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These breakfast cookies are flourless, vegan, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Perfect for meal prep, busy mornings, and kid-friendly breakfasts!
Finding healthy breakfast ideas can be hard, especially for meals on the go. In fact, a friend of mine recently asked me for some good ideas for her to have prepped before work. So I created this make-ahead breakfast that fits in the palm of your hand: my healthy breakfast cookies!
Yes, it’s a bit of magic: oats, nut butter, applesauce, and maple syrup transform into cookies that you can eat for breakfast. There’s none of those traditional cookie ingredients: no flour, no butter, no oil, and no refined sugar.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No flour, no oil, no refined sugar: Just a handful of whole food ingredients that are naturally sweet!
- Keeps you full: Some breakfasts don’t stick, but this one is actually filling with oats and nut butter
- Meal-prep friendly: Make a batch and you have a grab-and-go breakfast ready all week
Are These Breakfast Cookies Healthy?
Healthy is a subjective term, of course! Here’s why I think they qualify as healthy:
- They’re made with whole food ingredients that provide nutrition, not just empty calories. Each cookie is approximately 170 calories, based on a batch of 12.
- You get fiber from the oats and healthy fats from nut butter: Oats are a good source of soluble fiber. Peanut butter (or almond butter) has protein and heart-healthy unsaturated fats.
- Just sweet enough: They’re much less sweet than traditional oatmeal cookies, and the sweetness comes from maple syrup and raisins: not processed or artificial sweeteners.
- No dairy, no gluten, no oil: This makes them a nice option for people managing specific dietary needs without substitutions.
Tip: One cookie is satisfying, but pairing it with a piece of fruit or some yogurt makes for an even more filling morning!
5-Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “So tasty!!! Wonderful breakfast or snack, and so quick to put together with ingredients I already had on hand!” -Leslie
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “My two-year-old loves these! I add vegan chocolate chips, and they make a wonderful snack anytime of the day!” -Jen
Ingredients Needed
Eating cookies for breakfast? Breakfast cookies are a handheld cookie made with healthy ingredients intended to be eaten for breakfast or snack. They’re similar to a granola bar, but the texture is softer like a cookie. Breakfast cookies are conveniently easy to make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for meals on the go.
These healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies have no flour and no oil, opting for healthy alternatives. They also make both a vegan breakfast idea and gluten free breakfast option! Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Old-fashioned rolled oats: Use old-fashioned (not quick oats) for the best chewy texture. This recipe is naturally gluten free (use certified GF oats if needed)
- Creamy peanut butter (or almond butter): This acts as a binder and adds richness. Use a natural, no-sugar-added type.
- Unsweetened applesauce: This acts as the egg and oil replacement here and also helps to provide moisture and binding.
- Pure maple syrup: I like using a bottle marked “Grade A: Dark Color and Robust Taste” for the best flavor.
- Baking powder: Helps the cookies rise slightly.
- Cinnamon: Makes for the best oatmeal raisin cookie!
- Raisins: A classic mix-in: I prefer this as a healthy alternative instead of chocolate chips.
Pro Tips for Breakfast Cookies
These breakfast cookies are not like a traditional cookie! There are a few things that are a bit different and pointers to note:
- The dough is very wet. It’s not like a normal cookie dough, so don’t expect it to be! It’s very wet.
- You’ll have to form the dough into the cookie shapes with your hands. Again, it doesn’t shape like you expect it to: but that’s ok!
- They also don’t spread when baking like a normal cookie. When you shape it, that will be the final shape of the cookie when baked. You can press a few extra raisins into the top before you bake if the cookie looks a little sparse on top.
Easy Variations
You can definitely vary the mix-ins in this recipe. Just be careful about adding too many things: if you add more than ¼ cup mix ins, you run the risk of the cookie falling apart. Swap raisins for any of the following:
- Chocolate chip: Swap raisins for dark chocolate chips or vegan choc chips.
- Dried cranberries or dried cherries: A slightly tart swap that pairs well with the cinnamon. One reader tried dried cherries with almond butter and loved the combination.
- Nut-free: Use sunflower seed butter in place of peanut or almond butter.
- Coconut: A few tablespoons of shredded coconut mixed into the dough adds chewiness and a subtle tropical sweetness.
