My husband and I live in an amazing area where orchards can be found at the end of every street, behind every school, and over every hill. Cherries, apples, and pears are the most common and make for the prettiest springs I have ever seen. We had the chance to u-pick fruit all summer long and we really stocked up on cherries. I wanted to make sure I had frozen cherries all winter long for smoothies, compotes, sauces, pancakes, and in this case cookies! However, this recipe can be made with any kind of fruit smoothie. If you have a strawberry patch, or blueberry bushes, an apricot tree, or even figs, feel free to mix and match any fruit combo. This is also a great way to use up ‘ugly’ produce that is still good but maybe unattractive.
I used to make oatmeal every morning for both myself and my baby girl for breakfast. Then I would feed it to my baby girl, mine would get cold, and I would be left with so many dishes to clean! Not to mention the floor, highchair, and tray. Every day. It was exhausting and just added to my already long to-do list.
I have been working on finding new ways to plan ahead and make life easier. Most recently I made a weekly menu where I prep a week’s worth of dinners in one day and repeat meals week after week for a whole season. That was a big step towards ease in my life, but I was still struggling with meals for baby girl. These cherry breakfast cookies were a game changer. They are easy and healthy so I can feel good serving and eating them every day.
This recipe is basically the exact same ingredients that I would use to make oatmeal (oats and fruit), but I can make a weeks’ worth (or more if I freeze them) at a time, everything about them is easy to clean, they are easy for baby girl to feed to herself, they are delicious for the whole family, they are healthy, introduce peanut butter in safe way, are quick to make… Need I go on? I think not. So let’s get straight to the cherry breakfast cookie recipe!
Growing Zones
Cherries: 4-8
Pears: 4-8
Learn more about your growing zone here.
Hand-Drawn Printable Recipe
Cherry Smoothie Breakfast Cookies
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
Description
These healthy breakfast cookies are quick, easy and most importantly, delicious! Use fresh or frozen fruit and feel free to substitute with what you have on hand and in your garden.
Ingredients
4 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
2 Cups Smoothie:
1 Cup Frozen Cherries
1 Banana
1 Pear
Water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 and cover cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Make smoothie: Cover frozen cherries with water. Add the rest of the fruit and blend.
- Mix smoothie with the rest of the ingredients to form a sticky dough.
- Form dough into balls about 1 or 2 inches in diameter. Place them on parchment paper and flatten to about ¼ inch thick. Do not worry about being exact. They will not rise or expand so fit them close together.
- Bake for 15 minutes and let cool. Store in fridge or freezer.
Notes
Wet hands while forming the dough balls will help keep the dough from sticking to you too much.
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