No-Bake Breakfast Cookies

Happy Friday! It's so wonderful to be posting on my blog again. It's been, what, two months since my last post?!
I'll give you a little idea of the things that have been consuming my time and driving me slightly insane:

• I recently moved out of my father's house and into my own apartment with my absolute best friend from high school, two states away, in New York! Growing up is rough, but I'm glad to be on my own. Change is a good thing, right? And not only do I live in the beautiful state of New Yawk again, I now live only 2 1/2 hours away from my mother, rather than eight hours!
• My car was almost completely worthless, and just about three paychecks and a week in the shop later... it's drive-able again!
• My grandmother passed away right before I left Ohio, and I spent three weeks with my beautiful mother and my family members (who I hadn't seen in almost 2 years).
• I've been job searching and filling out so many job applications, I think my brain may just explode if I see another one... But I did get an interview at a bakery, and I'm very excited about it!
• The weather here has been teasing me, it's spring one day and then snows 6 inches the next... I can't wait for the real spring!

Despite all of these things, I am back and more than happy to be here again!

Anyway, no-bake breakfast cookies... because there are days that I wake up and actually only want cookies and brownies for breakfast and I'm realizing that it may not be the best idea to give into that all the time. And that's where these cookies come in.

I spent a lot of time searching for recipes for no-bake breakfast cookies and never really found anything that sounded so good I felt like I had to be in the kitchen right now making them. I remembered my recipe for no-bake cranberry almond granola bites and turned it into these cute little healthy, delicious, and guilt-free no-bake breakfast cookies. This time, I used chunky peanut butter and chopped walnuts, rather than almonds. So delicious!

No-Bake Breakfast Cookies
Author: Herbivore Haven
Makes: About 10 Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey OR maple syrup

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, add the rolled oats, dried cranberries, chopped almonds, and ground flax seeds. Mix until just combined; set aside.
2. Add the honey and natural peanut butter to a small bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds to soften. (If using maple syrup, only soften the peanut butter)
3. Add the softened honey or maple syrup and peanut butter to the dry ingredients and mix until the oats are coated.
4. Chill the granola mixture for about 30 minutes.
5. Roll the granola mixture into cookie forms, making each cookie the desired size. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.