Description
These Healthy Gingerbread Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies are soft, chewy, and mildly spiced with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Perfect for a nutritious breakfast or snack, they feature wholesome ingredients like instant oats and whole wheat flour, sweetened with molasses for an authentic gingerbread flavor. These cookies are lower in sugar than typical desserts, making them ideal for a cozy morning treat that’s both satisfying and flavorful.
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 or gluten-free flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until evenly combined.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter or coconut oil, egg white, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Stir in the molasses and then the nonfat milk, mixing well.
- Form Dough: Add the dry oat mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Avoid overmixing to keep the cookies tender. Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up.
- 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 a spatula, drop the dough into 15 rounded scoops on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each cookie to about ⅜ inch thickness using the spatula, as these cookies will not spread during baking.
- Bake: Bake the cookies at 325°F for 10 minutes, checking to ensure the centers remain slightly soft and underdone for optimal chewiness.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes; this lets residual heat finish baking the centers. After cooling, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Measure oats and flour accurately using a kitchen scale to avoid dry or cakey cookies.
- These cookies are mildly sweet; for a sweeter version, substitute some milk with pure maple syrup, honey, or agave and adjust liquid accordingly.
- Increase ground ginger by up to 1 tsp for a spicier gingerbread flavor.
- Cookies won’t spread during baking; flatten them before baking to desired thickness.
- Do not over-bake; remove when centers are still soft to achieve a chewy texture.
- Instant oats can be made by pulsing old-fashioned oats in a food processor 10-12 times to reduce size.
- Substitute whole wheat flour with white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, or oat flour, but be careful with oat flour measurements.
- Use 1 whole egg instead of egg white by reducing milk by ½ tablespoon.
- Molasses is crucial for authentic flavor; do not use blackstrap molasses due to bitterness.
- If molasses is unavailable, use pure maple syrup, honey, or agave but expect flavor changes.
- Use any milk as substitute for nonfat milk, including dairy-free options for a dairy-free version.
- For gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats and flour blends or a specified gluten-free flour mix with xanthan gum.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days or refrigerate up to a week; cookies freeze well.
- Use unsalted butter for a nut-free version.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 90 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
