I stopped buying my yummy frozen breakfasts a couple of months ago because we’re trying to improve the ol’ bottom line around here. Cereal is fine, but I’ve been noticing (horror of horrors) that I like sweet things less and less. Isn’t that terrible? I’ve never been able to eat and drink sweets together; for example I couldn’t drink soda pop and eat a cookie.  Bleh.

Now it’s extending to sweets in general. Cereals seem too much, even the yummy organic cranberry one I found a while back. It’s fantastic, and I occasionally have it for a snack.  But first thing in the morning? No can do.

I happened to buy a box of the Quaker breakfast cookies (it was super cheap, so I thought I’d try) a while back and we all liked them. I’m not willing to pay regular price all the time though, so I pulled out a recipe I’d made once years ago.

It took a couple of tries to get it just right, but I’m very pleased with the result. Here’s the recipe:

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 and 1/2 cups quick oats
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup instant dry milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
approximately 1 and 1/4 cup pie filling (I used peach)

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Drop by 1/8 cupfuls onto cookie sheet, flatten into circle with slight indentation in center. Top with a rounded tablespoon of pie filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes on pan, transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Makes 18 cookies.

Note: the original recipe called for using 1/4 cup to measure out the dough but that was too huge in my opinion. Feel free to do what you like. They rise and spread while baking; I was only able to fit 9 on a sheet safely.

You can make these in advance and store in the refrigerator, and can change the flavor by using different pie filling.

This post was written for the Works For Me Wednesday blog carnival.  For more WFMW posts, go to We are THAT family.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who want to make their own breakfast cookies.