Candy-coated Chocolate-covered Sunflower Seed + Oatmeal Cookies

One thing I enjoy probably as much as baking is traveling. In the last year and a half I've made my way through a decent number of East coast cities—Philadelphia, New York and Boston to name a few—and am often planning out my next adventures: the West coast, the South, Italy, France, England.... Even a small trip to Chicago accelerates my pulse, which is where the inspiration and possibility of these cookies enter.

A few suburbs out of the city, I stayed with a friend, C. She and I have been friends for years, having gone to grade school together. After a truly delicious breakfast at Egg'lectic Cafe (get the blueberry granola pancakes with raspberry sauce; the sauce is essential and oh so good), we did some shopping at Target and Trader Joe's. It was my first Trader Joe's outing and I was internally going through posts from other bloggers about their favorite things to purchase. Right as I was turning to leave, my eye caught a brightly colored plastic container. Candy coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds. They had to be mine.

While perfectly delicious on their own, I wanted to throw these happy seeds into a baking project. Cookies seemed the most logical choice, so I got to work combining the totally healthy seeds with totally healthy oatmeal. These guys are a healthy breakfast snack, basically.

These cookies are slightly chewy and studded with pastel colored seeds for a little hidden surprise. I found myself eating three in under two minutes, so make sure to share these with friends. Or get ready to eat breakfast all day long. There's no shame in that.

Candy Coated Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seed + Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup candy coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking pan.
Blend butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add egg an vanilla and mix until incorporated. In separate bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into wet batter. Stir in sunflower seeds.
Roll out walnut sized balls of dough and place onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cookies cool on cooling rack.

Categories: chocolate, cookies, oats