Description
These Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies offer a soft and chewy texture with warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Made with wholesome ingredients including oats, whole wheat or gluten-free flour, molasses, and egg whites, they make a deliciously spiced breakfast treat that is lightly sweetened and perfect for mornings.
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
- Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, whole wheat flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until thoroughly combined.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter or coconut oil, egg white, and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir in the molasses followed by the nonfat milk until the mixture is smooth.
- Incorporate dry with wet: Add the dry oat mixture to the wet ingredients and stir gently until just combined to avoid overmixing the dough.
- Chill dough: Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes to firm it up for easier handling and better texture.
- Preheat oven and prepare baking sheet: Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Shape cookies: Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each cookie to about ⅜-inch thickness using the spatula.
- Bake cookies: Bake at 325°F for 10 minutes, or until the centers still feel slightly soft and underdone. Avoid over-baking to maintain moisture.
- Cool cookies: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. The residual heat finishes the baking process.
Notes
- Measure oats and flour accurately with a kitchen scale to avoid dry or cakey cookies.
- These cookies are intentionally lightly sweetened, similar to muffins or breakfast scones; for sweeter cookies, substitute some milk with pure maple syrup, honey, or agave and adjust milk quantity accordingly.
- For a spicier gingerbread taste, increase ground ginger by ¼ to 1 teaspoon.
- The cookies do not spread during baking, so shape them to final size before baking.
- Do not over-bake; remove when centers are slightly soft as they firm up while cooling.
- Instant oats are quick-cooking oats; if unavailable, process old-fashioned oats in a food processor to reduce size.
- Flour substitutions include white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, or oat flour (careful with measuring due to absorbency).
- Egg white can be substituted with one whole egg, reducing milk by ½ tablespoon to compensate.
- Use regular molasses for authentic gingerbread flavor; avoid blackstrap molasses as it is too bitter.
- For dairy-free version, use coconut oil instead of butter and dairy-free milk like almond or soy milk.
- For gluten-free version, use certified gluten-free oats and appropriate gluten-free flour blends along with xanthan gum if needed.
- Store cookies in airtight containers; they keep for a few days at room temperature and up to a week refrigerated. They freeze well once cooled.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 90 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 2.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
