Breakfast Cookies

From my childhood of being a dairy farmer's daughter, being up every single day at the crack of dawn to feed my calves, to now being retired and mastering the art of sleeping late, things sure have changed!  I've had the pleasure of keeping most of my grandchildren recently and they wake up like little angles, all sweet and refreshed and HUNGRY!  I don't wake up with the energy that I once did so being a short order cook at 7:00 am is not my strong suit.

I knew that there had to be a better option for those sweet faces.  I had to find something that wasn't frozen, cereal or squares of pure sugar.  After a little digging, I found these breakfast cookies.  The wheat flour and coconut oil were firsts for me but they mix easily.

You can customize this with the add on ingredients of your choice.  I did the oats, coconut, apple, carrots, raisins and craisins.  You can do as you wish.  I think banana chips and dried pineapple would make some yummy Hawiian cookies!

You'll need:

• 2 cups (227g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon table salt

• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 3/4 teaspoon ginger

• 1/2 cup (113g) coconut oil

• 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, softened

• 2/3 cup (142g) light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, packed

• 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract

• 1 cup (89g) quick-cooking oats

• 1 1/2 cups (149g) carrots, peeled and grated

• 1/2 cup (113g) apple, peeled, cored, and grated

• 1/2 cup (27g) shredded coconut, unsweetened or 1/2 cup (30g) large-flake coconut, unsweetened

• 1/2 cup (57g) walnuts, chopped

• 1/2 cup (71g) raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.

3. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat together the coconut oil, butter, and sugars until pale and creamy.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl after each one; then beat in the vanilla.

5. Stir the dry ingredients then the remaining add-ins into the wet mixture just until evenly incorporated.

6. Drop the dough in 2" balls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2" apart; a jumbo cookie scoop is the right-sized tool for this job.

7. Bake the cookies for 15 to 17 minutes, until they're just set at the center.

8. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool.

9. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Store in the freezer, wrapped airtight, for up to 1 month.