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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Green Monster Breakfast Cookie

I don't think I need to inform anyone about the Green Monster phenomenon that has been circling the blog world. Its come to the point where greens for breakfast are just commonplace. And that's a good thing. But I do have to say that I really enjoy having food to chew. A smoothie will fill my belly, but I always find that something is missing.

So I find myself back at the breakfast cookie. I have posted a few variations in the past, like Banana Walnut and Carrot Cake, and I've been making them again recently. My only problem is that they were decidedly "un-green". I swiped some spirulina this weekend though (that makes it sound like I stole it...I didn't), and now they are just as green as your kale smoothie.

its the tiny bag in the center, left of the bulk cacao nibs and above the butterscotch chips

These are chock full of nutrients, protein, healthy fat, and whole grains; have texture and take time to enjoy; are kind of sort of raw-ish; and are just such an awesome way to start the day!

Green Monster Breakfast Cookies

1 banana, either blended or melted
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
6 Tbsp liquid sweetener (agave, maple syrup, brown rice syrup)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp spirulina powder
1/2 cup ground flax meal
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1/4 cup grated carrot (about 6 baby carrots)
1 cup protein powder
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup raisins

Acquire all ingredients. After that its really easy. Mix all the wet ingredients (banana counts as wet, it should be either blended up with the other wet ingredients) into a big bowl. Then add each ingredient, one at a time, in order, until fully incorporated. Form into cookies*, and refrigerate. I make 8 cookies and for me, this is 4 servings.

Serves 4
Nutrition Information: 556.6 Calories; 18.6g Total Fat; 8.4g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 76.7g Carbohydrates; 12.7g Fiber; 25.4g Protein.

It might be less for you, I rely on these to take me through a good long part of my day. This is a decent sized recipe, and could easily make 5 servings, just make 10 cookies that are a little smaller.

Serves 5
Nutrition Information: 445.3 Calories; 14.9g Total Fat; 6.7g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol; 61.4g Carbohydrates; 10.2g Fiber; 20.3g Protein

*One little tip for forming these into cookies, is to coat your hands with some vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil). These can be pretty sticky, but they lose their stickiness after being in the fridge for awhile, making them perfectly portable (I often stick them in my pocket on my way to the car).

I am always happy on the first morning of a new batch of breakfast cookies. They don't need to be refrigerated, so the day they're made I eat them immediately, pleased with success, and the fact that I have a healthy filling breakfast ready for the next three days.

Any suggestions for breakfast cookie varieties? I'm always looking for something new to do with them. I've had some successes, that I have posted above and recently made some Zucchini Raisin Cookies that came out pretty well. I've also had some not-so-successful batches, including a tropical variety and a chocolate mint. You can tell they weren't as good because they didn't get formal capitalized names, haha. Anyway, let me know if you have a suggestion, I want to know!!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

22 comments:

  1. those look delicious!! i have yet to make a breakfast cookie but they look so simple, tasty and great for breakfast on the run if you don't have time to make oatmeal! thanks for sharing your monstrous recipe!

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  2. This looks and sounds delicious!!!! I cannot wait to make these!

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  3. Just stumbled across your blog. I love your writing! You have quite the sense of humor :)

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  4. This is the best breakfast cookie and the healthiest cookie recipe I've ever seen! My hemp protein powder would make them REALLY green!

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  5. So interesting! I am going to have to try these!

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  6. I LOVE the idea of a green healthy cookie, and I'm definitely going to play around with this!

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  7. These look awesome are a chock full of the good stuff for you :) YUM!

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  8. these look awesome and YES make the caramels. girl, they are perfect. they taste REAL. I kid you not. Too good to be true kinda real :)

    And i just added you to my blogroll and reader so i can keep up w/ you better. I have had TONS of google/blogspot related glitches and lost alot of data, but im back at ya!

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  9. Thanks, Gina! You'll have to let me know if you do :)

    That green monster cookie is looking amaaaaazing.

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  10. Thanks for all the breakfast cookie recipes! I've been looking for something like this...oh yum! I'll tell you if I make 'em (I'm going shopping today so hopefully I'll make some this weekend..they seem like perfect exam snackin' food)

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  11. Now that's my kind of breakfast cookie. I like the green stuff.

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  12. You're right--greens are so common I didn't even blink when I saw "green" cookie! This sounds like my kind of breakfast--and the mix of flavors sounds absolutely delicious to me!

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  13. Wow! Just made these - I used rice protein powder, and buckwheat flakes since I can't eat regular oats. I put everything but the flakes and the protein powder in the food processor and the texture is UNBELIEVABLE. No problems shaping these. I'm forcing myself to wait till morning before eating one...love this recipe :-)

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  14. Morning came and I have now tasted these and I just have to say THANK YOU for this recipe - it just never would have occurred to me to put this much protein powder into anything. I'm the kind that goes through oodles of expensive protein bars so this is awesome, not just for breakfast. Can't wait to try the other recipes.

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  15. I know I'm completely over the top with the comments now, but I just have to add that when I (un)baked these, my hands got the most amazing, green, incredible hulk waxy coating. Bonus :-)

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  16. Hallo,
    Ich haben eben Eure Internetseite besucht und nutzen sogleich die Gelegenheit,euch auch einen Gruß aus Deutschland in Eurem Gästebuch zu hinterlassen. P.S. Kommt uns doch auch mal besuchen
    Urlaub an der Ostsee
    oder Nordsee

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  17. Hi Vegan Strong: We featured these cookies as part of our "Fun Food Saturday" breakfast cookies edition on Jolly Tomato: http://bit.ly/a1VzSd Thanks for the inspiration - they look great!
    Jeanne @JollyTomato

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  18. Hey great stuff, thank you for sharing this useful information and i will let know my friends as well.

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  19. These cookies are great. Everyone in my family was so confused when I was making them. I made a vegan cream cheese icing to top them off, but they don't really need it. I added almonds and sadly could find cacao nowhere so used dark chocolate semi-sweet chips instead and also canola oil instead of coconut. Hm what else.. oh yes I used a soy protein powder which was already vanilla flavored so they turned out pretty nice and sweet. Really wonderful recipe and I thank you. But I am wondering, could I replace the banana with something like apple sauce? I don't like banana taste too much.

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  20. Gauri Radha गौरी राधाFebruary 18, 2011 at 12:09 AM

    Looks tasty!!!

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