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Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

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 quinoa breakfast cookie flavor: zucchini bread. This delicious (and nutritious) breakfast treat 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.

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

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’v got tons of energizing ingredients and are sweetened naturally so won’t cause a sugar-crash.

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

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

1. Peanut butter: this 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: this type of honey, which can be found at most natural food stores, 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!

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

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).

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

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

simply-quinoa-instagramIf 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!

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies - a decadent and healthy way to start your day || www.simplyquinoa.com || gluten-free

Share this recipe!

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 12 - 14 cookies

Serving Size: 1 - 2 cookies

Zucchini Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or nut/seed butter of choice)
  • 1/4 cup raw honey
  • 1 medium banana
  • 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

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. 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.
  3. Spoon 2 tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet and repeat until no dough remains.
  4. 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.
  5. Enjoy at room temp or slightly reheated in a microwave.
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http://www.simplyquinoa.com/zucchini-bread-quinoa-breakfast-cookies/
Copyright © 2010-2014 by Simply Quinoa, All Rights Reserved. This recipe, and the photos associated with this recipe, are the property of Simply Quinoa. Do not duplicate this recipe without written consent by its owner.

Other Quinoa Flake Recipes:

Easy Quinoa Flake Recipes via @simplyquinoa

Toasted Coconut Quinoa Breakfast Cookies (Simply Quinoa)
Oatmeal Cookie Quinoa Granola (Simply Quinoa)
Quinoa Snack Bars (My Whole Food Life)
Zucchini Breakfast Cake (Gluten-Free Goddess)

 

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Simply Quinoa, Alyssa Rimmer

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I'm Alyssa, the writer and photographer behind the gluten-free website Simply Quinoa. My passion is creating wholesome, nutrient-rich recipes all with a little quinoa twist.