First, I call these "Breakfast Cookies" although the recipe was given to me as "Power Cookies". For those who know me know I. Hate. Mornings. Despise them. Always have. Now with little ones keeping me up at night it's even worse. I have NEVER been one to get up and cook a hot meal for breakfast. Yuck. Cold cereal is the only thing served in my house at that time of day. L.J. used to get after me about that a lot. He said he loved having pancakes and waffles for breakfast every morning growing up and thought that I should be doing that for our kids.
Well, finally I challenged him on the nutritional value of our different versions of breakfast. I am very particular about the kind of breakfast cereals I buy. No junk. Right now I have Honey-Nut Cheerios, Fruity Cheerios, Frosted Mini-Wheats and Honey Bunches of Oats. That's pretty typical for us. Sweet enough to get the kids to eat it while having some nutrients. (For those who think I spend a fortune on these cereals also need to know that I'm an avid coupon shopper and buy them only on sale WITH a coupon). HIS breakfast contains nothing more than white flour topped with sugar. Oh yea, I won that battle.
So, I LOVE these cookies. They are so easy to make and easy for the kids to grab and eat as they run out the door on a late morning or have a good snack ready when they come home from school. First the version as it was given to me:
POWER COOKIES
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 envelope (1-1/4 oz.) vanilla instant breakfast drink mix (I use Carnation brand)
1 egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4-1/2 cups granola cereal with raisins, divided (I use Quaker Natural Granola because I can buy it at Costco. It's also at Wal-mart)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, instant breakfast mix and egg until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon; beat until thoroughly combined. Add 3 cups of the cereal; beat until well-mixed. Place remaining 1-1/2 cups of cereal in a shallow dish, breaking up the larger pieces. Form the batter into 1-inch balls and roll in the cereal, coating completely. Place on cookie sheets 2 inches apart and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until firm and light golden. Makes about 2 dozen.
My variations:
Since I'm all about having as few as steps as possible, I didn't really like rolling in the extra granola. They were very crumbly too and granola was always all over the counter. So I started putting 3-1/2 cups of granola into the batter then just scooping out into balls. Works great. I've also used chocolate flavor for the instant breakfast drink mix because for some reason, vanilla is a little hard to find here. It tasted just as good.
Now on to my new favorite cookie. My friend Kathie emailed me this recipe last week and I have made them 3 times already. They are perfect for this time of year and any time of year if you ask me. They are very similar to my all time favorite pumpkin bread recipe and so easy to make for a quick pumpkin fix. Love it!
EASY PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES
Ingredients:
2 boxes Spice cake mix
1 (29 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
1 pkg chocolate chips, or/and 1 cup walnuts, raisins, pecans (optional)
1 cup cream cheese frosting (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheets with Pam. Mix the cake mix and canned pumpkin until blended; mix in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes (hard to overcook, they just get crispy). Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. I used a medium scoop and it made approx 6 dozen. Frost with the cream cheese frosting if they last long enough to.
I love how easy these are; no measuring, no eggs. Just dump, stir & scoop.
ENJOY!!
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