California Fig & Pecan Breakfast Cookies
Who doesn’t love cookies? These easy breakfast cookies incorporate wholesome ingredients for a delicious way to start the day. If you can’t find almond flour, you can try using almond meal. Instead of Scottish oats, you could also use rolled oats to make these breakfast cookies.
California Fig & Pecan Breakfast Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
- 1 1/4 cups (140 g) almond flour
- 6 tablespoons (72 g) coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (36 g) Scottish oatmeal
- 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) light olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (160 g) stemmed, chopped Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Mission Figs
- 1/2 cup (55 g) chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup (50 g) chopped bittersweet chocolate
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper or silpat liners.
- Whisk together the almond flour, coconut sugar, oatmeal, flaxseed meal, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together the oil, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, and then fold in the figs, pecans, and chocolate.
- Use a 1 1/2-tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough and roll it into balls. Arrange the balls of dough on the cookie trays (I bake 12 cookies per large baking tray), slightly flatten each ball, and bake until they’re golden on the bottom, about 8 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway through.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the trays before removing with a thin metal spatula.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container layered between parchment paper for up to 2 days, and then store them in the fridge for up to 5 days more. (Serving Tip: After they’ve been refrigerated I like to heat them in in a toaster oven before serving.)
Recipe and photo Faith Gorsky
New Year, New Outlook: Healthy Comfort Foods with California Figs
As you’re pulling together your resolutions or goals for healthy living in 2018, we’re thinking differently about the whole process. Rather than a New Year, New You idea, we wanted to rethink what constitutes comfort food. All month long on social media, we will be sharing ideas for nourishing foods that you can feel good about eating and are comforting, featuring our Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid California Figs.
Comfort foods don’t have to be the over-the-top decadent dishes we’ve come to expect–try a bowl of creamy steel-cut oats with honeyed California Figs for breakfast and you’ll know what we mean when we say healthy comfort foods! Join us for a live cooking demo of “Cooking with California Figs” with Suzy of the Mediterranean Dish on January 20 at 9a PT over on our Facebook Page where she will show you an easy recipe for a chicken grain bowl with our California Mission Figs. Do you have a favorite healthier comfort food with figs? Tell us all about it on Facebook or Twitter.
Nutrition Tips and Tid-Bits
Mindful Eating
Healthy eating is not just about what you eat, but also how you eat. Mindful eating is something you can do to bring your focus back to the food you are eating.
What is mindful eating?
- Choosing food you enjoy that nourishes your body, such as Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Figs.
- Tuning into all your senses to find pleasure in your food–smelling, chewing, tasting, swallowing, and savoring each bite. Savor the earthy, sweet smell of the figs; the chewy, delightfully crunchy seeds; and the sweet, natural flavors.
- Being aware of your level of hunger and fullness.
Most people don’t think about, or even enjoy, the taste of what they eat. They are simply focused on the next bite, on finishing the meal and moving onto something else, or are distracted by what is happening in their environment—the TV, computer, driving, reading, texting.
Tips for eating mindfully:
- Your brain has time to register that you are full, which takes about 20 minutes.
- It can help reduce overeating.
- It improves the whole experience of eating.
Each time you eat, sit down and eat slowly and mindfully. Learn how to enjoy every bite of food—especially those Orchard Choice and Sun-Maid California Figs—so you feel both physically and mentally satisfied at the end of the meal.
