Monday, 14 July 2014

Coconut Cranberry Breakfast Cookies {with Protein!}




I love chocolate. I talk about it here and here and here. I just love it. But to me, there is a time and place for chocolate. While I may think about chocolate all the time, I don't ALWAYS want to eat it. OKAY that's a lie. I do.

Are you an early morning chocolate eater? I can't seem to hack it. I prefer chocolate at night for some reason. Maybe it's because that's when I tend to wind down and relax (probably not uncommon) and chocolate has always been a 'night-time' food for me. I definitely enjoy a square of dark chocolate with some herbal tea in the evenings. And by one square, let's be clear...I mean three.

So I decided to make another protein cookie recipe but one that you could have early in the morning, too! Dare I say...for breakfast? Chuck a few in your bag and you are good to go in a pinch!








OKAY, OKAY....



Yes...there is technically chocolate in these. But not AS chocolatey as these protein cookies. So pretty much that means they are a breakfast food. And of course if you are a crazy person you can leave out the chocolate.












So if you are anything like me and hate the mornings pretty intensely then it's a miracle you can even put on pants and be at work before noon without a traffic violation or wardrobe malfunction. That deserves a breakfast cookie or two, wouldn't you say?








These cookies are not even real life. They are some strange, warm, soft and chewy figment of my over active cookie-magination. Never have cookies disappeared so quickly in my house. Even my last batch was amazing but these...they are some sort of strange gypsy magic I have never before experienced. It's like ....if all the magic of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were somehow contained in a cookie then... well, I suppose that would describe these pretty well.








I honestly had no idea what I was doing making this recipe. I just started throwing (gently placing) things into a bowl -- and none of it really made sense. But now I have seen the light. The warm, sweet, satisfying, chewy and delicious light.


So let's get you that recipe, sleepy head. Maybe then you can hit the snooze just ONE MORE TIME. (FYI...once is never enough).








Coconut Cranberry Breakfast Cookies 

Yields 30 - 36 Cookies

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, High Protein, Vegan Option 



Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup oat flour
  • 3/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup vanilla brown rice protein (SunWarrior!)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/3 chopped nuts of choice 
  • 1/4 cup dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon* 
  • 2 eggs or egg replacer 
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt, unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana 
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 cup liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, brown rice syrup, coconut nectar, etc.) 
  • 5 drops liquid stevia* (optional but I used NOW Foods English Toffee Drops) 
  • 1/2 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk 
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or less! up to preference)

* I know cinnamon seems odd. I promise this is a MUST -- it enhances all the flavours without being obvious or overpowering 



Directions:


  1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare baking sheets that are greased or lined with parchment paper
  2. Combine all dry ingredients, except chocolate chips and dry add-ins like nuts and fruit, in a medium bowl and sift together
  3. In a large bowl, mix together all wet ingredients
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until a large dough forms, using almond milk to allow dough to come together (you may not need it all or you might need more, depends on your flour)
  5. Add in chocolate chips and other add-ins and mix thoroughly
  6. Roll dough into balls and press them down flat onto your baking sheet
  7. Bake each batch for 8-12 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are slightly firm
  8. Cool on a wire rack before storing 
  9. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days

Note: Do not over bake! Cookies can become dry if baked for too long. At around 8 minutes check to see if tops are no longer wet/shiny and have puffed up slightly indicating your cookies are done! Cookies will be very fragile and soft before they cool so exercise caution when removing them from the baking sheet! 


And that's it! Bring these over to a friends house, family event or just keep them on the table and watch them disappear. I did all three of these things, so that's also an option. 


They even look delicious before they've been baked!









I love how jam-packed these are!








The little flecks of coconut...MMMM!









How they stack up so nicely.








And are soft and delicious...









And how all the toppings poke through!






I think these are perfect for anytime, really. But it's also good to know you can have cookies for breakfast. 









They still look pretty even when a bite gets taken out of one...by accident. 







Shhh... it wasn't me. 

So stack these up on a plate and bring them someplace. Even if that place is to your room to binge watch Netflix. Swap out peanuts for another nut or seed, change up the dried fruit or chocolate chips and you have a new cookie every time! I made two batches of these (over 60 cookies) and they finished in a weekend -- that means every person who tried them LOVED them. And they are filling. Which is not a usual cookie-quality. 







Happy Chewing!

XO 

4 comments:

  1. i love ur receipt but please where can i get the items am from Nigeria. Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I am not sure where you could find the items in Nigeria because I am more familiar with what I can get here in North America! If you have access to flour, oats and honey that would be a good start! Thanks for the comment :)

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  2. Hey Anonymous from Nigeria - do you have access to order ingredients online from iHerb.com? I'm in South Korea, and that is where I get all the healthy baking ingredients I can't find in local stores. Just waiting on my Sunwarrior and Now Foods English Toffee drops to dive into Summer's amazing looking recipes! (Hello Summer! So glad a fellow Canadian here in S.K. put me onto your blog - I'm out to convert the masses (or at least my family and maybe some friends and co-workers) one gluten-free, refined-sugar free, high-protein recipe at a time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Lauren! Wow! Thank you for helping our friend in Nigeria -- I have heard of iHerb but I have never used it! The toffee drops have been sold out of the local store I used to get it from -- so I guess the word is out about them! I will need to buy them online, too!

      Your comment made me sooo happy. Thank you so much for your kind words -- it made my day. I, of course, support your mass converting mission -- that's my gig!


      Please let me know how it goes when you get all your healthy goodies!!

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