Saved by the blender

There are some kitchen appliances that I cannot picture my life without (besides the given oven/fridge/microwave). And by some I really mean one.

My blender.

It's used daily for my morning smoothies and today it literally saved me from not baking. Yes my friends, my blender actually HELPED me procrastibake ;).

No eggs? Substitute with ground flax seed and water!

No flour? Substitute with ground oats!

Brown sugar has dried into one large rock-ish clump? The blender has got that covered!

Today I tried my hand at breakfast cookies from the blog How Sweet It Is. But I ended up making a lot of substitutions/alterations that made them healthier.

ground flax and water for eggs

applesauce for butter

pumpkin seeds for chocolate chips

oat flour for pasty flour

dried cranberries, soaked in hot water for 10 min for dried cherries

decreased the honey (they are still plenty sweet though!)

increased the cinnamon

But don't worry...I didn't skimp out on the peanut butter. I do have an addiction, after all :P.

These cookies were really easy to make. Mix wet ingredients, add dry ingredients and stir all together!

Bake at 350F for 10ish minutes. They don't really flatten out but have a nice texture to them still.

Give them a try! With or without the substitutions. They are officially one of my favourite feel-good snacks :)

Healthy Vegan Breakfast Cookies (modified from HowSweetEats.com)

• 1 tbsp flax seed, (2 1/2 tbsp ground) + 3 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 medium ripe banana, mashed
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp peanut butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups oat flour (ground oats)
• 1 cup oats
• 2 tbsp flax seed, ground
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 dried cranberries, soaked in hot water 10-15 min

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine 1 tbsp flax seed and 3 tbsp water as the egg substitute. Let soak at least 5 minutes until gel-like in consistency.

Mash the banana in a medium-sized bowl. Add flax seed/water combo, sugar, vanilla, honey, applesauce and melted peanut butter. Mix well.

Add oat flour, oats, 2 tbsp ground flax seed, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir in with wet ingredients. Drain the cranberries and add to mixture, along with pumpkin seeds.

Drop dollops of batter onto baking sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.

Let cool. Enjoy!