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Instead I decided to republish it and let it have a moment on my homepage. 🙂 I changed the original name because Applesauce Breakfast Cookies is just better than “Healthy Apple Spiced Breakfast or Snack Cookies.” Umm..what was I thinking with that title?!
I also made a minor change to the original recipe. A reader commented that she may try adding oat flour along with the rolled oats, and so I gave that a try one day and realized it gave the cookies more structure and helped them stay together a little better. I have also made these bigger through the years, so I note in the recipe that you can make them small or medium depending on your preference. The smaller size is great if you have a toddler around, the bigger size is great for adults and big kids. The rest of the post is going to be my 2013 self–enjoy these new-to-most-of-you Applesauce Breakfast Cookies!
The other day, I wanted to make my pumpkin breakfast cookies. I had already told Meghan we were having cookies for breakfast. I went into the pantry and…no pumpkin. Who doesn’t have pumpkin stocked in their pantry in October?! I guess I’ve made one too many pumpkin concoctions this fall.
Now you don’t tell a five-year-old little girl you’re having cookies for breakfast and then not give her cookies for breakfast. I knew I was going to be making cookies of some sort.
The bad news is I was out of pumpkin. The good news is a new recipe was born. Necessity breeds invention, right? Something like that.
I called these breakfast or snack cookies because we had them for breakfast and Meghan brought some in her lunch box the following day, too. These healthy cookies are vegan, gluten-free (if you use certified GF oats), refined sugar-free, and nut-free. They are a perfect little nutritious treat for a school lunch!
These healthy cookies could not be easier. One bowl is all you need. Mix up the ingredients, pop them in the oven, and you’re done! 
They are also kid-approved, toddler-approved, and husband-approved. You can’t go wrong when you have the trifecta. 🙂
Applesauce Breakfast Cookies
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 1 dozen 1x
Description
This healthy cookie recipe is vegan and gluten free and is perfect for breakfast or a snack. You can also satisfy your sweet tooth without any added sugar!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3/4 cup chopped dates (from about 13 dates)
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup oat flour (you can blend rolled oats in the blender to make oat flour)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted, or oil of choice
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds plus 3 tablespoons water (or 1 egg)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
- Combine the flaxseed and water in a small bowl and give it a few minutes to gel. (Omit this step if you are using an egg.)
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Form into small or medium balls (small balls will yield 2 dozen cookies, medium balls will yield 1 dozen), flatten, and place on the cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven about 12-15 minutes, until they are just starting to get golden brown. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 106
- Sugar: 10 grams
- Fat: 1.8 grams
- Carbohydrates: 20 grams
- Protein: 2 grams
I loved reading your comments and suggestions on what natural products you are loving these days. If you haven’t chimed in yet, please do! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Super good! I added toasted walnuts and coconut…with a few pinches of salt and of course some melted 70% chocolate on top! Thank you for the recipe! I tried to send a picture but it didn’t work!
😒
Thanks so much for your feedback and rating!
Hi. This is a perfect recipe to cure my insatiable sweet tooth, and to keep my weight down. Question: Can I use a couple of ripe bananas, instead of ground flaxseed or egg?
Yes I do think that would work!
Hi again,
Actually, I modified your recipe quite a bit, adding the banana and wheat flour, in addition to the oat flour.
The cookies came out awful!
On the next batch, I followed your recipe to the letter. They were really good. Many thanks! 🙂
I’m sorry your modifications didn’t work out. I’m glad you liked the original recipe. 🙂
I followed the recipe to a T except I used all raisins, no dates. The cookies are very gelatinous. The texture is all wrong. What can be done to avoid this next time. I made small ones so they are not too thick. I used egg instead of flax.
You might like the texture better with the flax egg instead of egg. Otherwise it’s hard for me to determine without watching how you made them. Sorry you didn’t like the texture! Cookies with no gluten can be tricky to find an agreeable texture for everyone.
Mine came out horrible, I just made them and like you used egg and only raisins but God they are awful! They have to go into the trash which is so wasteful!
What were you hoping for vs. the results you got? Was it the taste? Texture? I’d love some more specific feedback on why you thought these were “horrible”–it would be both helpful for me and other readers.
Hi Maryea,
I have been meaning to write. I first made these cookies for my grandchildren. I was looking for a healthy-ish afternoon snack with no added sugar. I also wanted a simple recipe that they could make under close supervision. Your recipe fit the bill and the cookies were a hit!
I’m usually not one to alter a recipe the first time I make it. However, as I was reading off the ingredients I was informed by one grandkid that he had had “an experience” with dates. You know how it is. You don’t ask because you know you don’t want the details! So you just roll with it. In this case I was making the 2X version, so I used 1 1/2 cups of raisins (instead of dates) and 2/3 cup toasted, unsweetened coconut (in place of the original portion of raisins). They loved measuring the ingredients out, learning how toasting coconut brings out the flavor and fragrance, taking turns mixing the ingredients in the bowl and, the messy part, dropping them out onto the cookie sheets. When they came out they looked just like your photos. And all of them loved the taste of the cookies. Yes, Granny TL was a rock star and you know whenever I get the rock star award in the kitchen I’m going to take that award and run it around the block a few times!
