Easy Breakfast Cookies Kids and Grown-Ups Can Agree On

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Whether your kids are attending school in-person or virtually, or you’re following a hybrid model, there’s one thing we all have in common: The kids still need to eat breakfast. (OK, yeah, you could let them buy breakfast at school, but then you have to get them to school even earlier! I’ll opt for the speedy breakfast at home over getting them out of the house 15 minutes earlier any day, thank you.)

So, back to my main point, a quick breakfast you and your kids can agree on is priceless when the laid-back days of summer come to an end — and I can tell you that from experience, because our “summer” ended three weeks ago. While my kids will never turn down a frozen pastry drizzled with icing, that’s not what I want to fill their bellies with five mornings a week. (I’m not above doing it a couple of times, I’ll be honest!) I had big dreams of serving them whole-grain muffins filled with vegetables and green smoothies loaded with nutrients, sure. But then my kids were actually born.

Here we are, seven years into this parenting gig and I’m tasked with providing them with food that won’t rot their teeth yet doesn’t taste like cardboard. And I’ve concluded breakfast cookies are the perfect solution. You can make them with nuts and dried fruit; there are even recipes that call for pureed veggies the kids will never suspect.

Our very favorite recipe, though, is filled with peanut butter, chocolate and oats. The kids love that they’re allowed to have a little chocolate first thing in the morning, and I love that they can eat breakfast while tying their shoes or finishing up the previous night’s math worksheet. (Don’t judge.) The bananas and honey help hold everything together while adding sweetness and nutrients, and you’ll dirty only one bowl in the process.

I’ll whip up a batch of these “cookies” early in the week, using ingredients I always have on hand, and get us started on the right foot. Because if we have to go back to school when it still feels like summer outside, we should at least have a little fun at the same time.