thumbprint banana breakfast cookies.

let’s hear it for hearty breakfast cookies!

these are like a loaded & condensed version of banana bread in cookie form…with a dollop of creamy nut butter on top. i prefer the nutella’d ones, obviously. what a dang delight that stuff is.

i used peanut butter on the other cookies, but i wish i’d had almond butter for these! as long as your topping of choice goes alright with banana, go for it. i suppose they’d be good with jam, too!

i always love those thumbprint cookies at christmas time with the frosting. such a classic. how bout a year-round version of those that you can eat for breakfast or snack?! and they’re surprisingly filling.

i was happy to see that these cookies stayed moist up to a week. they taste good cold right out of the fridge, too.

the only reason there’s a little bit of wheat germ in the recipe is because some lady my dad used to work with put wheat germ in her “healthy” chocolate chip cookie recipe and those were really filling, so that’s always a thing in the back of my head. but the wheat germ is totally optional.

i prefer to eat cookies warm and fresh out of the oven, of course. i was just surprised at how well these kept at room temperature or refrigerated and were still chewy. great successsss.

but i was mostly so glad to have these around for breakfast and a quick snack for a whole week!

there’s really only 1 teaspoon of each nut butter on top…it looks like a lot more in the photos. the cookies are somewhat of a treat or dessert if you’re an ultra healthy harriet, but i’ll take a homemade breakfast bar thingy over packaged ones any day.

cookies…they’re what’s for breakfast.

Thumbprint Banana Breakfast Cookies

Makes 18 Cookies

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups old fashioned oats

  • 3/4 cup almond flour

  • 1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)

  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar

  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder

  • 1/4 tsp. cardamom (optional)

  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

  • 3-4 ripe bananas, mashed

  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract

  • 1/4 cup pepitas

  • 1/2 TB maple syrup

  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips

  • peanut butter, almond butter, nutella or any nut butter, for filling

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment or cooking spray. In a small bowl, mash the bananas well and set aside. Melt the coconut and let cool.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add coconut oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup and toss to incorporate. Add the mashed bananas and mix. Gently stir in the walnuts, pepitas, and chocolate chips.

Roll the dough into golf ball sized balls and place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Press down in the center of the ball with your thumb to create a divot.

Bake for 13 minutes and check for doneness. Bake 2 more minutes if the banana still seems soft.

Remove from the oven and press the indents in the cookies down again with the back of a spoon. Let the cookies cool 10 minutes.

Drop a teaspoon of peanut butter, almond butter, or Nutella in the thumbprint of each cookie. Sprinkle with extra cinnamon if desired.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge up to 1 week.

qp

whole wheat banana hazelnut muffins.

a.k.a: super-dense-keep-you-full-for-hours-convenient-and-yummy-breakfast-muffins!

i actually made this exact batch of muffins way back in august! i'm not sure why i hid them away for so long, because they were really delicious, hearty, textural, and filling!

they're made with some healthier ingredients and turned out very moist, dense (in a good way), and tasty. i would eat one in the morning at work and be FULL until lunch. especially if you spread some almond butter or something on top! so perfectly tame and easy to stomach early in the morning.

i have a weird problem with not being able to eat non-breakfast foods right when i wake up. i need something subtle to ease my way in to life. some folks i know do not have this problem at all and could wake up crack o' dawn and chow down a spaghetti dinner or a bowl of meat stew or something. me, nuh uh.

i really loooove hazelnuts. if you don't like, you can leave them out or substitute another type of nut. i'm all about that crunch factor baybay.

these also contain wheat germ, which i happened to have in the pantry, but i wouldn't say its totally necessary since you're adding whole wheat flour + oats anyway.

my dad used to make some lady's "healthy" cookie recipe and they contained wheat germ, so i always mentally held wheat germ on a pedestal of supreeeme health. i think it just adds some extra protein & vitamins to the mix, ain't nothing wrong with that!

they are especially delicious when cut in half and warmed up with a pat of butter & honey. :)

now that i look at these again, i think they would be really good with diced caramelized apple chunks in there as well. mmm, cozy. ima try it, mmk!

Whole Wheat Banana Hazelnut Muffins

Makes 12 regular sized muffins

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 TB honey
  • 1/3 cup wheat germ
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup oats
  • 1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts
  • dash of nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the brown sugar and egg. Stir in the mashed bananas and honey.

Slowly add all dry ingredients, mixing in between additions until the flour is incorporated. Lastly, add the oats, chopped hazelnuts, and a dash of nutmeg if desired. Mix until just combined. 

Spray, oil, or place paper cupcake liners in a regular sized 12-muffin tin.  Using a spoon or measuring cup, fill each cup about 2/3 full of batter.

Place the muffin pan on top of a flat baking sheet and place in the oven, to prevent burned muffin bottoms (the worst!). 

Bake for about 23 minutes.  Around 20 minutes, pull out of the oven and check the center of a muffin with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done. If the toothpick is still slightly goopy, return to the oven for just a few minutes. Do not over-bake.

 

enjoy!

 

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