Looking for healthy breakfast ideas? Try a breakfast cookie!

While I?m at the BlogHer Food conference, Michele at Fit Foodista steps into This Mama?s kitchen to guest post. Today she?s sharing a healthy breakfast recipe that is sure to appeal to kids of all ages.

C is for cookie? No, it?s a breakfast food

My kids are teenagers. Gone are the days when the quiet murmur of Sesame Street songs could be heard drifting in from the living room while I was cooking dinner. These days I?m far more likely to overhear a snippet of teenage drama unfolding via cell phone from behind a closed bedroom door than I?m to hear the PBS classics I so fondly remember.

One of my personal favorites was always ?C is for Cookie?.and That?s Good Enough for Me,? by yep ? you guessed it, the Cookie Monster.

Obviously, I?m a little out of the loop when it comes to popular children?s characters. But word on the street a few years ago was that the Cookie Monster was re-vamping his diet. Now, apparently, his trademark song is, ?Cookie is a Sometime Food.?

I?m all for eating well, in fact it?s the main focus of my blog, Fit Foodista. So here?s a recipe that could turn that fuzzy blue frown upside down because not all cookies are just ?sometime food.? In fact, this cookie is healthy enough to be served for breakfast and yummy enough to make the little ones think you?ve finally lost your mommy-mind when you hand one over for that most important meal of the day!

Full of fruit, fiber and just enough sugar to keep them coming back, these Healthy Breakfast Cookies are a great way to coax a picky eater into starting the day off in a healthy way. Plus, these little gems travel well and can be made ahead and frozen for those of you who live the grab-and-go lifestyle.

Healthy breakfast cookies

Feel free to play with the fruit, nut, and flavorings. Breakfast Cookies are flexible as long as you replace like with like. For example, the applesauce can be changed to pumpkin or mashed banana, the walnuts can be replaced with pecans, etc. The combinations are only limited by your imagination.

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup flax meal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup dried apples, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/8 cup turbinado sugar ? optional

Other great combos include:

Bananas and pecans
Dried cherries, almonds, and almond extract
Canned pumpkin and ?pie spices?
Dried pineapple, peach baby food, and toasted coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º
In a large mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
In a separate mixing bowl combine: white flour, wheat flour, oats, flax, baking soda and spices.
Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Fold in dried apples, raisins, and walnuts.
Drop by heaping spoonfuls (or use a #30 scooper) onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick canola spray.
Sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar if using.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes - or until lightly brown.

Nutritional information:

Calories 99
Calories from Fat 26
Total Fat 2.9g
Saturated Fat 1.4g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 21mg
Sodium 48mg
Total Carbohydrates 16.9g
Dietary Fiber 1.1g
Sugars 8.6g
Protein 1.9g

From CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 2 per cookie

This Mama?s tips:

To lower calorie count, use a sugar substitute like stevia.
To lower calories and fat, use a buttery spread like I Can?t Believe It?s Not Butter or Earth Balance.
Try using fresh apples instead of dried ones.