Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

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.

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

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!

Breakfast Cookies recipe ingredients How to make breakfast cookies

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.

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies recipe

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).

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies on a baking tray

More Favorite Breakfast Treats

If you love these quinoa breakfast cookies, try one of these breakfast treats next:

For more healthy breakfast ideas, check out this post!


4.9 from 72 reviews

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
These vegan quinoa cookies are a great quick breakfast or healthy snack! Made with carrots, quinoa, and oats, they're naturally sweetened and gluten-free.
Author:
Recipe type: breakfast, snack
Serves: 12 large cookies
Ingredients
  • 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
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and fold until just combined. Stir in the walnuts, pepitas, and cranberries.
  5. 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.
  6. When cookies are completely cool, they can be stored in an airtight container or frozen.
Notes
*Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats to make these gluten-free.

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222 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Arlene Burke
    11.10.2024

    These were delicious! Wondering if the nutritional breakdown is available somewhere?

  2. Chandra
    10.19.2024

    What an we use instead of coconut oil? Also instead of almond butter?

  3. Carolyn
    09.13.2024

    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.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.