Since then I have made them a few more times. The version I make for myself and Grandpa uses dates, as in the original recipe, and semi sweet chocolate chips in place of the raisins in the original recipe. A few years back, I heard a tip from Ina Gardenia to add salt to oatmeal (like you make for breakfast). Since then I’ve always added a little salt to mine. It really makes a difference. I now add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a 2X batch. It seems perfect to me. Anyways, my date-chocolate version are yummy. I keep them in the freezer, pull out a couple while I’m doing morning chores and then have them with my mid morning coffee — unless Grandpa has found my stash and there’s none left!
Thanks for sharing your delightful recipe!
Thelma Louise
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. I appreciate your feedback. 🙂
How can you best store these and how long for? Hoping to have them over a few days but not sure if that’s possible or if it’s better to just freeze them straight away.
Thanks!
Yes, these can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. I hope that helps!
Great, thank you!
You know how you should ALWAYS use the exact ingredients the first time you make – anything??? I usually stick to that rule. Except for this time: I was SO jonesin’ for apple-oatmeal cookies that I just jumped right in.
Had 5 dates; chopped them and added more raisins. Oops! Almost out of applesauce, mashed up a banana; no oatmeal flour, but I have lots of almond flour.
In spite of all of these changes and subs, the only problem I had was the consistency of the final cookie and, please: I understand that it’s all my own fault!!! And that DO taste great! I’m gonna try again, as soon as I demolish this batch. Thanks for an easy to put together recipe.
Ha–this sounds like me every time I try to make other people’s recipes! I’m glad it worked out! 🙂
Hi, quick question, I am about to make these and I wanted to know which kind of dates do you mean? The large Medjoul Dates or the smaller dates (our are from Tunisia)? I am hoping the smaller dates :). Will post a reply once these have been baked!
It’s the small dates!
Thank you! Took around 30 small dates to get 3/4, as they got mashed up together as I was trying to chop them. Seemed like a lot and the cookies turned out quite sweet, but they tasted so good! We don’t have unsweetened apple sauce over here so I baked my apples and blended them (which was what I used to do for baby food too :)) I will try this recipe again when my munchkin isn’t getting her molars in lol! Anyone reading the comments, try this recipe, so tasty!
Can I leave out the flax seeds? And just use raisins not dates?
I’m not sure if it would hold together as well without the flaxseed because that is acting as an egg. If you can do eggs, just use an egg in place of the flaxseed. You can definitely try to leave it out, the cookies may just fall apart more. And yes, you can use all raisins instead of a combination of raisins and dates. I hope you enjoy these!
Hello
I love these cookies and intend to consume them as lactation cookies once baby no.2 arrives in a couple weeks. If these cookies are baked, do you know if they can be frozen and for how long? I doubt I will have time to prepare and bake them with a newborn and toddler.
Thank You
Yes, these can be frozen! They will last in a freezer for 2-3 months.
Would love to see more protein especially if you are eating them for breakfast. Any ideas of what to add and keep the same good flavors? Even adding the add doesn’t boost the protein enough in the amount you would eat. Good receipe that I bet you can make great with your creativity! Thanks so much.
As a fitness professional, I am always looking for healthy alternatives to pass along.
LOVED THESE! Have made them as you posted them….and then I started expermenting. I had mincemeat in a jar, dumped that in with the dates and applesauce . Heavenly yummy. Then we did dried cherries with mincemeat and applesauce. Thats really good too. Tried variety of combos. Once I was out of applesauce so used apple butter. Those were pretty good as well.. we like cookies so I have a homegrown panel of tasters. So far everything I have done to the base recipe has been a hit. Thank you for giving me such yummie ideas!
You’re so welcome!!
Is the oil mixed in with ingredients or is it for oiling the cookie sheet? This is my first attempt at making vegan cookies! Thanks, Leora
The oil is mixed in the ingredients. 🙂 I hope you love these!
I didn’t have dates so I used dried apricots and they worked great. I also added the flax in addition to the egg because it helps bind the dough and I like the flavor. I like how easy and flexible this recipe is – you can whip these up in just a few minutes. I detest raisins so I had to drizzle the first batch with some melted dark chocolate to add a little sweetness. Since there is no added sugar, you definitely need raisins, dried cranberries, etc. to bring up the flavor, but the best part about this is you can control what and how much you use.
Thanks for the recipe, I will be adding this to my list of go-to’s for healthy snack!
Do you have nutrition information for these cookies? I’m on Weight Watchers and these seem like they would be a great starter for sustaining me through lunch and/or just a sweet snack. Just have to make sure it works for the “smart points”.
I just figured out the nutritional information and added it to the post. If you make these into 1 dozen cookies, they will each be: 106 calories, 1.8 grams fat, 20 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams sugars, and 2 grams protein. I hope that helps!
Please explain: 2 dozen cookies, at the beginning of the ingredient list.
Thank you
That shouldn’t be there! I will edit it now. 😉