Gingerbread cookies.. for breakfast?! Yes, I went there. Soft gingerbread cookies filled with healthy oats, flax seed, crunchy walnuts, Holiday spices, molasses, and sweetened naturally with maple syrup. Whether you need a healthy dessert cookie or a fun Holiday or Christmas breakfast, these cookies deliver!!
I may be a little obsessed with gingerbread flavor right now.
And, no, I don’t mean half a cup of molasses in everything.
Gingerbread to me means a little molasses and plenty of spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice to be specific.
These spices are absolutely beautiful together. I think they are Christmas in a flavor! So, I’ve been going a little overboard with them lately at our house!
But, what’s not to love?! I’ve said time and time again how much I love cinnamon and I always add extra to my recipes. Gingerbread is just an extension of that love for me.
So, why not breakfast cookies? I’ve already shared several other breakfast cookie recipes, like:
- Chocolate Peppermint Breakfast Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies
- Peanut Butter Coconut Breakfast Cookies
- Chocolate Banana Breakfast Cookies
- Chai Breakfast Cookies
- Zucchini Bread Breakfast Cookies
I would consider myself a breakfast cookie aficionado 🙂 So, why not gingerbread? After all, my kids and I love breakfast cookies, my recipes are always filled with healthy additions and packed with flavor, and gingerbread can easily be one of those flavors!
These healthy Gingerbread Breakfast Cookies are made with oats, oat flour, flax seed, walnuts, tons of spices, a little molasses, and maple syrup.
Topped with a light maple glaze drizzle, I’ve taken the classic, old fashioned Gingerbread Cookie with icing on top and turned it into breakfast. What’s not to love?? 🙂
My other favorite part about breakfast cookies is how easy they are to make.
I’ll show you how simple!
First, you’ll stir together your dry ingredients: gluten-free oat flour and oats, flax seed, walnuts, spices, baking soda and salt.
Now, in a separate bowl you’ll whisk together your wet ingredients: almond butter, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla and egg.
Finally, stir all your ingredients together. Scoop them out onto a parchment-paper lined pan. Flatten each cookie out, as these cookies don’t spread much. Then bake them at 375 for about 8-10 minutes.
Important questions you may have…
Do I have to use oat flour? No. You can use all purpose flour (gluten-free or not) too.
Can I make these without flax seed? Yes. The flax seed in these do not serve as a binder, but extra fiber for a healthy start to the day. 😉
I can’t have walnuts, what would you recommend? I would leave them out entirely then, or another soft nut could work in it’s place. Cashews would be great!
I can’t have almond butter, what else can I use? Cashew butter would work great as well. I haven’t tried it myself but I know others have used sunflower butter. As long as it has a similar consistency to almond butter it should work fine.
How do I make these vegan? Simply use a flax egg in place of the egg. Made this way I think the cookies turn out a little softer but still entirely delicious.
Can I use Gingerbread Spice seasoning instead? Yes, you can use about 1 1/2 teaspoon of gingerbread spice seasoning instead of the blend of spices I have in the recipe (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice).
You can have dessert for breakfast, or a healthy Christmas cookie, with these Gingerbread Breakfast Cookies!
Gluten-free, dairy-free, easily made vegan, filled with healthy additions, and packed with flavor, these soft cookies are your new favorite Christmas breakfast! 🙂
More Holiday breakfast ideas? I’d recommend my gluten-free Maple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oat Muffins, and Gingerbread Loaf.
- 1/3 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free)
- 1/2 cup oats (certified gluten-free)
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon and ginger
- 1/4 tsp cloves, nutmeg and allspice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup almond butter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
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To begin, preheat your oven to 375 and line a pan with parchment paper.
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In a medium mixing bowl, add your oat flour, oats, flax seed, walnuts, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, and salt and stir them together.
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In a small mixing bowl, add your almond butter, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla and egg and whisk them together.
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Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir them together till well combined.
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Scoop your cookies onto your pan and flatten each cookie out, as these cookies won't spread much.
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Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or till the tops are set.
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In a small mixing bowl, add your powdered sugar, almond milk and maple syrup and whisk thoroughly till well combined. Add more milk if not thin enough.
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Drizzle over cookies (with a spoon) after they have cooled entirely.
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and they should last about a week. They can also be frozen.
I’d like to make these but don’t have flaxseed. Could I substitute chia? Orr do you have any suggestions?