- Dried blueberries: Dried blueberries work as a raisin swap.
- Chopped walnuts or pecans: You could also swap the raisins for chopped nuts.
Storage & Meal-Prep Tips
The best thing about breakfast cookies? They’re easy to make ahead and store for on-the-go breakfasts! Here’s what to know about storage:
- Store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for 3 months. Then grab them on your way out the door.
- You can also store at room temp for about 5 days. They get very soft when stored at room temp (and delicious!).
- The cookies become softer when stored. You’ll notice they’re a little crisp at the edges after baking, but they hydrate more during storage.
Dietary Notes
This healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
I wouldn’t recommend it. The maple syrup does two jobs here: it sweetens the cookies and helps bind the dough. Without it, the cookies are likely to be dry, crumbly, and under-sweet. But you could replace it with honey if you want!
These specific cookies are built around the texture of old-fashioned rolled oats: the whole oats provide structure and chewiness. Oat flour doesn’t work here!
These are one of my most toddler-friendly recipes. They’re soft enough for little hands and mouths, free of refined sugar, and made with simple whole food ingredients.
Magic Breakfast Cookies
These breakfast cookies are flourless, vegan, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Perfect for meal prep, busy mornings, and kid-friendly breakfasts!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 11 to 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Breakfast
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter or creamy almond butter
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 3 cups Old Fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, maple syrup, and peanut butter. Stir in the oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix very well to combine into a dough. Add the raisins and stir until combined. The dough will be wetter than you expect, but it’s as intended.
- Scoop out 1/4-cup portions of dough and use the palm of your hand to gently shape it into a cookie to about 3/4-inch thick. The cookie won’t spread while baking, so make it the shape you’d like the final cookie. Place it on the prepared baking sheet. If it doesn’t pop right out of the cup, you can remove it with your hands, form it into a ball and then flatten it into a cookie shape with your hands. Again, the dough will be wetter than a normal cookie dough. Repeat to make 11 cookies with the ¼ cup measure, or make 12 slightly smaller cookies. Press a few extra raisins into the tops of any cookies that seem sparse.
- Bake until the cookies are golden and firm, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Leftover breakfast cookies will store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, and in the freezer for up to 3 months (you can wrap individually in foil if you like or place in a freezer proof container). The texture becomes softer during storage.
Notes
- Add-ins: Try swapping the raisins for an equal quantity dried cranberries, dried cherries, dark chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or shredded coconut. Resist the urge to add too many mix ins or the cookies may fall apart.
- Dough texture: The cookie dough will be wetter than traditional cookie dough: this is expected and correct.
Thank you for posting really good, healthy recipes! For these breakfast cookies, I am wondering about adding protein powder to the dough. Do you think I could just add it or would I need to reduce one of the other dry ingredients? What are your thoughts?
You’d probably need to add just a bit of moisture (maybe a splash of milk?)
I just made these last night and they are delicious fresh out of the oven, or cooled off, or next morning crumbled with yogurt and applesauce. Heavenly and so healthy. I used mixed butter and half of the maple syrup and added dried cherries for raisins. Thank you for another excellent and healthy recipe!
Is there a substitute for the Peanut Butter?
Any nut butter would work.
You have instructions to line the baking sheet in both steps 1 and 3.
I have made these a few times, and they are always very crumbly. the dough is not very wet, so I am not sure what I am doing differently.
What can be substituted for the 1/2 cup of applesauce?
Oil
My two year old loves these! I add vegan chocolate chips and they make a wonderful snack anytime of the day!
Ahhh amazing!!! We are so glad to hear this! Thank you so much for making.
Could you substitute Honey or Agave for the Maple Syrup? Would the raisins not sweeten them enough without adding any other sweeteners?
Yes, you could substitute! They definitely need a little added sweetener.
these are incredible! perfect for breakfast, lunch, or a snack in between. reheating them before eating makes my kitchen smell incredible and i feel like i am eating a “real” cookie!! thank you for all your amazing recipes!
So tasty!!! Wonderful breakfast or snack, and so quick to put together with ingredients I already had on hand!
Sorry! Low – glycemic. The typo in that other post got it wrong. Even coconut sugar and maple sugar is better tolerated for me. Thanks!
The recipe looks great, but oats are not gluten-free or celiac disease friendly.
