Muffin Cookies (for Breakfast or ANY time of day!)

I have a brand-new recipe to share that I had originally called "Muffin Top" Cookies because these look a lot like tops of muffins (which we can all agree are the favorite part!).  However, when I mentioned it on FB someone thought they were cookies that would give you a "muffin top" belly!  So the name had to get changed.  These will definitely NOT give you a muffin top (belly) unless you eat the whole batch at once, which is a temptation.  Check out the super-foods in the ingredient line-up to see what I'm talking about!  No sugar or butter to be found!

So the history of these cookies...  A few weeks back a friend sent me a healthy recipe for breakfast cookies.  I was really excited until I looked over the recipe, and then I knew it wasn't clean at all.  "Healthy"...sort of.  But it had sugar and butter and sugar...and you get the picture.  (click here to view the original recipe)  I knew it could be altered to become clean, I just wasn't too sure how to do it so I called on a new friend/mentor, Tiffany, at The Gracious Pantry for help.  She sent me back her suggestions and then I made more changes and finally tried it out.  I LOVED the results!  In fact I loved them SO much I decided to share the recipe here!  I can (sort-of) call it my own :-)

                                                            Amy's Clean Muffin Cookies

Ingredients

1-1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (+ an extra shake if you like things saltier)
1 tbsp ground flax seed
2 tbsp. unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tbsp. molasses
1/3 cup agave or honey
1 egg
1/4 cup  cooked pumpkin puree (or carrots as original recipe calls for)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup bran cereal flakes – (I finally found clean high-fiber flakes at Sprouts but they weren’t bran)
1/3 cup craisins
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans (I chop in a mini food processor/grinder)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, flax and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

3. Combine oil, molasses, applesauce and honey/agave in a separate bowl.  Microwave 15 sec and continue whisking until completely combined (may need to do an additional 15 sec in microwave).  Add egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds or until well combined.

4. Add flour mixture and beat until combined. Add oats, flakes, craisins and pecans and mix just until incorporated.  Dough will be sticky, more like a cake batter than cookie dough.

5. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place tablespoon sized scoops of batter on cookie sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.   They aren’t like traditional cookies…more like muffin tops!  Super moist yet solid and easy to eat on-the-go!

Enjoy!

*Note: they freeze very well and make for a great grab-and-go breakfast for on the way to school or for in kids' backpacks for lunch or snack.  Flavors intensify by day 2.  Try switching out the Craisins with dark chocolate chips or dried cherries for a variation!  (Craisins do contain sugar...as do most dried cranberries.)