Bready or Not: Healthy No-Bake Maple Breakfast Cookies
Happy New Year! Let’s make a healthy start. It’s no secret I love maple. This particular recipe has been a huge breakfast favorite of mine for the past six months, along with my other Healthy Breakfast Cookies.
These have another advantage, too… other than stronger maple flavor. They are fast to prepare. Even with my slow stovetop, I can whip these up and have them cooling in about 20 minutes.
Plus, these are fantastic to make and freeze! Since I eat three for breakfast, that means I can have a week’s worth of breakfast stashed away for now or later.
These are similar to the Maple Nut Butter No-Bakes I posted a while back, but this breakfast version is a heck of a lot healthier. No sugar. No butter. I like the taste more, too. It has a great, mild maple and nut butter flavor to it, and the oats soak just enough so that the cookies are perfectly chewy.
Customize these all kinds of ways, too. Use apple butter, pumpkin butter, etc. I’ve made them with cashew butter and almond butter, and combinations thereof. You could certainly use other kinds of milk, too, but I stick with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
Greatly modified from Cookin’ Canuck.
Bready or Not: Healthy No-Bake Maple Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 - 1 tsp maple flavor to preference
- 1/2 cup apple butter or other fruit butter
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tb almond milk
- 1/2 cup almond butter or other nut butter
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tb pure maple syrup
- sprinkle salt
- 1/2 cup pepitas or other seeds/nuts, optional
Instructions
- Measure out the oats and the two extracts, keeping them separate, and have ready near the stove. Prepare a large baking sheet with full coverage of wax paper.
- In a medium saucepan, mix together the apple butter, almond milk, maple syrup, and salt. Heat on medium, stirring often.
- After about ten minutes, the mixture will thicken; cook it at that level for another minute or two. If you have a candy thermometer, this thickening starts at about 180-degrees; that few minutes will take it to 200-degrees, and make sure it gets no hotter than that. Remove the pot from heat.
- Stir in the oats followed by the two extracts. Add pepitas or nuts, if desired. Stir until everything is covered.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out cookies onto the prepared wax paper. This will be about 20 cookies or about 29 if seeds/nuts are added. Once they are all scooped, use your fingers to gently press in stray oats.
- Let cool for about 30 minutes. They can be kept sealed at room temperature but taste even better from the fridge; store between layers of wax paper. They can also be frozen.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies
Plain shortbread cookies are buttery and amazing. This recipe amps them up with a delicious boost of Earl Grey tea!
I love how the tea freckles the cookie dough all the way through!
I like to think that these are cookies that Captain Picard would enjoy with a cup of Earl Grey. (Hot.) You don’t actually brew tea to make these cookies. You rip open the tea bags and pour the contents right into the dough.
The texture is pure shortbread: buttery and soft. The Earl Grey flavor is distinct (and you could toggle this by adjusting the amount of tea you add) and adds a smidgen of heat and freshness. These are unlike any other shortbread I’ve had before.
Pair these cookies with your favorite beverage, place them on your holiday cookie tray, or leave some out for Santa in a few days. You know he needs the caffeine.
Make it so!
Bready or Not: Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1 Tablespoon Earl Grey tea leaves heaping, from about 3 bags
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
- Open up the tea bags and measure the contents to get a heaping tablespoon. Blend butter and tea together until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, which takes about 3 minutes. Gradually add in flour mixture until just combined.
- Divide the dough in half. Form into logs about an inch in diameter (to slice) or into flat rounds (to roll out and cut with a cookie cutter). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. (Or keep frozen for days or weeks, then allow to thaw in fridge for a day before proceeding with the baking.)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the cookies into discs or with a cutter; be aware that the dough will spread when baking. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment or silicon mats.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just turning color.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Cocoa Peppermint Cookies
I bake a wide variety of things and send the goodies along with my husband to his work. When the guys there say, “These cookies are among the best ever,” that makes me take notice.
I first found this recipe on a bag of Andes Baking Chips, dubbed with the long name of “Andes Double Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies.” Whew. I modified it by taking out the nuts (they just don’t pair well with peppermint, I think) and compensating by adding more mint chocolate chips. Because you can’t go wrong with that.
I chilled the dough, since that often produces better cookies, and I was surprised at how much this dough still spread. Be sure you space out those dough balls!
These cookies would be fantastic for a holiday cookie exchange or to give as a gift. The Andes chips look fantastically festive against the backdrop of rich dough… and you know what? They taste darn good, too.
Modified from a recipe found on Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips package; also found online.
Bready or Not: Cocoa Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 2 Tablespoons espresso powder
- 2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup baking cocoa sifted
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 package Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips 10 oz
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate or chopped candy bars
- 1 cup mint chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small saucepan on low heat, melt the butter with the espresso powder, stirring often. When the two are incorporated, remove the pan from heat and set aside to cool for an hour.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the main dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
- Now it's time for the big mixing bowl. Pour in the cooled butter mixture, then add the white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Beat at medium speed for a few minutes until it's all creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Gradually work in the flour mixture a bit at a time until it's just blended. Now stir in the Andes Chips and the extra chocolate.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash it in the fridge to chill for a few hours or days, or even freeze it.
- When it's time to bake, preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Drop the dough in rounded tablespoons about two inches apart on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet; note that this dough does spread, even when the dough is chilled.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let them rest of the cookie sheet a few more minutes to set, the transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Chewy Honey Maple Cookies
If you’re looking for a recipe for chewy cookies that will keep well for days of travel or to ship as a gift, I present to you these Chewy Honey Maple Cookies.
 
