The Perfect Toddler Cookie
We’d love to tell you this one came from some deep well of innovation, but the truth is rather typical of feeding a toddler: I just had a lot of a healthy ingredient (i.e. quinoa) sitting around and was desperate to get my son to eat it. Life’s answer to all things is usually cookie; this recipe is no exception.
Added bonus: this one stops making “cookie” a swear word for toddlers. Sure, it looks like a cookie; it tastes like one, too–it just doesn’t have most of the garbage a cookie would. It’s even vegan! (Not that you or your child may care.) Here’s what matters: it tastes good. It’s reasonably healthy. It’s a cinch to make. Maybe it won’t solve world peace, but it’ll crush snack time, didn’t-really-eat-dinner time, and any other time. And that’s good enough.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep
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Rinse quinoa. Heat a pan to medium and coat with coconut oil. When hot, pour in quinoa, and cook untouched 3-4 minutes; then stir and allow to cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool.
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Turn your oven to 350; cover a baking pan with parchment paper, then grease the paper with coconut oil. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, mix together quinoa, oat flour, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, egg, and cinnamon and cardamom; add in two large scoops of your nut butter and blend together until a sturdy batter forms. If the mixture is loose, or if you want a more nut buttery taste, add in another scoop and continue to mix until the dough holds form.
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If using chocolate chips and/or coconut, add to the mixture until integrated.
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Coat your hands in coconut oil, then grab a clump of the batter, form a ball with your hands, and flatten onto the baking pan; repeat for the remaining mixture.
Cook
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Bake for 14 minutes on the middle rack.
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Allow to cool and solidify for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Serve
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I recommend using these as in-between-meals snack, where they can provide a boost and fill your child up for the next activity. Because the cookie is pretty soft, I usually serve it whole and allow my son the choice to chomp at it or break into small bites.
Adapt
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To make this more standard cookie-esque, increase the oat flour amount to one cup and swap the coconut oil for two tbsp of melted butter; cook for This one can also work as a PB&J cookie if you sub out the chocolate and sub in fruit (e.g., grapes, cherries). Dried fruit is recommended and won’t require a change to the proportions of ingredients; if you are using fresh fruit, cut it into small pieces and be prepared to add more flour–and potentially cook a minute or two longer–if the juice from the fruit makes your batter wet.
Note
While I find the egg to be a useful binder that improves the cookie’s texture, you can keep it vegan by replacing it with an additional ½ TBSP of oil.
