Throughout my childhood, I looked forward to Easter almost as much as Christmas. Although the holiday came with far fewer presents, the Easter Bunny still stopped by while my brother and I slept and left Easter baskets filled with goodies… Just like how Santa stuffed our stockings!
So early Easter morning, typically before the sun started peeking out over the horizon, my brother and I dashed downstairs and skidded to a stop at the kitchen table. Once Mom snapped our picture for her photo albums, we began pawing through the shiny plastic grass in our special pink (mine) and blue (my brother’s) baskets.
The Easter Bunny hid most of our treats inside of plastic eggs, so we rattled each one to guess its contents before popping apart the two halves, watching at the candy spilled out. Milk chocolate eggs, a few peanut butter cups, plenty of Starburst-flavored jelly beans (our favorite!), some chocolate kisses… And if we behaved, Mom even let us have a piece or two before church!
To make sure the Easter Bunny remembered our house (and gave us the best candy!), we always set out something for him the night before, just like with Santa. But instead of milk and cookies, we left a plate of carrots and bowl of water on the table. My brother and I thought he’d appreciate that a little more!
Yet now as an adult, I realize my family’s Easter Bunny might have enjoyed Santa’s cookies more than plain carrots… So I’m finally combining the two for our family’s Easter Bunny into these Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies! They have the same chewy texture as classic cookies but the sweetness level of muffins (just in case the Easter Bunny “taste tests” a few too many pieces of the candy meant for the kids!). And with just 74 calories, these cookies come with none of the guilt!
Think your family’s Easter Bunny would like these too? ?
This is the next installment of my clean eating oatmeal cookie recipes series! ← Have you tried any of those others yet? (The apple pie and almond joy ones are two of my more popular recipes!) Just like the other recipes, these contain no butter, refined flour or sugar… But they taste just as chewy and delicious as traditional oatmeal cookies!
To start, you’ll need whole wheat flour (or gluten-free!) and instant oats. Instant oats are also called “quick cooking” or “one-minute” oats. They’re not the same thing as what comes in those individual brown paper packets! Instant oats are sold in canisters right next to the old-fashioned oats at the grocery store.
It’s extremely important to measure the flour and oats correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. Too much of either will dry out your cookie dough and make your cookies taste cakey, rather than chewy. This is especially true of the oats because they act like little sponges and soak up moisture from your cookie dough!
So I highly recommend a kitchen scale. ← That’s the one I own and love. It’s been the best $20 I’ve ever spent! I use it to make every recipe that I share with you here on my blog (and in my Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook!) because it ensures my treats turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time.
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten your cookies with pure maple syrup. Make sure you buy the real kind! Skip the pancake syrups and sugar-free syrups because those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. The only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup,” and it generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs. I’ve also bought it online here for a slightly discounted price!
To make sure these qualify as breakfast cookies (not dessert ones!), you’ll only add half the amount of maple syrup as you’d use in my dessert oatmeal cookies. To compensate for the missing liquid, you’ll stir milk into your cookie dough!
For the classic carrot cake flavor, you’ll mix in cinnamon, a hint of nutmeg, and freshly grated carrots. Don’t substitute the store-bought pre-shredded carrots! Those are too thick and dry, and they don’t soften while baking. You’ll want to grate your own carrots because they’re much juicier and have an infinitely better flavor.
Ready for breakfast? ??? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your breakfast cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup, room temperature
- 5 tbsp (75mL) nonfat milk, room temperature
- ¾ cup (68g) freshly grated carrot (about 1 medium, peeled first!)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg white, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup and milk. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Gently fold in the carrots. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten to the desired thickness and width with a spatula. Bake at 325°F for 10-13 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Instant oats are also known as quick-cooking or minute oats. They come in large canisters, just like old-fashioned oats. They are not the ones in the small flavored packets of oatmeal. To make your own, add the same amount of old-fashioned oats to a food processor, and pulse 10-12 times or until they’re about half of their original size.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free instant oats and the following gluten-free flour blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free blends will work as well, if measured like this.
Any milk will work in place of the nonfat milk.
Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots. They’re too dry and won’t soften during baking, and their flavor is blander compared to freshly grated carrots.
