Oats have to be my favourite wholegrain, hands down. They are super versatile and incredibly healthy; Quaker oats are nothing but 100% whole grain and contain beta glucan. Beta gluten is a soluble fibre that helps lower cholesterol, which is a risk factor for heart disease. In addition, fibre helps stabilize blood sugar to help prevent the spikes and dips that can occur after eating that impacts energy levels. Oats are also a nutrient-rich source of energy: an ideal base for these Breakfast Power Cookies that I created in partnership with Quaker Oats. Because who doesn’t need more energy, right?!
We have a number of family members who need to avoid gluten, so I’m always on the lookout for ways to manipulate recipes to make them gluten free. The good news here is that you can make these gluten free by using the Gluten Free Quaker Oats and gluten free variations of the other ingredients.
You can use any fruit you want for the dried fruit – we used a combination of dried apricots, raisins and raisins. If you like a less sweet cookie opt for the lower amount of maple syrup – either way they weren’t overly sweet (I preferred them with the 3/4 cup of maple syrup)!
I’ve also been asked about substitutions. You can substitute any nut or seed butter for the almond butter (try peanut butter or even tahini – and sub more seeds for the nuts – to make them nut free and totally school friendly!). You can also substitute regular flour (preferably whole wheat or spelt but all-purpose should work) for the oat flour. Of course at that point they will not be gluten free. Lastly you can easily substitute melted butter or vegan butter for the coconut oil if preferred.
These soft cookies freeze beautifully (if they don’t disappear first!). I’ve been making double batches of them to freeze for a quick bite on the go and the kids LOVE them! In fact, I made a batch of them to take on our road trip to Tofino and they were a lifesaver!
Breakfast Power Cookies
These Breakfast Power Cookies are packed with healthy ingredients and are vegan (with a gluten free option) to give you energy to start your day!
Ingredients
WET INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup grated apple (about 1 apple, skin left on)
- 2/3 cup almond butter
- 1/2-3/4 cup maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like them)
- ½ cup ground flax seed mixed with ½ cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats (we used Quaker)
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 cup mixed chopped dried fruit (we used apricots, raisins and cranberries)
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup hemp hearts
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 F.
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In a medium bowl mix together all of the wet ingredients and stir to combine. In a separate large bowl mix together all dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until well combined.
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Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop around 12 large mounds of cookie dough on to a large baking sheet, leaving about 1" between each cookie. Using your fingers flatten the cookies to 1/2-3/4" thickness. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely on a cooling rack before eating. You can store these cookies in the freezer for up to a month in a tightly sealed container.
Recipe Notes
You can substitute any nut or seed butter for the almond butter (try peanut butter or even tahini - and sub more seeds for the nuts - to make them nut free and totally school friendly!). You can also substitute regular flour (preferably whole wheat or spelt but all-purpose should work) for the oat flour. Of course at that point they will not be gluten free. Lastly you can easily substitute melted butter or vegan butter for the coconut oil if preferred.
The original Instagram post for these cookies was sponsored by Quaker Canada. All opinions are my own!
Do you know how much protein is in each cookie? I like high protein in the morning to get me going
Hi Lynn,
I haven’t done the calculations!
Eek! Very excited to try these.
Please let me know how you like them Maggie!!! Tori
what can i substitute the pecans with? I have a kid with certain tree nut allergies.
Coconut, almonds, peanuts and hazelnuts are ok.
Hi Veronica! More coconut, chopped almonds, hazelnuts or more seeds would work!
I wasn’t able to get Oat Flour. Can I substitute 1:1 with regular flour? Or almond or coconut flour? I can’t wait to make these! Thanks!
Laura,
If you can’t find oat flour, just grind up oats in a food processor until fine and flour like in consistency.
Tori I just made these and they were absolutely delicious and super easy!! Thank you for my new go to recipe!!
Thanks Katie that’s fabulous!
Made these this morning – delicious! Looking forward to having them for breakfast next week instead of my toddler’s leftovers. Love that you can switch up the fruit/nuts depending on what you have in the cupboard.
