My morning glory breakfast cookies are the ultimate grab-and-go breakfast! They’re bursting with wholesome ingredients like juicy apple chunks, shredded carrots, sweet raisins, coconut, and crunchy walnuts. These easy-to-make cookies are naturally vegan, optionally gluten-free, and freezer-friendly — perfect for meal prep or busy mornings!
Do you love a grab and go breakfast? Judging by the reaction I've gotten to my breakfast bars, I'm guessing the answer is yes. With that in mind, I decided it was time for another, this time in the form of breakfast cookies. Don't worry though! These cookies are packed with good stuff, all inspired by my vegan morning glory muffins, which you guys also seemed to really love.
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I usually only eat dessert foods for breakfast on major holidays (don't judge!), but I'm pretty much okay with these breakfast cookies any day. Most of the sweetness comes from bananas and raisins. There's a teensy bit of sugar in there too, but I'm okay with that.
In addition to that, these suckers are made from stuff I have zero problem eating for breakfast: carrots, apples, coconut, walnuts and spices, all mixed up in a base of oats that can be gluten-free if you want it to. They're light, fluffy, and almost like muffin/cookie hybrids. I've got a big stash in the freezer so I can enjoy one whenever I want.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Banana. Be sure to use an overripe banana, like the recipe specifies. What does that mean? Lots of brown spots! A mix of brown and yellow is about perfect. No green!
- Vegetable oil. You can use whatever type of oil you normally like to bake with. Corn oil, canola, or melted coconut oil are all fine options.
- Coconut sugar. Feel free to swap this out with another type of granulated sugar if you don't normally buy coconut sugar. Organic granulated white or brown sugar are both fine!
- Vanilla extract.
- Oat flour. Most grocery stores sell this in the baking or natural foods aisles. You can also make your own if you'd like, by grinding up rolled oats to a powder in a food processor.
- Rolled oats.
- Baking powder.
- Spices. You'll just need ground cinnamon and ginger.
- Salt.
- Apple. I like a Granny Smith for this recipe, as it adds a touch of tartness. Having said that, use any kind of apple you like.
- Carrots.
- Shredded coconut. The recipe calls for unsweetened coconut. Sweetened will work fine — it'll just make your cookies a bit sweeter.
- Walnuts. You're welcome to swap these out with another type of nut, like pecans or cashews. For nut-free cookies, use sunflower seeds or pepitas.
- Raisins. Other types of dried fruit can be substituted, like dried cherries or cranberries.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Get ready. Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and lining a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: Mash the banana. Place it into a large mixing bowl and use a fork or potato masher to mash it up.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients. Stir in the oil, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients. First add the oat flour and rolled oats, then sprinkle the baking powder, spices, and salt over them. Stir everything up.
Step 5: Add the stir-ins. Fold in the remaining ingredients: apple, carrots, coconut, walnuts, and raisins.
Steps 6 & 7: Shape the cookies. Scoop up about three tablespoons of dough at a time, roll it into balls, and arrange them on the baking sheets. Use a spoon to flatten the cookies a bit.
Tip: The dough can be very sticky. Wet your hands before rolling it if you have trouble with it sticking to them.
Step 8: Bake the cookies. Bake them for about eighteen minutes. They'll still be pretty soft when they're done.
Step 9: Let them cool. Place the baking sheets on cooling racks and let them cool completely before removing them. They'll firm up slightly as they cool.
Step 10: Enjoy! Your breakfast cookies are ready to serve. You can enjoy them immediately, or store them in the freezer or fridge for later.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Because these breakfast cookies contain fresh ingredients like apples, banana, and carrots, they're best kept chilled. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days, or in the freezer for about three months. You can let them thaw at room temperatures, or by zapping them in the microwave in twenty second increments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Simply make sure the oats and oat flour you use are certified gluten-free. Easy!
The cookies will still be very soft when they're done baking, but the tops will feel dry to the touch and no longer sticky.
You can, but I recommend bringing it up to room temperature before baking it. This will mean taking it out of the fridge about an hour or so before baking.
