is enough dough to make 20 cookies. Press each mound to flatten slightly. Bake until cookies are slightly brown on top and ever so slightly soft to the touch but won’t fall apart (they firm up after cooling) – this takes about 20 minutes in my oven. Once done, if cookies need a little reshaping (to make them rounder), do so with a spatula while they're still warm.

Cool 10 minutes or until firm enough to transfer onto a wire rack to fully cool.

For the optional chocolate drizzle, melt chocolate chips in the microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. Transfer into a small piping bag or ziptop bag with a tiny opening snipped at the corner. Drizzle melted chocolate on cookies in a zig-zag pattern.

Let chocolate cool fully at room temperature until hardened before transferring for storage in an airtight container or ziptop bag. These keep well at room temperature for 3-4 days or frozen in freezer bag for up to 2 months.

Go to full recipe post for Breakfast Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Cherries (WITH PRINTABLE RECIPE)