Sesame Date Breakfast Cookies
I whole-heartedly support the idea of a cookie for breakfast. Or a slice of pie. Or a small sliver of chocolate cake. You have the rest of the day to pile your plate with veggies. Let’s make sure those first few moments of the day are good ones. Sweet ones.
I have an unusual predilection for eating on-the-go. It’s strange because I am so rarely on-the-go or in a rush. Truth be told, I have all the time in the world for most things. I leisurely wake up before my alarm each morning, wander out to the garden to touch my seedlings (it makes their stems stronger, truly), then come back in to boil some water for tea and enjoy the sunrise.
Part of the reason I feel so comfortable in my house (or my ‘nest’ as my friends and family call it) is that it faces East. Every sunrise feels like a show put on just for me.
After pondering which tea I might like to sip this morning, I slowly wash my face and get ready for work. I check my email and before I know it, it’s time to go to work! Where did the morning go?! I secretly enjoy that panicked moment—like I’m some sort of important business woman that is running late for a meeting. The only thing waiting for me at work is more plants. I spend my days nurturing other people’s plants and missing my own the way teachers nurture other people’s children and yearn to be home with their own.
I love to grab a quick breakfast and eat in the car. I even like to sip the last of my tea out of the original mug in the car—I don’t have time for to-go cups! I’m going to be late! There’s a bus stop on County Road 27 and I judge how late I am by the state of the bus: Is it idling and waiting for the exact time to open the doors? Or, is she long gone, slowly loping down the road with a load of kiddos? I can’t fake the feeling of being in a rush for long, because if I get stuck behind the bus, I don’t mind a bit. On either side of our resting place is an alfalfa field with dancing yellow butterflies (they’re actually pests, but beautiful pests) and a corn field drying down. If you’ve never spent time in a corn field, let me warn you, a corn field is full of bizarre air movement. On a completely still day you will see leaves moving as if there’s a gust of wind that only they can feel. In my garden, sometimes the top leaves of the corn spin wildly as the sun goes down as if they’re protesting the fading light. It’s a strange sensation to watch so much motion when there is no affect on your own skin.
I call these breakfast cookies because they are made of whole grains and use only honey for sweetness. They are delicious any time of day, although I think they taste best when eaten with a false sense of urgency…while watching yellow butterflies and corn stalks sway, but I couldn’t exactly put that in my recipe, now could I?
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoons canola (or grapeseed) oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 large egg white
- 3 large juicy Medjool dates, chopped
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together with a spatula the butter and honey. Once the mixture is thoroughly combined, add the egg white and oil and stir vigorously. Add the chopped dates and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and sprinke over the rolled oats. Fold together without over-mixing.
- Scoop 2-3 tablespoons of dough for each cookie and place on a cookie sheet. Then, with damp fingers, press the cookies out flat and sprinkle sesame seeds on each cookie.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating the sheet half-way through. They should be golden brown and puffed when they are done. Let cool slightly before moving to a cooling rack and serving.
Wow, Christina, wow! Your writing was SO descriptive, I felt like I was seeing everything over your shoulder. Great post and great philosophy on breakfast — and life!
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Lovely post! My house faces the east too! Thank you for this breakfast cookies recipe, by the ingredients, I know I’ll love them. Have a great day
Hugs
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Delicious! Even though I’d already made my oatmeal when i read this I went ahead and made these, too. Thank you!
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This is the kind of thing that I love to eat for breakfast although I’m usually in a rush in the morning because I’ve pressed snooze one too many times
This was a lovely piece of writing.
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I’ll take 45.
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Sounds like the perfect sort of sweet breakfast option to me! Nice and portable too, so how can you go wrong?
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I really like this recipe concept. Beautiful writing too, Christina.
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At first I thought the title was “Sesame Date Night Breakfast Cocktail” and I thought you must be livin’ the life we all dream about. GREG
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You had me at cookies for breakfast:-)
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This is my favorite post you’ve written since I started reading your blog. Lovely, so lovely! The writing and the recipe. I’m not just saying that because you condone cookies for breakfast either – that didn’t hurt though!
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I love making healthified desserts for breakfast!
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Beautifully written, I was laughing at the part where you said you checked your email and then before you knew it you were late! How does that always happen? Email and the internet has a way of making time fly.
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Love this post. I need an excuse to stop by your neck of the woods just so I can be a houseguest!
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I would love 12 of these cookies for breakfast! I like the sound of the sesame seeds with the dates, that sounds so good.
My Dad told me a story about eating fresh dates when he was growing up in California, I will have to share this recipe with my Mom so he can try them.
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What a beautiful description of your mornings. I wish that I would wake up before my alarm, and actually enjoy my mornings. I am always pretty rushed, from the moment I get out of bed until the moment I leave for work.
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A terrific recipe and your post was poetry…what a joy to read!
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One of the things I love about reading food blogs is seein the gorgeous pictures people take and getting ideas for my own. I absolutely love the picture here! Makes me feel like I’m sitting at your breakfast table with you. Wish I was- the cookies look and sound delicious- and amazingly healthy!
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Yum! First of all, I love that you use dates in them. (love, love dates). And secondly, I’ll say yes to cookies for breakfast any day of the week!
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I loved this post! I wish I could leisurely wake up in the morning. I feel like I have to drag my dead-tired body out of bed every morning, no matter how much sleep I get! Funny… that we both talked about dessert for breakfast almost on the same day
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So beautiful! I love your story and I’m sure the cookies are just as amazing. I wish I could be a morning person but I hate the morning…. I’m always so tired! Thank you for sharing
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I love sesame seeds- especially those candies that are pure sugar and sesames. This definitely look healthier!
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Ok, I just had to share with you something that made me laugh – I was looking through my blog roll of posts I haven’t read, and at first glance thought the title of yours said “second date breakfast cookies”!
Of course, after looking at it more closely I saw what it actually said. These look delicious!
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Beautifully written. I feel more relaxed just reading this…oh, wait I must go tend to some important matter…haha, j/k…good for you for being so calm…we could use more people like you in the world.
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Great recipe! Will be linking back to this in my post tomorrow.
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Christina Reply:
August 26th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Aw, thanks, Marla! Go right ahead
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