More Vegan Breakfast Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Morning Glory Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 small overripe banana
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (or organic granulated sugar of choice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup oat flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced
- ¾ cup shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the banana into a large mixing bowl, then mash it up completely using a fork or potato masher.
- Stir the oil, coconut sugar, and vanilla into the mashed banana.
- Add the oat flour and oats to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt over top of them. Stir everything together just until combined.
- Fold in the apple, carrots, coconut, walnuts, and raisins. The dough will be very loose, moist, and sticky.
- Shape about 3 tablespoons of the dough into a ball and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Continue until all of the dough is used, making about a dozen balls and placing six on each baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. You can wet your hands if you have trouble with the dough sticking to them while you shape the cookies.
- Gently flatten the cookies with the back of a spoon.
- Place the baking sheets into the oven and bake the cookies for about 18 minutes.
- Place the baking sheets on cooling racks and let the cookies cool completely. They will be very soft, but will firm up a bit as they cool.
- Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Absolutely delicious! I added 2 tbsp of PB powder but otherwise made these as written and they are so good! I ate almost 2 cookies worth of the mixture before baking, I just couldn’t help myself haha. I’m wondering if you would have any tips on baking these as bars instead? I hate dealing multiple cookies but would love to make a few batches of bars at a time to freeze.
I'm so glad they were a hit! I haven't tried making this particular recipe as bars, but I'd suggest trying an 8 x 8 baking pan, and lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper with a bit hanging over the sides that you could use to remove the bars when they're done. Try baking them at 350°F and start checking on them at 18 minutes, although I'm guessing they'll end up taking a few minutes longer than that. I'd love to hear how they turn out if you give this a try! Good luck and enjoy!
can I make my own oat flour from rolled oats?
Absolutely! Just grind them to a fine powder using a food processor or high-powered blender.
I started making these, and then realized that I didn’t have any apples. And I didn’t have any applesauce. So, I decided to use Almond Butter instead.
AND II didn’t have walnuts, so pecans were used.
They held their shape (huge improvement from my last cookie baking experience, where I ended up with one giant cookie sheet sized cookie) and they tasted absolutely incredible! Warm, still soft were unbelievable, but even after they cooled and hardened up a bit they were great.
I’m excited to have them in the morning with my coffee.
Thank you for the recipe.
Great save, and sounds delicious! I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks Josh!
Do you think substituting finely chopped dates for the sugar would taste right?
I'm not sure, but since it's such a small amount I think it will be okay. Date sugar might work even better!
I love breakfast cookies, so I had to try these! I used about 1/4 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup 100% white whole wheat flour, brown sugar, pecans, craisins, and added a sprinkle of cloves, and some ground flax. Left everything else the same. These are really good! I will definitely make them again! Thank you Alissa!
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks Julie!!
I need the amount of carbs in each cookie. Do you know nutritional info ? My son is a type 1 diabetic we have to know how much insulin he needs to eat one of these.thank you
I haven't gotten to adding nutritional info to all of my recipes yet, but this is a great tool if you'd like to take a crack at it: https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594
How do I store them?
Definitely keep them in a sealed container or zippy bag, and if you don't think you'll be eating them within a day or two, I'd keep them in the fridge.
How Should I store them?
? You use 3 TABLESPOONS to make 1 cookie?
Correct! You can make them smaller if you prefer though.
I'm definitely going to give these a try! I live in the Tropics where freshly grated coconut is abundant, would that work in the recipe?
I haven't tried it with fresh grated coconut, but I think it would work. Please let me know if you do try it!
Cookies for breakfast? I a,m allllll ova dat. Especially when they look this delicious!
I make breakfast cookies often but I've never thought to add carrots - You've inspired me :)
These look super tasty BTW
Thanks Jess! I hope you give them a try. :)
These look really awesome!! I love cookies for breakfast - the texture is just so ideal at that time of day for me for some reason.
Thank you!
What is the nutrition information? How much protein per serving? How much fiber per serving?
SO YUMMY!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!