These Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies are a perfect healthy morning treat with whole grain oats, carrot, coconut and pecans. They are vegan, gluten free, oil free and clean eating.
At our house we try to eat healthy as much as possible. We aren't super rigid, especially when it comes to eating out or at social gatherings.
But overall I'd say we eat clean and wholesome food about 80% of the time. For me that means trying to add some vegetables to every meal.
Breakfast is usually the hardest. Especially if everyone is used to typical sweet American breakfast of toast with peanut butter and jam, cornflakes or pancakes.
Starting the day with a mean green smoothie is one way to achieve that veggie goal for breakfast. But if you are looking more for the solid kind breakfast, these healthy carrot cake cookies are just for you!
They include everything I love about carrot cake: shredded carrots, coconut, pecans and a generous dose of cinnamon. At the same time, it is like having a bowl of healthy oatmeal, only in cookie shape.
How to make carrot oatmeal cookies
There is no flour, oil or eggs in these breakfast cookies. Just old-fashioned rolled oats (look for certified gluten free oats, if required) combined with flax egg, mashed banana and a touch of maple syrup.
And the process almost couldn't be easier. You only need to mash the banana and prepare the flax egg in a separate bowl.
Everything else can be stirred together in one big bowl. And you'll only need a big wooden spoon for that.
To shape the cookies I am using a measuring cup (¼ cup size). It's great for scooping and already creates a rounded shape.
The vegan carrot cookie batter plops right out and the cookies just need to be flattened a little before baking.
Healthy Breakfast Meal Prep
These healthy breakfast cookies are vegan, gluten free and clean eating. And the best part for me: they are portable and can be made ahead!
Breakfast meal prep couldn't be easier than this:
Make a batch of these gluten free carrot oatmeal cookies on the weekend and you have breakfast ready the second you wake up. If you are running late, you can even take one along to eat on the go during your commute.
And yes, just one or two breakfast cookies can satisfy you enough until lunch (or at least mid-morning snack time). This is because each cookie packs a full ¼ cup of the nutritious healthy carrot cookie batter.
Suddenly, having cookies for breakfast becomes totally acceptable!
How To Store Carrot Cookies
Store these Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies refrigerated for up to 1 week. They can also be frozen in a single layer in large freezer bags.
Items I Used To Make These Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies
If you want to be absolutely certain to make these carrot cookies gluten free, be sure to use certified gluten free oats. Oats are naturally gluten free, but many regular oats are processed in plants that also handle wheat and thereby get contaminated with gluten during processing.
The large side of a box grater produces the perfect sized shredded carrot for this recipe.
I use my ¼ cup sized measuring cup to scoop, portion and pre-shape the cookies. They easily plop out from the cup onto the baking sheet and only need a little flattening afterwards.
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Recipe
Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats certified gluten free, if required
- 2 cups shredded carrot use the large side of a box grater
- 2 mashed bananas
- ⅔ cup chopped pecans
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup flaxmeal mix with ⅔ cup water and let stand for 5 minutes
- ¼ cup maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1-½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine ground flax with water and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl and stir to fully combine everything.
- Use a measuring cup or a large ice cream scoop to drop about ¼ cup of the cookie mixture onto a baking sheet and flatten the cookies (they won't spread while baking). Bake for about 20 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheet before moving to an airtight storage container.
- Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week. These carrot cake breakfast cookies can also be frozen in one layer in large freezer bags.
Nutrition
Pin Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies recipes for later?
Random Questions
Calories may vary based on ingredients, but generally, each cookie contains around 150-200 calories, providing a wholesome and satisfying breakfast option.
Yes, the flavors of carrot cake cookies often meld and develop more fully the next day, resulting in a richer taste and texture. This makes them an excellent make-ahead option for busy mornings.
Yes, you can make some substitutions based on dietary preferences or restrictions. For example, you can swap out the pecans for another type of nut or leave them out entirely if you have allergies. You can also experiment with alternative sweeteners or add-ins.
These cookies can be a nutritious and tasty option for kids, providing a blend of wholesome ingredients. However, always consider individual dietary needs and preferences, especially if there are any allergies or specific dietary restrictions to take into account.
Stephanie
Not bad. I don’t have a sweet tooth and found these lacking a bit of sweetness for myself. The texture also involves lots of chewing. They’re okay, super easy to make, loaded with nutrient dense ingredients, just lacking a little something for my tastes.
