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.
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.
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.
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.