New Mum Breakfast Cookies

Okay, so every now and again (or, often) a mother doesn't have time to warm up a bowl of soup. Or to sit down and make a proper breakfast for herself.

These breakfast cookies are packed with goodness, it's like a healthy version of granola in your hand. I've added oats and flax for boosting milk production. Additional nutrition benefits are at the bottom of the page. Yes there are a heck of a lot of in these cookies! I am so used to making them, that I keep the majority of these items in my cupboard at all times. (You don't have to be pregnant or postpartum to enjoy them. Ahem.) 

This recipe is very forgiving. You can easily add more or less of one flour or cereal if you don’t thave an ingredient, more butter and sugar if you don’t have the applesauce, and whichever nuts/seeds/dried fruit you have. The up side of these cookies is that they don't taste like cardboard - they are YUM. Especially if you add a handful of chocolate chips....

Mix together:

180g (2 c.) oats

190g (1 1/4 c.) whole wheat flour

120g (1 c.) white flour

240 ml* (1 c.) cereal - whatever you have on hand, from crushed Shreddies to puffed rice to muesli

42g (1/2 c.) wheat bran 

48g (1/2 c.) oat bran (both very inexpensive at Holland&Barrett)

2 tsp. baking soda

60g (1/2 c.) seeds: ground flax, (tesco does an inexpensive one!) sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, hemp - whatever you have on hand

With a hand mixer, in a separate bowl, blend:

113g (1 c.) softened butter

113g (1 c.) applesauce or mashed banannas

2 eggs

180g (1/2 c.) brown sugar

50g (1/4c.) sugar

1 TBS vanilla

Add:

160g (1 c.) raisins, sultanas, diced dried apricots, chopped dates, dried cranberries, or dried cherries. Again, the choice is yours. I usually add a variety of whatever is in my cupboard. 

85g (1 c.) nuts: chopped walnuts, sliced almonds, any kind at all

100g (2/3 c.) chocolate chips (if you want/need them!)

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line baking sheet with baking paper. Combine dry ingredients. Beat butter, eggs, sugars and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, mix until blended. Mix in almonds, raisins or cranberries and dates. Shape into balls and lightly flatten onto baking sheets. (They do not spread.) Bake 13/15 minutes, until lightly golden. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

They freeze exceptionally well and even taste great straight from the freezer.

Here are are a few of the nutritional benefits in each cookie:

oats - iron, also known to promote lactation

wheat germ - vitamin E, zinc, B vitamins, folate

high fiber bran cereal - good digestion regulation

seeds and nuts - good sources of essential DHA fats important for infant (and mother) brain development, and protein.

walnuts - omega 3, calcium, iron, vitamin B6

almonds - increase milk production

dates, raisins and cranberries - iron, carbohydrates, potassium, help regulate the gut.

dark chocolate - makes you happy! And that is always a good thing.

This is an excellent recipe to bake while you’re impatiently waiting for birth and need to distract yourself, or as a gift for a new mother! Just be sure to hide them from dads as they seem to gobble these up.

*This measurement is by volume since different cereals have different weights