I don’t know about where you live, but here in Maryland we have just gotten our first glimpse of fall.

This past week overnight temps hovered in the mid-60s, and daytime highs were just around the upper 70s. Dry, clear blue skies, and the beginnings of leaves drifting out of the tops of trees.

I am predicting it here, though: we are in for a big winter. Lots of cold and snow.

This may be dire news for you, but I am here to console you with breakfast cookies. I like a warm, good-smelling house in the fall, and I also like an easy and comforting breakfast in the morning. If we were all rushing off to work and school as in the past, these would be an ideal way to get some food in you on a busy morning, too.

You can also tell yourself that these are good for you – there is very little added sugar, and really, less than that doughnut or French toast you may have been having.

Plus, even though we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, these breakfast cookies are portable bundles of goodness. These days I like to take them with me on hikes. Quick and easy nutrition that’s not filled with preservatives.

And, in the spirit of my Depression-era grandmother, you can use whatever you have on hand for these, pretty much. Make your own granola (Best Granola Recipe included in Recipe Notes), or finish up the dregs of multiple boxes of breakfast cereal, whatever kind you like.

They are simple and ready in about 15 minutes, start to finish.

Breakfast Cookies

This recipe makes 12-14 cookies. I portion them with an ice cream scoop and freeze. Pop them in a preheated oven and you have fresh cookies in 12 minutes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable/canola oil

2/3 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups flour (see Recipe Notes)

3 cups cereal (granola, multigrain flakes, anything you like – see Recipe Notes)

Method

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking tray with parchment (or silicon sheet) and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oil and brown sugar and whisk to combine.

Add baking soda and eggs and give it a sturdy whisking until the mixture lightens slightly.

Add flour and mix well with a spatula, the add cereal and mix well with same spatula until well-combined.

Scoop onto a cookie sheet (ice cream scoop works here, or use two heaping tablespoons per cookie). Flatten slightly.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until brown and set. Cool on the pan for one minute, then move to a wire rack and cool completely. OR eat them warm, which is what I do because they smell so good when they are cooking that I cannot wait.

Recipe Notes

Best Granola Ever: Preheat oven to 250. Line baking sheets with parchment. Combine 3 cups oats, 2 cups nuts, 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes in a bowl. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt, then pour over oat mixture and stir to combine. Spread on cookie sheets and bake for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add 1 cup dried fruit, any kind, mixing well. THAT’S IT. Substitute any kind of nut or dried fruit, add spices (cinnamon, clove, pumpkin pie spice, etc). Whatever you like.

Feel free to use any flour that floats your boat here, literally. I use my gluten-free AP flour, but I have also used oat and, when still eating gluten, wheat flour. They all work.

As for cereal, use the Best Granola Ever from above, or add literally any other kind of cereal you can imagine. Go as trashy or as healthy as you like.

MAKE THESE VEGAN: Use whatever egg replacer you normally use to replace the two eggs here.