Hi Jaquie, sorry it took me a bit to respond. You could actually just omit the flaxseed entirely if you’d like. You could add 1 tbsp of chia seed to the mix if you’d like, but I think 1/4 cup of chia seeds would be too much. Hope this helps!
Hi there! I can’t wait to try these this weekend 🙂 Im curious– for the flax seed. Is it 1/4 cup flax seed and then ground? Or should I be grounding the flax seed first and then measuring 1/4 cup? Thanks!
Hi Jo. 1/4 cup of already ground flax seed is best!
I found the ones I made lacked flavor, next time I may add more cinnamon and some type of flavored extract in addition to what the recipe calls for. I used maple syrup that is darker to maybe that is why. I also used sunbutter, but it’s not strong for this recipe I think, kind of takes over. Maybe I’ll try again and tweak it.
Great flavor and easy to make. I baked them for the minimal time mentioned, but they had a really dry texture. Next time I will try adding a tablespoon or two of healthy oil and see if that helps. I was hoping for a better texture since I live at a high Colorado altitude also.
I just want to clarify, are the spices 1/2 and 1/4 tsp each spice or is it 1/2 and 1/4 tsp mixed together for the spices?
Hi there. It is 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of ginger, 1/4 tsp of cloves, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp of allspice. I hope this helps!
These are delicious and easy to make, thank you!
Thanks for taking the time to leave the comment Cara, I love hearing that!
Could you use buckwheat flour and buckwheat groats instead of oats?
Hi there. I’m not sure if that would work, since I haven’t made it myself that way. Sorry!
Can I use almond flour instead of oat flour?
Hi Lisa. I wouldn’t recommend using almond flour instead. Typically almond flour needs more binder (like an extra egg) and also more flour, it’s not a good replacement for oat flour. Hope this helps!
Omg these are so good! Not too sweet and just the perfect amount of spice and chew!! I didn’t even bother with the glaze, and instead of turning the oven off after the first batch I made another batch immediately!! Going to take the 2nd batch to my BFF who just had a baby, these are great for nursing mamas as oats and flax are awesome for milk!!
So great to hear, Hollie!! And I love the idea of sharing them with your BFF too. 🙂
Are these soft or more hard?
Hi Brittany. They have crispy edges, but are more soft throughout. I hope this helps!
I baked these up this morning…DELICIOUS!! I will admit I wasn’t feeling confident as I mixed up the batter. It wasn’t smelling great. But I love them. It will be so great for my busy family to have these as a quick grab option for breakfast. The texture is perfect.
Awesome! Thanks for the comment, Wendy. 🙂
I love these, do you have full nutrition info including fat breakdown, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein?
Hi Lori. I only know the calories are about 112 (if you get 12 cookies). If you wan’t to find out more, you can google a nutrition calculator and input the ingredients. Hope this helps!
Delicious! I used my my gingerbread spice mix but followed the rest of the recipe. Didn’t make the icing as I didn’t have icing sugar but I’ll try next time. They were sweet enough though for a healthier cookie! I think I’ll make them thinner next time as I prefer them a little crispier. But really gingerbread tasty without all the butter!
These look amazing and delicious! I made another recipe today, good flavor, however the batter was soft and kind of liquid even chilled. Im gonna make these tomorrow!!! So what should be the correct consistency of this batter? Thick? Adding an egg doesnt make them a soft pancake consistency?
Hi Ana. This batter should be similar to oatmeal cookie batter, pretty thick and not very liquidy. The egg should not make them a soft pancake consistency, but help give them structure! If it seems too thin you can let the batter set for about 10 minutes for the oats to soak up some of the wet ingredients, and the batter should be even a little thicker afterwards. Hope this helps and you love them as much as we do!
These sound yummy!
Is a serving one or two cookies? And do you know the nutrition per serving?
Hi there. Yes, a serving is one cookie (with a small cookie scoop), this recipe makes about 12 small breakfast cookies, for about 112 calories each.
This recipe said dairy-free but calls for an egg. What am I missing?
Hi Susan. Eggs are not considered dairy. However, if you need these cookies to be dairy-free and egg free you can make them with a flax or chia egg instead. Hope this helps!
Can you use regular butter, I’m not a fan of almond anything.
Hi there. I would recommend another type of nut butter instead, like peanut butter, cashew butter, etc. over regular better.
Instead of nut butter, I used 2T of butter and 4T Greek yogurt… Came out great! My 8yo and 2yo loved them, too 🙂
Awesome! Thanks Mandy.