If you're a fan of carrot cake, then you'll LOVE these soft, nutty & healthy breakfast cookies! Make a big batch and freeze them for on-the-go treats.
For a while, I went through a frittata phase, then there was the chia bowl phase, followed by a bit of a smoothie kick… which brings us to my current morning trend: cookies for breakfast!
But before you think I’ve completely given up on myself, hear me out – I make these cookies with lots of good things – carrots, oats, flax, walnuts, pepitas, cranberries, and QUINOA. Yes, carrots and quinoa – it almost sounds like a salad, but I promise you these “healthier” cookies are so delicious and energizing in the morning. They’re also vegan, gluten-free, and sweetened with maple syrup instead of refined sugars. They’re about halfway in between a muffin and a cookie – big, hearty, and filling, but also sweet and nutty – they’re almost like eating carrot cake for breakfast!
Quinoa Cookies Tips
Let’s talk for a second about quinoa in cookies. I recommend that you use leftover quinoa here. I like to make a big batch of quinoa early in the week for easy toss-together lunches and dinners. Store your cooked quinoa in the fridge so that when you’re ready to bake these breakfast cookies, it’s ready for you.
If you haven’t baked with oat flour before – it’s so easy. No need to go shopping for fancy flours, just blend your oats in a food processor for about a minute, and you have oat flour. It’s gluten-free, but be sure to seek out certified gluten-free oats if gluten is a problem for you.
Over here, my family is obsessed with these. They’re best straight out of the oven, but they also freeze incredibly well (hence, my 1 cookie per day breakfast obsession).
More Favorite Breakfast Treats
If you love these quinoa breakfast cookies, try one of these breakfast treats next:
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Healthy Banana Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Banana Bread
For more healthy breakfast ideas, check out this post!
Quinoa Breakfast Cookies
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup (additional) whole rolled oats* (see note)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup finely shredded carrots
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed + 5 tablespoons warm water
- ½ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup nuts and/or seeds (I used walnuts + pepitas)
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a food processor or a blender to process the 1¼ cups rolled oats into a fine flour and measure out one level cup. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, the remaining 1 cup whole oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt. Fold in the quinoa and then the shredded carrots, stirring until the carrots are completely coated with flour.
- In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed and warm water and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup and stir well to incorporate. Stir in the flaxseed mixture.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and fold until just combined. Stir in the walnuts, pepitas, and cranberries.
- Scoop about ¼ cup of batter for each cookie onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- When cookies are completely cool, they can be stored in an airtight container or frozen.
Hello! I LOVE the Quinoa Breakfast Cookies. Make them for my two year old often.
Can you tell me what the inside of the cookies should look like when done?
We’re at 7,320 feet elevation so baking at the temperature and time noted on the recipe leaves the cookie very wet on the inside and hard on the outside.
I’ve experimented by lowering the temp. to 325 and baking for ~50 minutes but still not sure if I’m hitting the mark.
Thank you for your help and all the delicious recipes!
Hi Raisa, I don’t have much experience with high-altitude baking, so I wish I could help more! The cookies should be lightly browned and set around the edges but still seem a little underdone in the middle. They will set up as they cool (you can even leave them on the baking sheet to cool completely if you want them to set up more). I hope this is helpful!
for the oatmeal breakfast cookies: they sound amazing but does the oil have to be coconut? Can we use canola? olive? avocado?
Hi Jesse, I haven’t tested it, but I think canola or avocado oil would work.
Do you have the nutritional info for these cookies? Any ideas how to increase protein in these?
I cannot have almonds or peanut butter,, would macadamia butter or sunflower butter work?? I can have gluten, what could I sub for almond flour any flour? Coconut flour? Quinoa flour? Einkorn? Spelt? Emmer???
WOW! These are delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe.
Hi
Interested in a substitution for the flaxseed. I have a child that’s allergic so we dont use it.
Thanks
these are really yummy but they do fall apart. I added choc chips and omitted cranberries because eew
Hi Jess, I’d try baking them a little longer, and/or letting them fully cool on the baking sheet to set up.
Could you replace the coconut oil with olive oil? Keen to reduce the sat fat
I just made a batch to take with me to my cancer treatments next week and of course had to eat one as soon as it cooled. I used olive oil, and subbed mashed banana for the peanut butter. They are delicious…a bit softer and less crumbly; I didn’t measure the banana, just mashed the two ripest that needed to be used the most.
Hi Susan, I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hello! In lieu of the flax eggs, how many eggs would I use? Thank you!
I would also like to know a good substitute for the almond butter. I’m not convinced that the peanut butter used by one person who commented would be a good match for all those carrots.
Hi Alison, you could use cashew butter or peanut butter, though peanut butter will of course add a peanut-y flavor.
I subbed mashed banana, and it is great.
These were delicious! Wondering if the nutritional breakdown is available somewhere?
What an we use instead of coconut oil? Also instead of almond butter?
I use olive oil in everything, and make butters, cream and milk out of all kinds of seeds and nuts. I especially use a lot of sunflower seeds for milk, cream and butter.
These were delicious! I substituted peanut butter for the almond butter and honey for the maple syrup and used vegetable oil in place of the coconut oil. I also substituted pecans for the walnuts and doubled the amount of cinnamon. These were super moist and held together quite well after letting them sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minuets. I believe this is key, especially if you are not using eggs. I put this recipe into a recipe nutrition calculator and based on 2 cookies approximately 1 ounce each, I came up with 120 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 3.3 grams of protein in 2 cookies. I hope this helps those who are interested.
Super delicious. How many calories per cookie?
Glad you enjoyed them, Nicky! We don’t calculate nutrition facts for our recipes unfortunately, but you could use an online nutrition calculator to get an estimate.
I just LOVE these and the value they now bring to my breakfast (one each morning ). I have always struggled being on the go but not super hungry early and not a big egg lover.Theses are good for my IBS and so very satisfying. I make a batch on the weekend, wrap them individually and freeze and it will last me 2 weeks, then repeat. I take them out and warm up in my air fryer at Bake at 200. I have issues with almonds so use cashew butter and chopped pecans. and they are delish. My family made fun of me, at first. Now I have to hide them!!
Hi Janet, I’m so glad you’ve loved these so much!
These are fantastic!!! To make a recipe with carrots and quinoa taste like a soft cookie is so impressive.
I made two substitutions that worked well: I used egg instead of the flax mixture and I used sugar free syrup instead of maple, and both of those worked great and didn’t mess with the integrity of the cookie. So soft and yummy, this is definitely going to be a regular breakfast make!
Hi Madeleine, thanks for sharing your substitutions! It’s great to know that those worked well. I’m so glad you loved the cookies.
These were great, as is. After making a half batch and sampling them, I added an egg to the second half. Although they’re no longer vegan, the egg firmed them up a bit, and now they’ll hold together as a great snack to take on the trail!
Oh my gosh! These are so rich and dense and reminiscent of monster cookies — accept super good for you. I added 1/4 c mini chocolate chips and these were approved by two toddlers!!! Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved them!
I so wish you could make this recipe in grams!
Can I freeze the dough and bake each one fresh?