Happy Muffin Monday! It's Brain Awareness Week and to kick things off, we're turning our tastebuds from muffins to cookies. Yes, cookies for breakfast and your brain!
We have all been told how important it is to eat breakfast. Whether in the form of hot cereal, coffee and toast, muffin and juice, eggs and veggies, or my favourite, smoothies - breakfast has been shown to be good for both body and brain health.
And where would we be without our brain? Think about it...of course you're using your brain to do that, so a little bias is expected. Our every thought and action - all controlled by this complex, powerful, sexy mass. A bit of a control freak, ain't it? The only one of its kind that has my affection.
I Heart Brain! And so should you. So to do my small part to help kick-off Brain Awareness Week, I've dedicated this Monday Muffin post to Brain (not to be confused with Brian - a trick my brain often plays on me). And every good trick deserves a treat!
Enter Breakfast Cookies packed with sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds, oats, dates, cinnamon and chocolate. All rich in nutrients and each boasting a number of impressive health benefits in its own right. Like Vitamin E, which is said to neutralize free radicals that damage fat-containing structures and molecules, such as cell membranes and brain cells. It may even help to relieve symptoms of Alzheimer's.
These Breakfast Cookies were adapted from Planet Organic's Cosmic Cookies. After recently sampling Cosmic Cookies (and spending way too much time removing the raisins) I knew I needed to make them at home, sans raisins.
I halved the recipe to make a test batch, which turned out way better than I expected. I substituted dates for raisins, coconut oil for olive oil and almond milk for soy milk. Next time I'll make a full batch - twelve didn't last very long around here.
Muffin Mondays Past:
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 90 g organic gluten-free rolled oats 1 cup
- 100 g spelt flour 1 cup
- 85 g sunflower seeds ½ cup
- 75 g pumpkin seeds ½ cup
- 20 g unsweetened ¼ cup, shredded coconut
- 20 g flax seeds 2 tbsp
- 100 g granulated cane sugar ½ cup
- 4 g ground cinnamon 1 ½ tsp
- 5 g sea salt 1 tsp
- 160 g chocolate chips 1 cup
- 95 g chopped dates ¾ cup
- 30 g water 2 tbsp
- 45 g blackstrap molasses 2 tbsp
- 80 g coconut oil ⅓ cup
- 122 g almond milk ½ cup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line baking trays with silpat mats.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a smaller bowl, lightly whisk together water, molasses, oil and milk.
- Pour milk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined.
- Using a medium ice-cream scoop, portion cookie dough and place onto lined baking trays. Gently flatten cookies before baking. I used a medium scone cutter to give them a round shape. I also used a pastry brush to brush the dough with a little almond milk before baking.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool on tray, placed on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon snack with tea. Your brain will thank you!
Notes
adapted from Planet Organic
Tried this recipe?Mention @isugarcoatit or tag #isugarcoatit !
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