These lightly sweet Paleo breakfast cookies are packed with healthy fats and protein. Send your family off for the day the right way!
A satisfying busy morning breakfast
I don't know about you, but I'm all about the make-ahead breakfast for weekday mornings. Well, I do know about some of you, that you're all about that too since I've been offering gluten free breakfast ideas on the blog forever and a day.
I need to fill my children up with something that will keep them going all morning long, plus I don't want to fight first thing in the morning, nor do I want to beg (“please just eat because we have to GO!”). And I'm just not waking up any earlier to make a hot breakfast at 6:00 a.m.
Enter Paleo Breakfast Cookies: make-ahead, packed with protein, fiber, good fat and vitamins, with no refined sugar. And they're just sweet enough to overcome any I'm-just-not-hungry-this-morning objections. School morning breakfast. Done.
These breakfast cookies are, indeed, Paleo. But to me, Paleo is just shorthand for no gluten, no grains, no dairy, and no refined sugars. I'm into these breakfast cookies for the taste, health, and nutrition, not for the purism of Paleo.
Of course, scrambled eggs are just as much of a Paleo breakfast as these breakfast cookies. But these cookies can be made ahead (they freeze amazingly well), and also have tons of protein and healthy fats, too. Plus, my kids love these lightly sweet cookies—plus the fact that they're eating cookies for breakfast doesn't hurt.
Ingredients and substitutions
If you've never tried baking with coconut and almond flours, these Paleo breakfast cookies are an easy place to start. Here are a few more recipe notes to help you navigate the world of Paleo flours in general, and this recipe specifically:
Almond flour
This recipe calls for finely ground, blanched almond flour. Blanched almonds are raw almonds that have had their skins removed. Finely ground almond flour is not the same as almond meal, which is usually made from whole almonds that haven't been blanched and is much more coarsely ground.
In baking, especially in Paleo baking, you'll need the finely ground, blanched kind of almond flour, and never almond meal. Much like baking with superfine white rice flour in conventional gluten free baking, for the almond flour to mix completely with the other ingredients in a baking recipe, it must be finely ground.
If you can't have almonds, you can try cashew flour. Cashews don't have skins, so they don't have to be blanched. Just raw cashew flour that's been finely ground will work in place of almond flour. If you can't have nuts at all, you can try sunflower seed flour, but it tends to react with baking soda and baking powder to give baked goods a green color. It's not harmful, though!
Nuts and seeds
You can use any combination of nuts and seeds you like. If you can't have nuts, and are making these cookies with sunflower seed flour, try using seeds and coconut flakes.
Coconut flour
Coconut flour is made from the pulp of the coconut that's been dried and ground. It's very soft and powdery, and it may look like other baking flours. But it's entirely unique and has no known 1:1 substitute. There are only 3 tablespoons of coconut flour in this recipe, but they give the cookies a lot of structure and fiber.
Coconut palm sugar
A dark, granulated unrefined sugar, coconut palm sugar has a relatively distinctive, deep taste. It's more analogous to refined brown sugar than the granulated sugar in flavor, but it's dry like granulated sugar. You can replace it in this recipe with white granulated sugar if you don't mind using a refined sugar.
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is a soft solid at room temperature, and can be easily replaced with Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening if you prefer.
Eggs
Since there are only two eggs in this recipe, each should be able to be replaced with one “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). I haven't tried it, though, so you'll have to experiment.
Honey
Since maple syrup is much thinner than honey, it isn't necessarily the perfect 1:1 substitute in this recipe for honey, but it's your best bet if you can't have honey. You might have to adjust the moisture balance of the recipe with another 1/4 teaspoonful of coconut flour, for example.
Paleo Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (150 g) raw nuts and seeds (I used a combination of cashews, sliced almonds and raw pumpkin seeds), roughly chopped (can substitute an equal amount, by weight, of another raw nut)
1 cup (80 g) raw coconut flakes
1 1/2 cups (168 g) blanched finely ground almond flour*
3 tablespoons (24 g) coconut flour*
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons (24 g) coconut palm sugar (can substitute an equal amount granulated sugar)
4 tablespoons (48 g) virgin coconut oil (can substitute an equal amount of unsalted butter if you don’t need to be dairy-free), melted and cooled
2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten
4 tablespoons (84 g) honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 to 3 ounces dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
*I order blanched almond flour and coconut flour exclusively from nuts.com. There are other good brands of finely ground blanched almond flour, like Honeyville, but do not use Bob’s Red Mill brand or Trader Joe’s brand almond flours. They will not work in this recipe.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 300°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside. Place the raw nuts and coconut flakes on a separate rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and place in the preheated oven. Bake until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool briefly.
