Eat these cookies!

Take-Along Breakfast Cookies

This is a recipe I got from Iris Tate a long while back. I made them a time or two and then forgot about them, till recently. Now that I have TWO kids in every-day school, both of them needing morning recess snacks and Lily needing a lunch from home, I started digging around for the various healthy, tasty make-ahead meals and treats I had stashed recipes for all these years. Don't be put off by the bizarre ingredient list for these cookies - they ARE cookies, they ARE delicious, and just so happen to be a pretty worthwhile, healthful, nutrient-packed snack for kids on the go. The kids ask for these, make an "awwww, man!" sound when we're out of them, and never EVER leave them uneaten in their school bags. So, without further ado, the recipe:

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Take-Along Breakfast Cookies

2/3 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. 100% whole wheat pastry flour (OK, other whole wheat flour works too, but the pastry flour makes SUCH nice cookies)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 c. rolled oats (regular or quick-cooking are both fine)

1/2 c. wheat germ or flax meal

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

6 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

3/4 c. chopped-up dried apricots

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Add flour, salt, and soda; mix well. Add oats and wheat germ; mix well. Fold in cheese, bacon, and dried apricots. Roll dough into balls and place 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely, then package 1-2 cookies per individual snack ziplocs to grab on your way out.