Ultimate Breakfast Cookie

It's not "Cookies for breakfast?" 

It's "COOKIES for breakfast!"

It's hot here in Texas, imagine that. Too hot to take the kids on our normal 10 o'clock walk to the park. I need to get out of the house earlier. I've contemplated waking them while it's still dark out, but Boy Child still doesn't sleep through the night, so I refuse to get out of bed before seven. In order to get out of the house quickly I need to feed these two munchkins breakfast in the stroller. I realize I could have purchased some sort of pre-packaged, foil-wrapped stuff but if you know me, you know that's not my style.


I found this recipe and tweaked it up to my (and the kids') liking.


3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup unsweetened, natural peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup high-fiber, high-protein cereal, crunched up a bit (I used Kashi Go Lean)
1/3 cup raisins


1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.


2. Whisk together flours, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.


3. With a wooden spoon mix butter, sugar, honey and peanut butter until well blended. Add egg and vanilla mix well. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in oats, cereal and raisins. 


4. With hands roll about 2-3 tablespoons of dough into a ball. Flatten on prepared baking sheet. Cookies won't spread a lot so make sure you flatten them well. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for a minute and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


Yield: 12 cookies

Review - Well I thought they tasted ok. Josie said, "Not yummy mama.  I don't like the raisins." Then she hid it in the refrigerator of her play kitchen. Eli took one bite and said "Tsee" and shook his head. The cookies turned out a little dry.  I think 1/4 cup of applesauce would help. The flavor was good, the texture was just off a little. I'll keep trying.

Veggie Egg Casserole

Breakfast for dinner, yay! This was a super simple recipe. You could easily change up the veggies to your liking if you're not into spinach and tomatoes. I served this dish with whole wheat toast and apple slices.


1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, diced
4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeeze out water
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
10 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2-4 slices bread, torn into small pieces
1/3 cup grated parmesan


Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set aside. 


Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Add spinach.


Crack eggs into bowl. Whisk slightly. Stir in milk. 

Spread bread pieces in prepared baking dish. Spread spinach mixture on top of bread. Sprinkle half the cheddar on top. Pour egg mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheeses (cheddar and parm) on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until top is slightly brown. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream and salsa.

Review - I really liked this dish. I'm hoping it reheats well tomorrow for breakfast because I have half a pan left. The kids both ate a few bites, but they were more interested in the toast and apple slices. Husband is on swing shift so I haven't heard his opinion yet, but he took a big piece so apparently he thought it was going to be good. You could add any extra veggies you want or substitute for the spinach and tomatoes if those don't float your boat. Sauteed peppers and mushrooms would be a nice addition.

Update - Leftovers tasted great. I actually preferred it cold the next morning. I'm kind of weird though. I don't like reheated leftovers. I think it stems back to my college days of eating cold pizza for breakfast after a long night of, um, studying.

Overnight Oatmeal

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 1/2 cups water OR 2 cups apple juice and 2 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried fruit
spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

The original recipe calls for using a 2-quart slow cooker, but I only have a 6-quart, so I just plopped a smaller casserole dish into the slowcooker. Voila. Smaller slowcooker.

Grease inside of stoneware or casserole dish. Add all ingredients into dish. Stir. Cover and cook overnight for 8 hours. Stir once or twice while cooking. If you have a newborn, like I do, getting up once or twice at night to stir shouldn't be a problem.

Review - I ate WAY too much of this oatmeal! It was so good. I'd never made steel cut oats before. The texture is wonderful. I chose raisins as my dried fruit, because it's all I had on hand, but I'd like to experiment with other fruits (cherries, cranberries, etc.). 

Second Review -  I've made this several times now with different seasonings and dried fruits. My favorite has been dried apricots, with all spice and cinnamon and topped off with a little honey and soy milk.