In a large bowl, place the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt and coconut palm sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the melted coconut oil, eggs, honey and vanilla, and mix to combine well. The dough will be very soft. Add the toasted nuts and coconut flakes, and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Allow the dough to sit until it begins to firm up so it will be easier to handle (about 5 minutes).
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, each about 4 tablespoons in volume, about 2 inches apart from one another. With wet hands, shape each portion into a ball, return to the baking sheet and then press into a disk about ½ inch thick. Scatter 5 or 6 of the optional chocolate chips on top of each disk and press gently to help them adhere.
Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the cookies are puffed, pale golden all over and brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet until firm (about 10 minutes) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
This recipe was first published on the blog in 2013. I have updated the recipe and method, and added new photographs.
Yvonne M. Ketola Dodge says
Hello Nicole! Thanks for this delicious recipe! Can you confirm the baking temp? I tried the 300 which was for toasting the nuts, but it didn’t seem sufficient for actual baking. I’m guessing 350′? Thanks! (Smells wonderful in here!) Yvonne
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Yvonne, As I explained in the comments below, the recipe is correct as written. Almond flour has a tendency to burn very easily.
Marie Jennings says
Oh my Heavens! These are simply amazing!! I didn’t have enough honey so I used half pure maple syrup and half honey. So tasty, these will be fun to wake up to each morning. :) Thank you!!
Maureen Sutherland Weiser says
Am I crazy or did you change this recipe? I think the original had pepitas and pecans and I have searched high and low and can’t find the recipe (which happens to be my very favorite)!
Help!!
Maureen
Nicole Hunn says
You are most definitely not crazy, Maureen. See the final paragraph of the recipe. : “This recipe was first published on the blog in 2013. I have updated the recipe and method, and added new photographs.” But you can still use whichever combination of nuts and seeds you like!
Anne Lairmore says
Photo taken just now:
Nicole Hunn says
Looking good, Anne!!
Anne Lairmore says
Completely amazing!!! We are paleo at our house and can’t decide if this is breakfast or dessert!
Angela says
Hi Nicole! Are the cookies meant to be baked at 300 degrees?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Angela, The recipe is correct as written. Almond flour has a tendency to burn very easily.
Angela says
Thank you :) And thank you so much for all the hard work you do for us! I’ve made a ton of your recipes and they always turn out so delicious!!
Maartje Hamans says
Hi Nicole, since I live in Europe the brands of almond flour are not available here. Do you think that blanched almonds grinded/blitzed to flour in my Magimix would work in this recipe? Keep your great recipes coming,
Karen Grace says
That is an often used way to make flour at home so it should work. Just know that the degree of fineness does affect texture.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Maartje, see if you can find any commercially ground blanched almond flour anywhere, as that will be a finer grind than anything you can get at home. Hopefully there’s something. If not, it’s worth a try but the texture will almost certainly be different, both in the raw batter and cookies as baked, I’m afraid.
superstitches says
I made this yesterday morning and they turned out great. It will be wonderful to have a guilt-free treat for breakfast.
Dana Schwartz says
Ooh, I’m totally making these for myself! School mornings are so crazy I barely have a second to eat, so these will be perfect :)
-Dana
Autumn says
I’m new to this way of eating, still building up my ingredient list in my pantry, so I haven’t started yet, goal is to start this Thursday. I’m trying to go gluten free to fight hypothyroidism so I’m excited to see these yummy cookies! I also want my daughter (4 YO) to be healthier, she never eats McDonald’s but we do eat Subway and a local restaurant a lot, so I’m looking to take us to the far edge and eat nothing but healthy all the way, every day. It’s going to be hard giving up my Special K cereal but I really think gluten or wheat is an enemy. LOL. I feel swollen and puffy every morning! My body is fighting something and I need to find out what.
