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Breakfast

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

November 6, 2019 by Alexandra Daum
Vegan and gluten free oatmeal breakfast cookies totally packed with seeds and whole grain oats for an ultra healthy, delicious start to the day. Made with a rich base of sunflower seeds, these are nut free and sugar free and very high in protein.
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Oatmeal cookie with seeds, broken in half, surrounded by other cookies.

Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Think of these breakfast cookies as portable porridge with all the toppings. They’re made with oats (obviously), three kinds of seeds, raisins, dates, cinnamon, and some coconut oil. 

Not just for breakfast, I’ll have one as a snack at any time of the day, and they’re full of protein, fibre, and healthy fats – perfect energy food. If you love oatmeal cookies, you’ll love this super easy, healthy breakfast version.

The cookies are soft, surprisingly rich and buttery, and ultra filling despite tasting like dessert. Sunflower seeds add a lot of flavour and a nice shortbread-like bite. 

It’s like a much more convenient form of granola and cookies are always more fun than bars, I think, although I’m sure you could make granola bars out of this too. They end up being huge, hearty cookies, a meal in one! Especially if you have one with a berry smoothie in the morning. 

Sweetening with Dates – No Sugar!

In the past little while, I’ve tried to cut my sugar intake down considerably, and left any honey or coconut sugar out of my baking. I don’t use refined sugars but added sugar is still sugar, even though I try not to use much of it. 

I’ve been trying to sweeten everything with fruit and just have a little honey with my porridge in the morning, partly because coconut sugar is both imported and expensive, and partly just to see how we’d feel.

I don’t think Graham has noticed much of a difference but I’ve found that my energy levels are a lot higher and steadier. It was especially noticeable around my period, when I usually have a huge slump and end up on the couch for three days. This past month I worked right through it AND didn’t have any breakouts.

One of the bigger issues I have with our sugar consumption is snacks; I had been making granola bars and things like that without a recipe and just throwing in some sugar or honey without thinking about it. 

These sugar-free, date sweetened cookies have become my go-to now, both for a super speedy breakfast when it’s needed, and as a daytime snack when there’s only so much hummus and veggie sticks a person can eat!

Two oatmeal breakfast cookies on a plate.

What Can I Substitute?

These are flexible – as long as you keep the base recipe the same, all of the add-ins can be changed out to your personal preferences. So keep the oat base, keep the dates, and most other things can be substituted.

Switch out seeds for nuts, raisins for other dried fruit (dried blueberries are out of this world), or try adding a little nut butter. If you don’t need to keep them gluten free, spelt flour can be used in place of oat, but use a ¾ cup instead of a full cup.

The chia acts as a binder here so don’t ditch it, though you can do a flax egg instead of you don’t have any chia on hand. Or a regular egg if you eat them. I’ve also had messages from readers noting that they work well with butter if you’re not dairy-free.

Cinnamon can be changed to another spice you love, or add some more spice to make things a bit more exciting. I never use medjool dates, just the cheap smaller ones, and any work as long as they’re pretty soft.

You should be able to form cookies without the mixture crumbling, so if it’s dry after making an substitutions, add another splash of milk. Please don’t sub coconut flour 1:1 for the oat flour.

Sometimes I leave out all of the dried fruit and go for straight chocolate chips instead. You do you.

Can the cookies be made without coconut oil?

I have tried changing out the coconut oil for a liquid oil, but it doesn’t work as well. The coconut oil acting as a solid at room temperature helps to hold the cookies together. 

If you really want to try without, add three tablespoons of peanut butter or sunflower seed butter, and reduce the oil down to two tablespoons. I’ve done that before with olive oil, and though the texture isn’t as nice, they did hold together.

I have never tried to make these completely oil free. You may be able to sub applesauce for the oil, and I’ve had readers who have done this successfully, but I haven’t tried it yet.

Left: Hand reaching for a cookie on a stack of four. Right: Several cookies on parchment paper.

How can I make these cookies without a food processor?

I get this a lot, and you can indeed make your own healthy oatmeal cookies without a food processor! There are just a few more steps.

First, use pre-ground oat flour, which you can buy almost everywhere these days. Then switch out the sunflower seeds that you’d be grinding up to form part of the base with almond flour or another nut meal – this takes away the nut-free element, but I’ve never seen seed flour to buy.

Mash the dates with a fork, soaking them ahead of time if needed, and melt the coconut oil. Mix everything in a large bowl, and you’re good to go.

If your dates are on the dryer side, or the mixture seems too crumbly, add a couple extra tablespoons of milk. Mixing by hand doesn’t bring the cookies together quite as well as in a food processor, so a little liquid might be needed.

If you don’t want to go through the extra steps, try these healthy trail mix cookies (made with buckwheat flour) instead.

More great date-sweetened recipes

Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread
Puffed Quinoa, Date, and Tahini Bars
Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies
Morning Glory Vegan Carrot Muffins
Chocolate Puffed Quinoa Snack Bars

Oatmeal cookie with seeds, broken in half, surrounded by other cookies.

Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via email, facebook, and pinterest.

