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Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

These chewy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies are a sweet morning treat filled with loads of dried fruit and nuts. Make a nice big batch and have a super fast, filling breakfast or after school snack for those activity filled days.
Course Breakfast, Snacks
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 42 Cookies
Calories 132kcal
Author Diana Reis

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Butter softened
  • ½ Cup Peanut Butter
  • 2 Eggs room temperature
  • ½ Cup Brown Sugar
  • ½ Cup Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 ½ Cups Flour
  • ⅓ Cup Ground Flax seed
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 Cup Instant Oats
  • 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
  • ½ Cup Dried Cranberries
  • ½ Cup Dried Apricots Chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Cream room temperature butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Be sure to mix until all of the butter is smooth and well integrated.
  • Add vanilla and eggs and mix until the batter is smooth.
  • In a separate bowl, add flour, ground flax seed, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix together with a fork.
  • Add dry ingredients to the batter a little at a time. Mix on a low speed.
  • Last, add oats, pecans, and dried fruit. Mix together on a low speed or by hand.
  • Using a 1 oz scoop or a tablespoon drop cookies onto the baking sheet leaving an inch between each cookies. The recipe should yield about 42 cookies.
  • Place baking sheets in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 15-18 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and let sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes. After five minutes place cookies on a cooling rack.

Notes

How do you bake perfectly soft breakfast cookies?
When you are baking this cookie or any drop cookie, you should let them bake until they are just short of fully cooked. When you take them out of the oven, they should be too soft to handle. Leave the cookies on the hot baking sheet for five minutes. There, they will continue to bake just on the bottom giving you a solid foundation and a perfectly soft top. 
After five minutes, move them to a baking rack to cool. Voila, perfectly cooked Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies.
Tips for Success
  • Creaming the butter is one of the most crucial steps. Be sure to start with softened, room temperature butter and mix very well. It should be free of clumps of butter. Butter pieces will not mix in well later and will run out of the cookie dough during baking and cause burned edges.
  • Add dry ingredients a little at a time. Not only will you avoid large clouds of flour flying out of your bowl, but the dry ingredients will be easier to integrate into the wet and you will avoid overmixing.
  • The breakfast cookie dough should be very stiff. If the dough is sticky and soft, the butter may have gotten too warm. Avoid flat cookies by putting the dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. I only need to do this in the heat of the summer when it is hard to keep my kitchen cool.
  • Bake on the middle rack of the oven for the most consistent results.
Freezing and Storage
Breakfast cookies can be frozen fully baked, as individual raw dough balls, or as a large ball of dough. They can be kept in the freezer in a food storage bag for up to three months.
Defrost the ball of dough in the refrigerator overnight. You can take dough balls out and leave on the counter for 20-30 minutes before baking.
Defrost baked cookies by taking them out of the freezer and leaving them on the counter with a storage bag open to avoid moisture collection. Transfer to a plate or dry storage back after defrosting.
Substitutions
Other nut butters like almond butter can easily be swapped for peanut butter. It is important to consider the texture of your substitution. Be sure to choose a good quality no stir nut butter.
Old Fashion oats can be used in place of quick oats. To keep the same texture, simply pulse Old Fashion oats in the food processor briefly. 
You can use any of your favorite dried fruits in place of cranberries and apricots. I sometimes add all cranberries or mix in golden raisins.
Chopped almonds and walnuts are delicious alternatives to pecans.

Nutrition

Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 141mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 228IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg