Staying Healthy During the Holiday Season: Sweet Cherry Breakfast Cookies

This recipe and blog post is sponsored by Northwest Cherries.

It’s the most wonderful time of year – and also one of the busiest!

I always see my clients start to slip up this time of the year. While I am all about enjoying the holidays to the fullest, you don’t need to abandon all of your healthy habits. With parties, gatherings and happy hours, breakfast is a great time to stay consistent with you healthy habits.

Enter: sweet cherry breakfast cookies!

These breakfast cookies are great for preparing on the weekend to grab and go during the busy holiday season week. They are made with slow digesting whole grain oats, walnuts (hello, omega-3 fats) and no-sugar added dried Northwest Cherries preserved from the summer.

The holidays are a perfect time to unleash the goodness locked into preserved sweet cherries to help stay in peak health during the busy season. Yes, sweet cherries are a seasonal summer fruit but they can be part of a healthy diet year-round. Not to mention their red color is super festive and appropriate for the holiday season.

Some of the benefits of cherries include:

Natural healthy sweetness to your healthy holiday recipes: Sweet cherries add natural sweetness and boast a lower glycemic index than almost any other fruit which means they release glucose slowly and evenly into the blood stream. This makes you feel full longer, prevents those spikes and dips in energy and may even help with weight management.

They help you get your Zzz’s: Sleep is so important – especially during the busy holiday months. To help prevent burnout, it’s important to get your recommended 7-8 hours of sleep. Studies suggest that cherries are a natural source of melatonin which helps control your body’s internal clock and regulate sleep patterns.

Can’t forget fiber! The average American consumes only 15 grams of fiber per day and the USDA dietary guidelines recommends aiming for at least 25-30 grams. Eating cherries can not only help you meet your fiber goals, you are also meeting one of two servings of fruit for the day.