Monday, March 22, 2010

cookies in the morning

This breakfast cookie is one of the best I've tried. It's an adaptation from the Sneaky Chef. We eat them more as a mid-morning or after-nap snack, but they are great to grab on your way out the door to eat on the go (and much safer than the usual bowl of cereal in the car trick my husband likes to try).

And of course you can mix up what you add in. We like dried cranberries and sunflower seeds. You could try raisins, apricots, coconut, almonds, pecans - or nothing at all! Play around with fun combinations.

So, here it is.

3-4 cups whole grain cereal flakes (like Total)
1/4 cup wheat germ or oat bran
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup dried fruit (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Use a rolling pin or mallet to crush the cereal in a plastic bag. Or just stick it in the food processor. You should have about 2 cups of coarsely crushed cereal when you're done.

Mix together cereal, wheat germ or oat bran (oat bran has a more appealing flavor for kids), flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, stir together egg, sugar, oil, vanilla and cheese. Combine the two mixtures.

I like to make bigger cookies, so I use about 1/4 cup per cookie and flatten them slightly on the cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, until the edges are just slightly brown. Let them cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Enjoy... And let me know if you come up with any noteworthy combinations!

2 comments:

ChristineM said...

Love it! They sound great - can't wait to try them! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to try these! I've been looking for a breakfast cookie that's actually healthy, so thanks!!!