Thank you Marina so happy you liked them! They definitely beat the toddler’s leftovers in my house too:). Tori
These turned out lovely! I made a few substitutions (I used almond flour, chia seeds, etc) based on what I had on hand and there were no problems! The cookies were delicious!!
Hi Stephanie, that’s so awesome! xx Tori
Could these be baked into bars?
I believe they could Kate, you would need to likely bake them longer but at 325F is what I would do, and be sure to line your baking pan with parchment or at least spray it with cooking spray!
Delicious! I made these with a few substitutions based on what ingredients I had on hand and they turned out great! For those interested I used almond flour instead of oat flour, chia seeds instead of hemp hearts and I omitted the apple. A new favourite recipe has been found! Thank you.
That’s so awesome thanks Stephanie! Thank you for sharing that’s really helpful! Tori
My new go-to breakfast cookie. These are ridiculously delicious!
My co-worker made these and they were so delicious!
Making my own batch tonight and not sharing 😉
So glad you liked them!!
I made these last night – amazing. I subbed the pecans for cashews as that is what I had. I cooked then for 20 minutes and there are a softer cookie. Is the cookie supposed to be crunchy? They are delicious soft but not sure if they are supposed to be that way
Hi Jessica yes they are a soft cookie that is how they are supposed to turn out – I will add that to the recipe so there are no surprises! The crunchy cookies tend to be more decadent:)
Just made these tonight, soooo yummy and chewy!!! Getting kids ready in the am always takes precedence over my breakfast but one of these with my coffee until I can get something else would definitely tide me over!
Hi Janice, thank you for the feedback and I’m so happy that they are helping you sneak in some nutrition to fuel your mornings! Have a wonderful weekend, Tori
Hi Tori, could I use chia seeds in place of the ground flax? I am allergic to flax. Thank you.
Hi Gail yes you could use ground chia!
Hi Tori,
Trying to think about what I have on-hand to make these tonight. Could I substitute an egg for the ground flax/water?
Thanks!
Meaghan
Hi Meaghan I’m so sorry I just got this – it was sent to the wrong folder for approval! Yes you can… a little late here!!
Hi Tori! I was just about to make these and was wondering how many eggs you would put in to replace the the flax seed and water as a binder?
Thanks,
Katie
Hi Katie so sorry for the delay in replying this comment got lost in the comments section! I use 3 eggs to replace the flax eggs and it works well!
Hi Tori, I made these for the first time and loved them… so did my kids. Mine turned out a bit dry. What would you suggest I add to the batter if this seems to be the case next time? More maple syrup? I have no idea! Thanks!
I haven’t had mine come out dry before but it could be just that I’ve been using really juicy apples! I’d add a little bit more grated apple or maple syrup
Hi, going to make these today but don’t want to put in the flax seed, how would you replace or work around this?
Thanks
Hi Stacey,
The flax seed works as binder in this recipe so I definitely wouldn’t just leave it out! That being said I haven’t tried it without flax but would recommend an egg or chia egg as a replacement. Let me know if you give it a go!
Hi Tori, could a person use grated zucchini instead of the apples?
Hi Shauna, I haven’t tried it before but it should work in theory! It might be a little less sweet, let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
Love these cookies! They’ve become a morning staple. Has anyone tried replacing some of the coconut oil with applesauce? I’ll be testing it out tomorrow, hopefully they’re just as great!
Hi Mika thank you so much for taking the time to review! I would love to hear how the apple sauce turns out!
These are the best cookies ever, thanks for sharing.
So glad you liked them Marnie!
I assume the flax mixed with water is to replace eggs? Would it be possible to do this with chia seeds instead and, if so, do you know what the measurements would be?
Hi Jenna, I haven’t tried it with chia before but I would do 2 tbsp chia and 5 tablespoons water. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you give it a go!
These cookies are delicious!!! Baked them couple time already. Great recipe! Thanks Tori.
So happy you like them thanks Yulia! Tori
Wondering if you tried with applesauce instead of apple? If so, would I sub 1:1? We always can a TON of applesauce in the summer from my aunt’s tree and it’s so easy to use. Thanks!
I made these with some substitutions to make them school safe. I used tahini for the nut butter, omitted the nuts and I used ground chia instead of the flax as that’s what I had. Thanks for your great recipes Tori.
