It’s that time of year again.  The hustle and bustle of the holidays is over.  You know you’re not getting another paid holiday until Memorial Day.  You’re sick of having to bundle up and scrape layers of ice off your car windows.  And above all, the last thing you want to do is get out from under your warm down comforter.  So what do you do?  You wait until the last possible minute to roll out of bed, only to throw something on in order to look somewhat presentable, and rush out the door with no time to spare.

I will be the first to tell you that I’m actually not one of these people.  Regardless of the time of year, I’m up a good hour and a half before we have to leave, at the very least!  I couldn’t even imagine being so rushed and off from my routine – not to say mornings at our house are perfect, because that is far from true!  My point though – there are a lot of people that could use a little help in the mornings – my wife being one of them.  Not everyone is as neurotic as I am and actually makes time to sit down at the table to eat a bowl of oatmeal and drink a cup of coffee in the mornings.  I probably have issues.

So back to my wife.  This woman can snooze!  She’ll hit the snooze button until the last possible moment.  And even then, does she hurry to get ready?  Nope, just like a normal-paced getting ready.  I just don’t get it.  If I happen to oversleep, I am like a chicken with my head cut off, throwing things every which way, trying to get myself and my kid out the door on time.  But hey, everyone has their own thing, right?

But for all you last minute snoozers out there – you’ve got to check out these low-fat, relatively healthy breakfast cookies!  I came across them on the interwebs years ago, and they’re so simple and delicious that I’ve been making them for quite awhile now.  And you know you almost always have an overly ripe banana that needs to be used up in something yummy!  Take an hour one evening or this Sunday and bake a couple batches of these cookies.  Your rushed morning self will be glad you did, and your hungry belly will agree.

Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

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nutritional information

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
2 egg whites
2 Tablespoons canola oil (I used 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted)
1 very ripe medium banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, craisins, etc)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.  Add egg whites, oil, mashed banana, and vanilla.  Mix well with a spoon.  Fold in dried fruit.

Drop by tablespoons or a cookie scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicone mats.  Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden.

It’s really that easy!  One mixing bowl – easy ingredients – nothing tricky.
This recipe makes 16 small breakfast cookies.  They’ll go fast!  Double the recipe – at least!

(FYI – think my pictures have improved? The below picture was used for this post when originally published at the beginning of 2012. Main picture for this post – above – was posted at the beginning of 2013. Still not perfect, but I see some VAST improvement!)