She starts preschool in 2 weeks so I need to find some recipes for school lunch, she can still do whole wheat sandwiches but I think I’m going to have to stay far away from breads (one of my great loves!)
With ALL that being said, I’m excited to try out this recipe, thank you for sharing!
Rene Tom Moore says
The only problem I see with these cookies is that many, many schools are now nut free.
Nicole Hunn says
Rene, these cookies are intended to be eaten at home. If your school is nut-free, then of course don’t send them in to school.
Donia Robinson says
I’m sure you have a list miles long of recipes to try to replicate… I was thinking about the flat, crispy, pretzel crackers that are popular now. I, personally, hate pretzels (I know! What’s wrong with me? I hate ketchup, too!! I am clearly un-American.) However, my kids would flip out over having those.
Margi says
Hi, it’s me again. I’m mostly low carb and gluten free and I dabble in Paleo, but I have to say after such gorgeous photos and delicious-looking recipes, I went straightaway and ordered your cookbooks for my Kindle. I’m anxiously awaiting the bread book and hope that will be offered for Kindle, too — as soon as it is, I’m ordering it, too! (For some reason, I take better care of my tablet in the kitchen than a regular cookbook. Heh.)
Brenda C says
These look SO good! (Like everything you post!) I am trying to get my Aspie teen off gluten loaded breakfast cereals (not easy since they are part of the routine) and I am wondering if you’ve tried these on the kids and how long do these hold them over until they are hungry? And how many do they need to eat to GET that holdover? My kid is skinny skinny so I am not worried about calories…….
Now to get your new book so I can make some decent GF burger buns, our last obstacle…………….!!!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Brenda! I’m afraid that I haven’t yet given these to my kids (they’re still away at sleepaway camp for another couple days!), but my plan is to give each of them 2 to 3 cookies, with a piece of fruit in the morning and call it breakfast. I have eaten them and for breakfast myself and 2 have satisfied me for a few hours. :)
xoxo Nicole
Andrea says
What happens when you use Bob’s? I have Bob’s and don’t want to have to wait to get some other flour – yes, I’m impatient!
Nicole Hunn says
Bob’s almond flour gives inconsistent, typically runny, results, Andrea. I wouldn’t do it.
Nicole
Cookiepress says
Wow I’m going to make some today. The grandkids will love them
Sarah says
When I want almond flour I usually grind my own, but it’s not super fine. Do you think that would work with this recipe?
Nicole Hunn says
It’s impossible for me to say for sure, Sarah, but it’s unlikely you would get it as finely ground as a commercial machine does, so most likely you would get a result similar to what happens with Bob’s Red Mill almond flour – runny batter. Sorry!
Nicole
Jennifer Sasse says
This will be lovely for eating breakfast in the car along with a go-gurt! Thanks much!
Jennifer Sasse says
oh and psst… I feel the same way you do about breakfast. It is super duper important!
Nicole Hunn says
Breakfast and a good night’s sleep. I have been a lunatic about those two things ever since my first child was born 11 1/2 years ago! The rest, I’m willing to give an inch, Jennifer! ;)
xoxo Nicole
Jess says
Yum!! These look so good! I may not share with the kids…
I’m glad you have some other back to school food ideas coming- I’m in denial that summer is actually coming to a close and haven’t given it a thought. Now I’ll just let you do it. :)
Nicole Hunn says
I’m aim to please, Jess. :) I will do the heavy-lifting!
xoxo Nicole
Anneke says
Love all the breakfast cookie choices you have given us! My kids are runners, and are supposed to eat 800-1000 calories to start the day — that is tough to pull off at 6 AM. I also love to use the breakfast cookies to send with them for a pre-practice snack. If we eat pancakes for dinner, we can eat breakfast cookies for snack!
Nicole Hunn says
You’re the boss, Anneke! That’s the beauty of being the adult-in-charge, right? And anyway, they’re basically only cookies because they’re round. ;)
xoxo Nicole
Stephanie Loomis says
Yes, Paleo is a proper noun and should be capitalized! (lol) And I am SOOO baking these!
Donia Robinson says
These look awesome! Thanks!