Amazing thanks so much Ashley!!!
OMG these are wonderful!!!! Thank you for all your work and wonderful recipes ☺️
So glad you like them Amanda! Thanks for following along!
These are wonderful! I use 1/2 cup maple syrup and use 1/2 cup chocolate chips instead of dried fruit. They feel like an indulgence!
So glad you like them Stacey!
So delicious. My toddler loves them too! Thanks for the great recipes Tori!
Cookies are amazing and so yummy. Left out the sunflower seeds as I didn’t have any and subbed chopped dates for the dried apricots. I made applesauce with “dead” apples and am going to sub for coconut oil next time like some of you have suggested. Love that they’re so healthy, vegan and gluten free.
hi tori! i’m about to make these but just realized i’m out of coconut oil…. is there anything i can sub with? thanks!!
Hi Britt! You could use butter or any neutral oil should work! Happy Baking!
I don’t have flax seed. Can I just sub for 1 egg? 1/2 cup flax seed + 1/2 cup water seems like more than 1 egg? Thank you 🙂
Hi Maggie, It would be 2 eggs you would need to use but I haven’t tried it before! I’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a shot!
I’ve been making these over and over again! So tasty and not too sweet. Do you think I could substitute flax with ground pumpkin seed and ground sunflower seed?
Thanks!!
Tori, Once again, another awesome recipe! I have been wanting to make these since you posted them and they did not disappoint! My husband who doesn’t like raisins said they are delicious! These are a new favourite in our household! Thank you!
Amazing this makes me so happy to hear!!
I have made these twice already, once with mini semi sweet choc chips and toasted almonds and a second time with raisins and dried blueberries with pecans and both times were fantastic. Switched out oat flour for coconut flour/ spelt flour and used flax seeds when I ran out of hemp hearts and everything still turned out great, such a flexible recipe. I froze them as well and pull them out for work day breakfasts, they are so popular that I gave out the recipe 4 times in one week.
So happy you enjoy these Lynnea, such a handy thing to have made for when you need a quick snack! The dried blueberries must have tasted amazing in here. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
I love the idea of these cookies – so healthy and handy as I had all the ingredients on hand. Unfortunately they were SO dry and crumbled almost instantly.. might turn them into granola bits instead. Any thoughts on how I can make them more moist? I followed the recipe exactly and even put a little extra apple in (which was very juicy).
Hi Lauren I’m so sorry to hear this! I’ve made them a number of times and they weren’t crumbly – did you use egg or flax egg? Did you use ground flax if so?
My husband just requested that another batch be made for his breakfasts. Trust me that’s high praise.
So happy he enjoyed them! Thank you so much for leaving review Rachel
This recipe is amazing! I used almond flour, avocado oil, chopped dates and chunks of dark chocolate and my kids love them. Thanks Tori!
So happy you enjoyed it Kathleen! Love those adjustments, it’s such a flexible recipe!
Hey Tori, do you happen to know what the calories would be one cookie?
Hi Kelly I haven’t run the math on them but I will add it to the list!
These ARE like you said out-of-control delicious! They are the new household favourite. I make double batches but have to limit my boys to 1/day because the flax…. Well…makes Em’ toot. Like uncontrollable hot-box- the car pull over & get out toots. Anyone else experience this when overindulging? We are not vegan so may substitute eggs & see if that helps. Hugs for this beyond mouth-watering healthy cookie.
Hi Kim! I haven’t heard of that but everyone is different! Absolutely you can use eggs here too.
I used only raisins, as that’s what I had on hand for dried fruit. These were delicious and they turned out perfectly. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for sharing that Christina I appreciate it!
Made these the other night the combination of all the fruit and nuts are so scrumptious, all the flavors mixed together with all the textures it’s out of this world. Thanks for sharing your recipes they are fantastic
Awe thanks Elena so happy you love them!
I entered the recipe into the Fitbit app and divided it by 12. While it is not a recipe for my family based on the macronutrients, I will be passing it onto my friend whose boys it will work for.
For 1 cookie:
Calories 518
Carbs 47 g
Fats 33 g
Protein 11 g