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thanks for your review, Stephanie! 🙂
Barbara Ernst
I can use duck eggs, how many eggs would substitute for flax meal and water? Thanks
Regina | Leelalicious
This recipe has only been tested with flax egg. This amount of flax egg equals about 4 large chicken eggs. I am not sure how duck eggs compare. Weight wise it should be about 200 g (measured without shell).
Tara
This was excellent. Only modifications I made had to do with high altitude cooking (which is hard!). If you live above 7,000 feet, bump the temp up to 375 degrees, and increase cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes. I had no pure syrup and used honey. And then I went a little overboard and added a Keto cream cheese frosting (https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/low-carb-keto-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe/#jumptorecipe). You probably already have one out there, but I was randomly searching. If you DO, please add to this recipe, which is SO GOOD. Thank you!
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Tara, thank you for your review! I'm so glad you were able to adjust this recipe for baking at a high altitude.
Liz
I've made these quite a few times now and they are great! I am not a huge fan of maple syrup so I substituted with honey and I use an egg instead of the flax egg, because I didn't have the ground flax seed, otherwise everything is the same. This is my favorite breakfast cookie recipe though!
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Thank you for the lovely comment, Liz!
Linda
Going to make these for sure ,my daughter made them and she loves them. Thank you so much look forward to your recipes.
Regina | Leelalicious
Great! So happy to hear you and your daughter are making my recipes!
Sophie
I bake your breakfast cookies to bring to the elementary school where I used to teach. (I'm retired now!) The staff absolutely loves your breakfast cookies....all varieties! Many requests for the recipes and they tell me that they make the cookies for their families. Anyway, I continue to happily bake these breakfast cookies because they are a requested goodie for the monthly "Coffee Cart" that the retired staff hosts for our teaching buddies. So much fun!
Regina | Leelalicious
What a wonderful review. Thank you so much for sharing this. It makes me so happy to hear so many people are enjoying and making my recipes
Mary F
I'm baking my second batch today. Both times I halved the recipe because I'm the only one eating them. I love the taste and they are great for breakfast or afternoon snack. I also like that they are loaded with all kinds of good stuff. Delicious!!
Gennie Lorenz
What can I do if I can not have bananas? Will I substitute egg and coconut oil?
Regina
Yes, you can use 2 eggs in place of the bananas. If more liquid is needed, you can use melted coconut oil but it isn't necessary otherwise
Jaia
These just came out the over and are quite yummy.
I used 2 large bananas and 2 eggs instead of flaxeed. I replaced pecans with roasted sunflower seeds and added some chia. They baked in 20 minutes and have a lovely texture. They also make heaps! I have 21 cookies.
Thank you for the recipe
Tracey Hartmann
So I built off your idea but I added sliced almonds, instead of maple syrup I used 1/4 cup crushed pineapple in 100% juice no sugar added.
Rachel Franco
I love these! I'm a new mom with a breastfed baby, and oats are wonderful for keeping up milk supply. I ate three of these for breakfast each morning for about 5 days, and had a few left for snacking (17 cookies total). The flavors were so good, and the texture was soft and chewy. I used 2 eggs instead of flax eggs. The only downside was shredding the carrots by hand; I don't have a box grater, nor a food processor, currently, so that process took way longer than I would have liked. I topped these with homemade whipped cream: heavy whipping cream + vanilla extract = sugar-free, high-fat deliciousness.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Regina
Congrats on the new baby Rachel! I am so happy to hear these breakfast cookies could help you with your milk supply. Although I can imagine that hand shredding wasn't very fun
Suzanne Lane
Wanting to bring these on a business trip to use for breakfast. Is there a way to add more protein to these?
thanks
Kristi
What could I substitute for the shredded coconut?
Linda Okkels
Can you switch the grond fax, with any other flour?
Regina
Maybe? I haven't tried any substitutes. It actually works as binder (vegan egg substitute) and for a nutritional boost in this recipe
Linda Okkels
But I am not a vegan. Can substitute eggs instead?
Regina
Maybe I am not sure how it will turn out. I'd try substituting 2 eggs. I have a pumpkin version where I use eggs and flax https://leelalicious.com/pumpkin-breakfast-cookies/
Rachel Franco
I made these with 2 eggs and it worked great. 🙂