Sometimes you just need a super easy, grab and go breakfast or snack that’s going to satiate you and keep you going until your next meal, right?
It’s all too easy to go for unhealthy, high sugar, high fat snacks when you are time deprived and that can only further deplete your energy resources. Lucky for you, we have the solution with our delicious, giant spiced breakfast cookies made with blackstrap molasses.
What’s So Good About These Cookies Then?
Let’s take a dive into the nutritional profile of these giant spiced breakfast cookies so you can see for yourself why they are a good start to your busy day.
Blackstrap Molasses
Instead of refined sugars and syrups, we have gone for a more unusual (but healthier) sweetener source in the form of blackstrap molasses.
Molasses is a nutritious by-product of refined white sugar production. Basically, it’s all the good stuff from the sugar cane plant before the refining process removes it, and guess what? It’s FULL of nutrients!
This is why you should be looking to use molasses as your go-to sweetener as much as possible, and definitely instead of other syrups such as maple, agave, honey or brown rice syrup. However, some people may take a while to get used to the flavour profile of molasses, so you need to experiment. Use half molasses and half another kind of sweetener while you are getting used to it, for instance.
Molasses offer the following health benefits:-
- NUTRIENTS – This sugar beet by-product is high in nutrients such as iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and selenium.
- BONE HEALTH – As a good source of magnesium and calcium, molasses when consumed regularly has good nutrients for your bones. This means it may help guard against osteoporosis, improve bone density, and skeletal health over-all, especially when consumed alongside a healthy, plant rich diet.
- HELPS ANEMIA – The high iron content of molasses may help with anemia when consumed regularly.
- GLOWING SKIN – Molasses with all its nutrients is great for skin health, and may help alleviate skin conditions such as acne. It’s also a moisturising food, so very helpful for those who suffer dry skin problems.
- HEART HEALTHY – The molasses in these healthy breakfast cookies is high in potassium, which helps maintain healthy blood pressure levels. This may also help increase your good cholesterol levels, thus lowering risk of heart disease. Again, you would need to consume molasses regularly and in place of your usual sweetener source to really get these potential benefits.
- DIGESTIVE HEALTH – You may find this healthful sweetener helps aid your digestion and keep your regular, promoting over-all gut health.
Oats
Oats are an inexpensive filler that offer a myriad of health benefits, including:-
- NUTRIENTS – Oats are a great way to start your day as they offer LOTS of nutrition in every bite. These nutrients include manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, iron, zinc, folate, and vitamins B1 and B5. Not to mention they are a perfect source of low glycemic carbs for a slow burn of energy throughout your morning, working in harmony with the molasses.
- HIGH FIBRE AND BETA-GLUCANS – Oats and oatmeal are a whole food that is high in fibre and beta-glucans to help keep you regular and FULL.
- ANTIOXIDANTS – Eating your morning oats is a good way to boost your antioxidant and plant phenol content for the day. Oats specifically contain a group of antioxidants called avenanthramides, which help oxidative stress and have anti inflammatory properties.
- CHOLESTEROL LOWERING PROPERTIES – The beta-glucan fibre in oats not only may help lower bad cholesterol, but also help prevent bad cholesterol from oxidation. Oxidation occurs when the bad LDL cholesterol reacts with free radicals, ultimately promoting the progression of potential heart disease.
- IMPROVED BLOOD SUGAR – Oats help to improve your blood sugar due to their beta-glucan fibres forming a think gel in the stomach, which helps delay stomach emptying. This in turn keep your blood sugar more stable over-all.
- WEIGHT LOSS – The beta-glucans in oats that delay stomach emptying also helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer. This means less hunger pangs throughout your morning, and so less need for snacking – all for relatively few calories.
Raisins
Raisins are a super healthy fruit just jam packed with various nutritional benefits, including:-
- ANEMIA – Raisins are high in copper, iron, and B vitamins making them a great way to boost your blood.
- HIGH FIBRE – The high fibre content of raisins makes them great for digestion and regularity.
- HYPERTENSION – Raisins help regulate your blood flow, due to their antioxidants, iron, B vitamins and potassium – all of which may help lower high blood pressure.
- WEIGHT LOSS – Even though dried fruit is generally more concentrated in sugar, its high fibre and whole food content means those sugars are released into the bloodstream much more slowly than regular sugar. This means you won’t be messing with your blood sugar too much, making it less likely for you to want to snack on more sugary foods later on. Check out these other weight loss promoting dried fruits and incorporate them into your diet too.
- DENTAL HEALTH – The phytochemical called oleanolic acid found in raisins offers some good protective benefits against dental issues, including cavities, tooth decay, and the overgrowth of bacteria in your mouth. Their calcium content is also very helpful to the strength of your teeth too.
- BONE HEALTH – Raisins contain both calcium and boron, both of which are needed for strong bones.
- GOOD FOR EYE HEALTH – Raisins contain polyphenolic phytonutrients which are great for eye health and eyesight. These guard against oxidative damage caused by free radicals and can help prevent eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts.
- ENERGY BOOST – Due to raisins being packed with complex, slow release carbs, these giant spiced breakfast cookies are the perfect snack to eat on the go.
Giant Spiced Breakfast Cookies Made With Molasses
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Large baking tray
- Parchment paper or tin foil
Ingredients
- 5 Medjool dates soaked in 3/4 cup warm filtered water for 30 minutes
- 2 cups oat flour make this by whizzing up oats in your blender. Be sure to measure again afterwards as this changes the amount
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2/3rd cup raisins
- 1/3rd cup blackstrap molasses
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 18oC (356F)
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Next make your date paste by blitzing your dates in a blender WITH the soaking water until a smooth paste is formed.
- Add your date paste and molasses to a mixing bowl and stir together with a wooden spoon. Next add the rest of your ingredients into the same bowl and combine evenly and thoroughly.
- You will now need to roughly split your mix into 8 sections whilst still in the mixing bowl. You can do this by flattening the mix down to the bottom of the bowl, then taking a knife and slicing a rough split through it into 8.
- Grab a section of your cookie mix and roll it into a ball between your palms. Then squish down quite firmly to form a cookie shape of about 1cm thick. Lay gently on your lined tray. Continue to do the same with the rest of your cookie mix, leaving about an inch gap between each cookie.
- Bake just above the middle of your oven for 17-18 minutes, or until golden.
- Remove cookies from oven and leave to cool slightly before using a spatula or fish slice to gently remove from their tray. Place on a wire cooling wrack. Once completely cool, relocate to in an air-tight container and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
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We hope you LOVE our giant spiced breakfast cookies made with healthy blackstrap molasses as much as we do.
If so, please feel free to share this recipe with your friends and help spread the plant based love.
Together we can bring about a plant based revolution!
