Description
These Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies offer a soft and chewy texture with warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Perfectly sweetened with molasses, they make an ideal mildly sweet breakfast treat or snack. Made with wholesome ingredients including instant oats and whole wheat or gluten-free flour, these cookies are an easy and nutritious way to start your day.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60mL) molasses (room temperature)
- 5 tbsp (75mL) nonfat milk (room temperature)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, whole wheat or gluten-free flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until evenly combined.
- Combine Wet Ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted and cooled unsalted butter or coconut oil together with the large egg white and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Stir in the molasses followed by the nonfat milk to create a smooth mixture.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients. Add the dry oat mixture into the wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated to form the cookie dough. Avoid over-mixing to keep the texture soft and chewy.
- Chill Dough. Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and the dough to firm up for easier handling.
- Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Sheet. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Form Cookies. Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 15 evenly sized rounded scoops onto the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each scoop to approximately ⅜ inch thickness with a spatula.
- Bake Cookies. Bake in the preheated oven at 325°F for 10 minutes. The cookies will remain roughly the same size before and after baking.
- Cool Cookies. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to finish setting up from residual heat, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Notes
- Accurate measurement of oats and flour by weight is critical to avoid dry or cakey cookies; use a kitchen scale for best results.
- These cookies are mildly sweet, similar to muffins; for sweeter cookies, substitute part of the milk with pure maple syrup, honey, or agave (reduce milk accordingly).
- To increase spiciness, add an additional ¼ to 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
- The cookies don’t spread during baking and appear almost the same pre- and post-baking.
- Do not over-bake; cookies should feel slightly soft in the center when removed and will finish baking while cooling on the warm baking sheet.
- Instant oats are quick-cooking oats; to make your own, pulse rolled oats 10-12 times in a food processor.
- Whole wheat flour alternatives: white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, all-purpose flour, or oat flour (gluten-free).
- Egg white can be substituted with a whole egg; reduce the milk by ½ tablespoon to compensate.
- Molasses is essential for authentic gingerbread flavor; avoid blackstrap molasses due to bitterness. Maple syrup, honey, or agave can be used in a pinch but will alter the flavor.
- Dairy alternatives for butter and milk can be used to make dairy-free versions.
- Gluten-free adaptation requires certified gluten-free instant oats and flour or a blend of gluten-free flours with xanthan gum.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days or refrigerated up to a week. They freeze well once fully cooled.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 100 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
