Healthy Golden Flax Breakfast Cookies -- Because Ba-Ba Deserves Something Good at the Table

Pearl is three weeks old and Michael has decided she is acceptable. Not wonderful — acceptable. He arrived at this decision after a process that involved throwing cornbread, refusing greens (for the first time in his life, a crisis I treated with the seriousness it deserved), hiding Devon's shoes, and sitting in the corner of the living room with his arms crossed and his bottom lip out in a position that I can only describe as "the Henderson Pout," which is a genetic trait that Earl Jr. had at that age and that Earl himself had when I served him turkey neck greens instead of pork.

The breakthrough came on Saturday. I had both of them — Michael and Pearl. Kayla needed sleep. Devon needed sleep. The babies needed na-na. Pearl was in the bouncy seat on the table, doing what three-week-old babies do, which is exist beautifully and occasionally cry. Michael was in his high chair, eating grits, watching Pearl with the suspicious focus of a cat observing a new household object.

Pearl made a sound. Not a cry — a coo. The soft, involuntary sound that newborns make when their bodies are doing things their brains haven't authorized. Michael looked at Pearl. Pearl looked at nothing (three-week-old babies don't focus, they just broadcast). Michael said, "Ba-ba." He has never said "ba-ba" before. "Ba" is watermelon. "Ba-ba" is... something else. Something new. Something that his twenty-three-month-old brain invented for the small, loud, newly-arrived person in the bouncy seat.

I said, "That's right, Michael. That's baby. That's Pearl. She's your sister." He looked at me. He looked at Pearl. He said, "Ba-ba." And then he held out his spoon — his grits spoon, his most prized possession, the utensil he fights for at every meal — and he pointed it toward Pearl. He was offering her grits. He was sharing his grits with his three-week-old sister, who cannot eat grits, who cannot hold a spoon, who cannot do anything except exist and coo. But the offering was real. The offering was love in the language of a toddler who has figured out that the new person is not a threat. The new person is a ba-ba. And ba-bas get grits.

I did not cry. I have cried at every milestone in this family for ten years and I am trying to ration the tears. But I wrote it in the journal. "Michael offered Pearl grits. The treaty is peace."

Now go on and feed somebody.

That Saturday morning at the table — Michael with his grits spoon outstretched toward Pearl — reminded me that breakfast is where this family does its most important work. So naturally I went looking for something I could set out on that same table, something Michael could hold in his hand and feel proud of, something that honors the ritual of feeding people you love first thing in the morning. These Healthy Golden Flax Breakfast Cookies are exactly that: simple, golden, good for little hands, and worthy of being offered to a ba-ba.

Healthy Golden Flax Breakfast Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 14 minutes | Total Time: 24 minutes | Servings: 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup golden flaxseed meal
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 ripe medium bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/3 cup natural creamy almond butter
• 3 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the rolled oats, golden flaxseed meal, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until evenly combined.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, almond butter, honey (or maple syrup), melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract until smooth and well incorporated.
4. Combine. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until a thick, uniform dough forms. Fold in the raisins or dried cranberries.
5. Portion the cookies. Using a rounded tablespoon or a small cookie scoop, drop portions of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Gently flatten each mound with the back of a spoon — these cookies do not spread much on their own.
6. Bake. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops look just dry. Do not overbake; they firm up as they cool.
7. Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 128 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 17g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 58mg