Wholesome Breakfast Cookies?

Recently I came across these "Wholesome Breakfast Cookies" in Martha Stewart Living. I am getting up VERY early these days to exercise before work, and this on-the-go breakfast option caught my eye.  

Prior to my grocery run last week, I pulled out the dog-eared page to write down the ingredients. My friends, take a  look at this!

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups packed dark-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dried coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins or currants
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dried mango
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dried papaya
• 1 cup banana chips

Gasp! Not only was there 4 sticks of butter and 3 cups of sugar (and lots of other sugary dried fruits), but this recipe supposedly only makes 8 large or 16 small cookies. Let's do the math...that is 1/2 stick of butter per big cookie (or 1/4 stick of butter for each small one). That doesn't sound very wholesome to me! No wonder the nutrition info was no where to be found...

I wasn't about to make the breakfast cookies above, but I loved the idea of an on-the-go breakfast option and decided to make my own version. I tend to pour more than a serving of my usual breakfast staple, cereal, so I thought portion control would be nice too!

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 cups all-purpse flour

 1 and 1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp

1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

4 eggs

4 t. vanilla extract

4 cups rolled whole grain oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup shredded sweetened dried coconut

1 small bag of dried blueberries 

1/2 cup banana chips

(With these last ingredients, you can add or subtract anything! 

Throw in the pantry kind of thing)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flours, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter and applesauce with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add sugar and mix. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and mix after each. Add vanilla, and mix. Slowly add flour mixture and beat until well combined. Add oats and remaining ingredients (again, you can use any dried fruits, nuts, oats, etc.) except for banana chips and mix together. Form into balls (about 1/2 cup each) and place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Top with banana chips. Bake about 15 min or until done. 

Yield: about 3 dozen!! Plenty for this week (1 is filling enough for breakfast), and plenty to freeze for later! 

They are very tasty! Not too sweet. Not really the consistency of a cookie, but good for breakfast. 

Be careful when recipes claim to be "healthy" or "wholesome"!!