Description
These Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies are soft, chewy, and mildly spiced with classic gingerbread flavors. Made with whole wheat flour and instant oats, they provide a nutritious and satisfying start to your day. Naturally sweetened with molasses and lightly flavored with warming spices, these cookies are perfect for a wholesome breakfast or snack.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour
- 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
- Prepare dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until evenly combined.
- Mix wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the melted and cooled butter or coconut oil with the egg white and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Then stir in the molasses followed by the nonfat milk, all at room temperature.
- Combine mixtures: Pour the dry oat mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated to make the cookie dough. Avoid overmixing.
- Chill dough: Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm it up for easier handling.
- Preheat oven and prepare baking sheet: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Form cookies: Using a spoon and spatula, drop 15 rounded scoops of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each scoop to about ⅜ inch thick using the spatula; these cookies will not spread during baking.
- Bake cookies: Bake at 325°F for 10 minutes, or until the centers still feel slightly soft and underdone. Do not overbake to maintain a chewy texture.
- Cool cookies: Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely. Residual heat will finish cooking the centers during this time.
Notes
- Measure oats and flour carefully with a kitchen scale to avoid dry, cakey cookies.
- Cookies have mild sweetness; for sweeter cookies, substitute part of the milk with pure maple syrup, honey, or agave.
- Increase ground ginger by ¼ to 1 tsp for a spicier gingerbread flavor.
- Cookies do not spread during baking, so flatten dough before baking.
- Use instant or quick-cooking oats; if unavailable, pulse rolled oats 10-12 times in a food processor.
- Substitute whole wheat flour with white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, or oat flour cautiously.
- Substitute 1 large whole egg for egg white and reduce milk by ½ tablespoon if using whole egg.
- Molasses is crucial for gingerbread flavor; avoid blackstrap molasses due to bitterness.
- For dairy-free, use coconut oil or vegan butter and any plant-based milk.
- For gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats and flour or a specified gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated up to a week; they freeze well after cooling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 110 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