For more tips and answers to ALL other questions {including substitutions and videos!}, see my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies
♥ Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♥ Healthy Carrot Cake Granola
♥ Healthy Carrot Cake Scones
♥ Carrot Cake Protein Muffins
♥ Carrot Cake Bran Muffins
♥ Healthy Carrot Cake Pancakes
♥ Healthy Single-Serving Carrot Cake Mug Cake
♥ …and all of Amy’s other healthy oatmeal cookie recipes!
My girls picked this recipe out and we will be making them this week but since zucchini is in season right now, I was wondering if you had tried these with Zucchini instead of carrot? We can’t wait to try them, they look so good!
I’m so honored that your girls picked out this recipe to try! I’ve made similar cookies (recipe here) with zucchini, so it should work! If measuring by weight instead of cups, you’ll need 83g of grated zucchini to replace the grated carrot. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you and your girls think of these cookies!
These look so yummy! Can I substitute carrot puree instead of shredding? My little one won’t eat them if she sees the carrots. Thoughts on about how much or if any other part of the recipe would need to be changed.
Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in this recipe Amanda! Unfortunately, carrot purée won’t work in these cookies. I have a few other breakfast cookie recipes that your daughter might like better — you can find them here! And you can find the rest of my oatmeal cookie recipes here. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you and your little one think if you try any of those!
Hi Amy! These cookies are as good as all your other baked goods! Fantastic!!! Love the flavour and texture. My boys and their friends ate them all up! Will be making more today. Thank you! Luv ya!
Awww YAY!!! I’m so glad everyone loved these cookies too! You’re such a sweetheart Carmelina — your comments always make my day!! ♡
Hi Amy!
Two questions, first, can you leave out the vanilla extract? And if so, how will it affect the cookies? Second, is almond four okay to use?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Melissa! I’ve actually answered your second question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page, which is linked to in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. (It can be easy to miss!) You can omit the vanilla extract, but the cookies’ flavor will be slightly different. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these!
I just made a batch of these and they are very tasty! A great way to use up the rest of a bag of carrots I had sitting in my fridge.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these breakfast cookies Melissa! 🙂
Made these to commemorate the snow storm ushering in the first day of spring. Omg, they did not disappoint. The recipe was perfect, steps well defined and the baking time minus a minute was on point. I’m a huge carrot cake fan but this is going to the top of my go to recipes. Thank you for a tried and true recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these breakfast cookies Patricia! That means a lot to me that it’s going to the top of your go to recipes. That’s such a huge compliment — I’m honored! 🙂 I hope you’re staying warm and true spring weather comes your way soon!
Hi Amy!
I made your cookies this evening it is so delicious. But unfortunately, when i prepare it I thought that i have some eggs in the refrigerator so, I missed the egg and try to find some egg replacement. I found that one of the replacements is to use one tsp flax and 3 tsp water i used it instead of egg. Also, i add 2 tsp coconut flour. What do you think of the added ingredients? The taste is so yummy but, the form is dark when you see it you think it is dry but is very soft maybe because i ground the oat !
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Alaa! It’s definitely possible to substitute flax + water for eggs, but it should actually be 1 tablespoon of flax + 3 tablespoons of water. With your substitute, there just wasn’t enough liquid… And on top of that, adding coconut flour would really dry out the dough. Coconut flour is around 3 times as absorbent as regular flour, so adding it to this cookie dough would make the cookies turn out cakey or crumbly. I think if you increase the amount of flax and water, as well as omit the coconut flour, your cookies should turn out even better next time! 🙂
I woke up with “breakfast cookies” on my mind, and yourvrevipe is the first one that popped up.
I butchered it, but I love your base recipe. ?
Applesauce and banana instead of butter…regular table syrup instead of maple…one egg instead of egg white…store-bought shredded carrots…sprinkle of ground flax seed…1/2 whole wheat flour…coconut flakes…
Everything else I kept the same!!! ?
I’m so honored that you tried my recipe Hannah! It sounds like you’re already an incredibly talented baker — all of your modifications sound fun! I hope you really enjoyed your yummy twist on my breakfast cookie recipe! 🙂
These sound delicious!!! Could we add raisins to this recipe?
Thank you!
Yes, definitely! I can’t wait to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies, Lauren! 🙂
Can these be frozen and made ahead?
Yes! Once baked, these cookies freeze really well. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these breakfast cookies if you try them, Mary Frances!