Yield: 10

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
4.41 from 61 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 220 grams rolled oats divided
  • 110 grams raw sunflower seeds divided
  • 60 grams raisins
  • 50 grams chia
  • 40 grams pepitas
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 120 grams dates*
  • 70 grams coconut oil
  • 60 ml oat milk or another non-dairy milk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease or line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Place 110 grams / 1 cup of the oats and 70 grams / 1/2 cup of the sunflower seeds into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Mix on high for a minute or two, until a coarse flour forms.
  • Place the flour into a large bowl and stir in the remaining oats, sunflower seeds, raisins, chia, pepitas, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
  • Blend the dates, coconut oil, and milk in the food processor until the dates have broken down and a paste forms.
  • Add this to the oat mixture and use your hands to mix very well, until fully combined. There should be no streaks of flour remaining.
  • Form 10 large balls with the dough, each about a heaping 1/4 cup in size. Press them with your hands to flatten to about 3cm / 1in. high and place onto the prepared baking sheet.
  • Repeat until all of the dough has been used. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden.
  • Remove from the oven and cool for about ten minutes on the baking sheet before removing and cooling fully on a rack. They’ll be a little fragile until they’re completely cool.
  • Store in a sealed container on the counter for up to three days, or freeze for up to a month.

Video

Notes

• I’m sure the cookies keep longer than three days, it’s just that they haven’t lasted longer than that in our house!
• See above for notes on substitutions and how to make these without a food processor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g Calories: 251kcal Carbohydrates: 26g Protein: 7g Fat: 9g Saturated Fat: 3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 2mg Sodium: 760mg Fiber: 5g Sugar: 9g
© Alexandra Daum
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
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Fudgy Breakfast Brownies | occasionallyeggs.com

This post was originally published in February 2018. It has been updated with new information added to the text and recipe.

More Breakfast:

A shallow bowl of granola with orange slices and oat milk.Tahini Granola with Orange
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Jars of chia pudding with rhubarb compote.Rhubarb Chia Pudding
Lemon pancakes on a plate with roses and citrus fruits around.Lemon Pancakes

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Comments

  1. Angela says

    May 9, 2022 at 11:15 pm

    This would be amazing for busy mornings!

    Reply
  2. Irene Simons says

    March 10, 2021 at 5:06 am

    Hmmm. The cookies sound great but there still is 9 grams of sugar in each cookie.. too much.. or did I read the Nutrients wrong?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      March 10, 2021 at 7:30 am

      Hi Irene, grains, seeds, and dried fruits all contain natural sugars, so the nutrition card will read that there is sugar in the cookies. I don’t know if 9g is correct – as stated, it’s provided by a calculator, so it’s a rough estimate.

      Reply
  3. Sonia Lowe says

    December 22, 2020 at 3:49 am

    5 stars
    Excellent cookies. I substituted the nuts for cashews and almonds and still were DELICIOUS. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  4. Erica says

    December 3, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    Hi! So I guess there are no good subs for dates? I’m just not a fan as they are so sweet. Honey maybe? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alexandra says

      December 4, 2020 at 12:05 pm

      Hi Erica! Despite the dates, these cookies are really not very sweet at all, and since they’re blended in, you don’t get a strong date flavour. Honey unfortunately would be even sweeter and I’m not sure it’d work. You could perhaps try a mix of a liquid sweetener and applesauce, but I haven’t tested that.

      Reply
  5. Kira says

    June 7, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    These are delicious and so easy to make. I’ll be making these cookies regularly!

    Reply
  6. Gabrielle says

    May 10, 2020 at 9:08 am

    I love these!! They’re just sweet enough and have a great chewy-crunchy texture. I have a little bullet type blender (though not as strong), so I used that to grind the oats and seeds but chose to soak and mash the dates instead. The ‘batter’ was easy to pull together and made 12 just as you said. I’ve shared the recipe with friends and will definitely be making them again. I think it’ll be cool to try with coconut next time. Thank you!

    Reply
  7. Megan Miller says

    September 16, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    Mine fell apart after baking. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      September 17, 2019 at 6:01 am

      Did you make any substitutions? Sometimes if I mess around with this recipe a bit, or if my dates are on the dry side, it just needs a couple tablespoons more liquid to make up for it. Add a splash of milk and that should do it.

      Reply
  8. Tina says

    May 17, 2019 at 1:30 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing! I work at a café and do all the baking, so when I saw the pictures for this recipe I thought I’d give it a try. While mine don’t look nearly as beautiful as this, they taste awesome! A little crunchy, crumbly, nutty, perfect.
    I subbed a bunch of the seeds out (even the chia!) for things I had in the kitchen, and I still love them. I also used wheat instead of the oat flour! Will be making these again!

    Reply
  9. Tina says

    May 17, 2019 at 1:30 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing! I work at a café and do all the baking, so when I saw the pictures for this recipe I thought I’d give it a try. While mine don’t look nearly as beautiful as this, they taste awesome! A little crunchy, crumbly, nutty, perfect.
    I subbed a bunch of the seeds out (even the chia!) for things I had in the kitchen, and I still love them. I also used wheat instead of the oat flour! Will be making these again!

    Reply
  10. Lisa says

    April 28, 2019 at 9:51 pm

    Can these be stored in the freezer by chance? If yes, how do you think is best and for how long? You think I should reheat after taking out of the freezer? Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      April 29, 2019 at 6:37 am

      They will store well in the freezer! I’ve kept them up to a month in a sealed container. No need to reheat, just let them thaw at room temperature and you’re good to go.

      Reply
  11. Nanci says

    March 14, 2019 at 4:18 pm

    Just learned last night that my Sister is diabetic… (Great communication lil sister) Anyway… I’m on the hunt for easy meals and snack ideas for her mostly, and her family. I think these cookies will be a huge thing!!! Thank you

    Reply
  12. LouAnn Mallon says

    February 12, 2019 at 1:34 pm

    I cannot have ANY oil at all.
    Do you think applesauce would sub ok in this recipe?
    OR aquafaba?

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      February 12, 2019 at 3:06 pm

      Hi LouAnn – I think applesauce would be fine, but I have never baked with aquafaba and can’t comment on its efficacy. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m quite certain that I’ve had messages from readers who’ve subbed out the oil for applesauce with good results.

      Reply
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