These are sweet without being too sweet. The honey and maple pair well together, and the texture is soft and oh-so-good.
 
One of the reasons these turn out lofty and chewy is because it uses bread flour. If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose for the full two cups, but you’ll likely use some cookie-loft.
Make these this holiday season. I bet you’ll have a new favorite cookie.
 
Greatly modified from Soft and Chewy Brown Sugar Maple Cookies at Averie Cooks.
Bready or Not: Chewy Honey Maple Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavor
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour, but cookies will be less chewy
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- maple sugar or turbinado sugar for the tops, optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until creamy and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and maple flavor.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: bread flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Sift together.
- Slowly stir together the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for several hours or days.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Use greased stoneware, parchment paper, or silpat mats. If you want to add some sparkle to the cookies, place some maple sugar or turbinado sugar in a saucer and dip in the tops of the dough balls. The cookie dough, even straight from the fridge, has a soft Play Doh-like consistency, so it will spread some when it bakes; keep this in mind when you space the cookie dough balls.
- Teaspoon-sized cookies need to bake 9 to 12 minutes; Tablespoon-sized take 11 to 13 minutes. Let set on cookie sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.
- Cookies will keep in a sealed container for weeks; store between layers of waxed paper or parchment. They are excellent for travel or shipping.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Shimmering Maple Crisps: a Clockwork Dagger recipe
My Clockwork Dagger novella “Wings of Sorrow and Bone” is out next week, so let’s delve into a maple-filled recipe that fits right into my books’ world!
This is an incredibly unique recipe. It includes yeast and a whole bunch of maple flavor. The end result is a cookie that tastes and looks like a maple cracker.
The secret to this is maple flavor in the dough and a healthy (okay, maybe not entirely HEALTHY) dose of maple sugar to create a crust on the top and bottom. On the base, this totally caramelizes kinda like maple syrup rendered into candy.
Which is what this is like, in a way.
In the Clockwork Dagger, the kingdom of Caskentia has many immigrant bakers from its northern neighbor, Frengia. They like to utilize maple. In The Clockwork Crown, you meet Rivka, a teenaged-baker who learned the trade from her mother. “Wings of Sorrow and Bone” continues Rivka’s adventure.
Maple is special for her. It’s the stuff of nostalgia. Also, it’s delicious.
These shimmering maple crisps play a brief but important role in the novella.
Next week’s recipe is also featured in “Wings of Sorrow and Bone.” Come back then to find out how to make maple sugar cake loaves!
Recipe greatly modified from The Monday Box
Bready or Not: Shimmering Maple Crisps: a Clockwork Dagger recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more to smooth dough
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon milk or almond milk
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 1/2 cup maple sugar or turbinado or decorating sugar, more or less as needed
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the 1 1/2 cup flour, milk, maple flavoring, yeast, and salt. Add the softened butter split into several chunks, mixing well each time before adding the next. Dough will likely be sticky and shaggy.
- Switch to a bread hook and slowly add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix. Pause to scrape the sides of the bowl and add more flour. Keep this up until it becomes smooth, elastic, and less sticky.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash it in the fridge at least overnight.
- When it's time to bake, preheat the oven to 275-degrees. Place parchment paper on a large cookie sheet or two smaller sheets. Divide the dough if necessary, keeping the second in the fridge until you work with it.
- Sprinkle maple sugar on the parchment paper; you're using this instead of flour to create your nonstick surface. Sprinkle more sugar on top. Roll out the dough, adding more sugar beneath and on top, until you're able to get the dough out into a rough rectangle about the height of a cracker. You will have sugar embedded throughout the dough.
- Use a pizza wheel to slice the dough into 1 to 2 inch squares.
- Bake for 50 to 70 minutes, until the sugars have caramelized and the cookies have achieved desired crispness. Follow the old lines the slice the cookies again, then lift up the parchment paper to a rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight, room temperature container for a week or more. Use wax paper between the layers of cookies to prevent any sticking. The texture will change some as the days pass--depending on humidity--but they remain delicious.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Pumpkin Spice Chip Cookies
When life gives you a good sale on seasonal pumpkin spice chips, you create your own recipe in which to use those chips.
At least, that’s what I do, because my mind is weird like that.
Tollhouse Pumpkin Spice Chips are mildly spicy and smooth. They work really well with this ultra-smooth dough, that includes melted white chocolate mixed right in. I borrowed that foundation of the recipe from my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie recipe.
These cookies gain enough crisp to be solid, but they are still chewy. The chopped pecans (or whatever nut you want to throw in) add nice flavor, but more than that, they add texture. They cut the sweetness some.
If you see these special chips on sale at Target or elsewhere, grab’em! You now have the perfect recipe to use them in.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Spice Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 11 Tablespoons unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 bag pumpkin spice chips
- 1 cup pecans chopped, or walnuts or other nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Place 1 cup of white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power in short increments, 20-30 seconds, and stop to stir between passes until the chips blend smoothly. Be careful--white chocolate can burn fast! Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs until they're creamy. Mix in the melted chips. Stir in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Add the pumpkin spice chips and the pecans.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to place dough in rounded lumps on cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn very light golden brown. Cool on the sheet for several minutes, then move to a rack to cool.
- ON NOM NOM!
