These delicious quinoa breakfast cookies taste like zucchini bread, and have a healthy base of peanut butter, banana, honey, oats and quinoa flakes!

When your morning involves cookies, you know it’s going to be a good day.

Especially when those cookies are sweet, chewy and totally healthy. Who wouldn’t want to eat healthy cookies for breakfast?

Today I’m bringing you my latest and great breakfast recipe: Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies! They're a spin of my Toasted Coconut Quinoa Breakfast cookies, but I've made them egg-free and a little bit more summery. They're a delicious (and nutritious) breakfast treat that tastes like a dessert but is actually packed with fiber, healthy fats, fruit AND vegetables. And rounded out with the warm scents of cinnamon and nutmeg, they taste just like zucchini bread only in quinoa cookie form.

The main thing I’m loving about breakfast cookies is that they’re portable. I find myself reaching for a cookie as I’m walking out the door to yoga in the morning. Or just the other day I went to a 7:30am SoulCycle class with my cousin and took a few cookies with me for the walk home.

Since I know many of you also have crazy busy mornings, making a big batch of cookies on a Sunday night (these only take one bowl and 20 minutes to make) can leave you with healthy breakfasts for the week ahead. Bonus is, you can also use these as a mid-morning snack since they’ve got tons of energizing ingredients and are sweetened naturally so won’t cause a sugar-crash.

And if you're not a fan of zucchini, no problem at all. I've got NINE other flavors for you to choose from including Chunky Monkey Quinoa Breakfast Cookies, Carrot Cake Quinoa Breakfast Cookies, Snickerdoodle Quinoa Breakfast Cookies and more. You'll never get bored!

My top five favorite ingredients in these cookies (that also make them so tasty and healthy)?

1. Peanut butter: peanut butter is one of my favorite nut butters and one that I always keep on hand. Peanut butter is high in vitamins, fiber and protein (8g per serving!). If peanuts aren’t your thang, just substitute your favorite nut/seed butter.

2. Banana: bananas are a key ingredient in these cookies not only for structure, but also for sweetness. Bananas are a wonderful ingredient to add to your breakfast – they’re high in potassium, help with digestion, great for fueling pre- or post-workout, and are a natural sweetener.

3. Raw honey: raw honey can be found at most natural food stores (or on Amazon), is absolutely amazing. It’s different than regular honey because it hasn’t been heated, therefore it retains all it’s nutritional properties. Raw honey contains vitamins, minerals and even live enzymes. Basically it’s a sweetener that truly is good for you!

4. Zucchini: one of the most popular summer squashes, is the star of the show in these cookies! It helps give the cookies a nutrition boost while still keeping them soft and moist. Zucchini is a healthy veggie that can pretty much go with anything. It’s low-calorie, high in vitamin A and potassium, and has a high water content so it’s also hydrating.

5. Quinoa flakes: one of my favorite forms of quinoa, quinoa flakes are essentially the quinoa version of oats. They’re whole quinoa which has been run through a grain flaker and are perfect in baked goods like these cookies. They soak up a little bit more liquid than oats, but have a much softer texture and provide all the nutritional benefits of quinoa. Since they are so soft, I like using them in combination with oats in this recipe which gives the whole cookie a bit more texture (and makes it feel more hearty).

I’m also loving that these cookies have a fairly simple base. I basically tweaked my last version of breakfast cookies ever so slightly, realizing that the possibilities with these babies is endless! There millions (well maybe hundreds) of different flavor options and I can’t wait to keep on experimenting.

I’d love to know… what flavor breakfast cookie would you like to see next? Leave me a comment below!

xo Alyssa

If you make this recipe, make sure to snap a pic and share it on Instagram using #SIMPLYQUINOA – I want to see your own quinoa creations!

More Quinoa Breakfast Cookie Recipes

Prep: 10

Cook: 15

Total: 25

Ingredients

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter or nut/seed butter of choice
1/4 cup raw honey
1 medium banana
1 flax egg 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water, or 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded zucchini pressed in a dish towel
2 tablespoons chia seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Add peanut butter, honey, banana, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until combined. Add oats, quinoa flakes, baking powder, spices and salt to the bowl and stir together. Fold in shredded zucchini and chia seeds.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet and repeat until no dough remains.
Bake cookies on center rack for 15 – 18 minutes until edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Enjoy at room temp or slightly reheated in a microwave.

Video

Nutrition

cuisine: American

course: bread, Breakfast, Snack

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

More Quinoa Breakfast Cookie Recipes