If you have celiac disease, talk to your doctor before making this recipe.
canada has a gluten free oat.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_dp_s_mw_0?ie=UTF8&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=One+Degree+Organic+Foods
What?!? Gluten-free oats are available everywhere!
Delicious! Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Love they are gluten and diary free. Finally a cookie we can enjoy.
I really wanted to like this cookie with all the delicious ingredients but it fell short of my expectations. The dough was too hard to work with and hard to form the cookies. The finished product fell apart too easily. Taste was a little too sweet. This recipe needs more ingredients that will hold it together
Is there a way to make these nut free? If I don’t use peanut butter will it throw off the whole dish?
Great question — you can try it with sunflower butter! We haven’t tested it but it should work similarly.
These are wonderful. I was a little shy on applesauce and had no raises. I add a little avacado oil and boiled some fresh cranberries and substituted for raisens. They are wonderful!!
Hi, can you sub the maple syrup for honey?
Yes
Wow these are amazing! I made mine with cashew butter. Very delicious.
Will golden syrup work?
I don’t have experience with golden syrup but i think it would sub fine.
Thank you for this recipe! It was so easy and approved by my son! Will definitely be making more of these to keep around.
What can I use instead of pure maple syrup?
Honey should work fine.
Ok i am going to have to try these with vegan choc chips… because that is just me. 🤣
I can’t wait to try these. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Oct. of 2020 and changed the way I was eating drastically. I have been healed for f cancer but I will never go back to the way I use to eat. Thank you for such great recipes. God Bless you both
I love this recipe, I’ve baked it several times as written. I like a sweet bite with my coffee in the morning but also want to eat something with substance. These cookies fit the bill. I also just made a batch replacing the cinnamon with equal amount high quality cocoa powder and the raisins with equal amount chocolate chips (albeit less healthy) and they were also great. I only modified because I wanted to mix it up a little as I’ve made the original so many times 😄. I’ll continue to make both versions.
So glad you are loving them! We’ll have to try the variation.
Can I sub honey for the maple syrup?
I made the magic breakfast cookies but they tasted Plain. I followed the recipe to a T but I’m wondering if because we don’t add any sugar is why they tasted this way. Three of my kids liked them and two didn’t.
Breakfast cookies….Why the baking powder if there is no flour?
We tried it both ways and it just adds a little extra something to the final result!
I am just beginning to bake for my vegan friends and made the Breakfast Cookie. I’ll be taking it to work tomorrow but was very pleased how the cookies baked and tasted. I made 18 cookies out of this recipe so more could enjoy them. I’m looking forward to trying other gluten free and vegan recipes from you.
Sure wish you gave us all Nutritional Values (besides Calories)
Hi! Just added to the recipe card.
Hi! I was wondering can I use molasses instead of pure maple syrup? (It’s what I happen to have in the pantry right now). Thanks!
Maybe if you did part molasses and part sugar. It would be too strongly flavored otherwise.
Sonja & Alex, hi, I’m new to your site & am trying to start the new year off eating better (i.e. a lifetime of eating poorly). I was wondering if you have or know the the nutritional breakdown of these cookies? They, along with so many of your dishes, look fabulous, & I’m so excited about looking into your past blogs. Thanks for helping me & others like myself in their quest for a healthier lifestyle.
Hi! Just added to the recipe card.
These look so good and easy. I’m wondering if I can substitute the nutbuttee with either wow butter or sunflower butter?🤔
We have not tested it with sunflower butter but it should work! Let me know how it goes!
Oh my gosh! I just made these breakfast cookies today. ❤️❤️❤️! I have been looking for something like this for awhile. I have tried many baked oatmeal recipes; none were what I had i in mind.
I used a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop oatmeal mixture and for uniformity of the cookies; I got 11 cookies from the batch.
Thank you so much for this recipe- it is a keeper and “repeater” for me.
Delish!
So glad you enjoyed!
I only keep chunky peanut butter, but I’m going to try these. I live on the edge!
Haha! Good luck :)
Oohh…if I sub dried cranberries for the raisins, I think I already have all of these ingredients! Perfect timing with school starting back up yesterday. My high schooler isn’t a fan of eating right when he wakes up, but I can slip these in his backpack for later. Can’t wait to try, thank you!
Awesome! Enjoy :)