I Made Jennifer Garner’s Breakfast Cookies and—Wow, Why Haven’t I Tried Them Sooner?!

So long, sad, soggy cereal

Author image: Candace Davison, PureWow vice president of editorial content

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Published Feb 9, 2026

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jennifer garner and her breakfast cookies that i tested

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Jennifer Garner’s turn in 13 Going on 30 made her America’s Sweetheart; years later, the launch of her Pretend Cooking Show, where she bakes family recipes and dishes she’s found online, cemented her status as a national treasure. (How Food Network hasn’t convinced her to launch a show is beyond me.)

In her Instagram show’s early days, she tried her hand at New York eatery Sarabeth’s Breakfast Cookies. Naturally, they immediately caught my attention: Cookies? For breakfast? Who wouldn’t want that?

Sadly, it’s taken me five years to actually try them, after she recently uploaded the episode to her YouTube channel, and FOMF—Fear of Missing Food—kicked in.

I dashed to my kitchen to round up the ingredients and got to baking. At first, I was hesitant: With all of the shredded wheat and rolled oats, would these taste like sugar-coated cardboard, rolled in hay? Was the “cookies” part simply clever marketing?

But, now that I’ve tried them, I’m so glad I did. I’ll be baking a second batch soon, largely because it’s the best use of shredded wheat I’ve come across (fibermaxxing is so hot right now, after all). Also, though, because they’re that darn good.

What Does It Take to Make These Breakfast Cookies?

This is a delightfully easy recipe to whip up, in line with any classic chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie. The hardest part is smashing up the shredded wheat—which you could quickly do in a blender or food processor. If you don’t have either appliance, you can smash them in your hands, like Garner does, or stick them in a resealable plastic bag and crush them with a wooden spoon or rolling pin.

The recipe, as it’s written, calls for a lot of dishes to be dirtied, which I’m not sure is necessary. First, you mix the dry ingredients in one bowl (pretty standard). Then, you use a second bowl to rub vanilla and lemon zest into the two types of sugar. OK. Then it calls for a third bowl, which you use to whip the butter, then beat in the sugar mixture and, eventually, the eggs, before adding in the flour mixture.

jennifer garner cookies: mixing sugar and lemon zest

I get the idea that rubbing the zest and vanilla into the sugar helps infuse the flavor a bit more, but since the sugars are almost immediately added to the butter mixture, it doesn’t make that big of a difference flavor-wise. If you’re short on mixing bowls, you could simply mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, set it aside, then use a second bowl to cream the butter, sugars, lemon zest and vanilla, rather than separating that out into two separate bowls. (Though, admittedly, rubbing in the lemon zest is a satisfying tactile experience, almost like playing with kinetic sand, and it does make your kitchen smell lovely.)

What Makes Them Breakfast Cookies Anyway?

While there’s a decent amount of sugar in these treats—1 ½ cups total, which is half brown sugar, half superfine sugar—it veers from the straight-dessert category with its mix of all-purpose flour, wheat flour, rolled oats and crushed shredded wheat. This makes them heartier and more filling overall.

baked with and without chocolate chips (Photo: Candace Davison)

So, How Do They Taste?

If you’re a fan of Tate’s cookies, you’ll love these. They’re more on the chewy-crispy end of the spectrum than pillowy and gooey, which makes them great for eating on the go—or dipping into coffee or tea as you ease into the day. The lemon zest really comes through, creating a bright, lightly spiced cookie with just a slight hint of coconut.

I tried it as is, and with the optional addition of dark chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips. The mini chips disappeared into the dough, getting lost in the lemon-y, oatmeal flavor. Larger dark chocolate chips (I used Toll House, which has bigger chips than their semisweet variety) cut through the flavor, adding a decadent touch to the treats. That said, these are just sweet enough and pack enough flavor that you really don’t need the chocolate.

They were satisfying and filling—a far better way to start the day than my usual bowl of cereal or yogurt cup.

Even stored in a sealed container, the cookies were rock hard by day three. So, I broke two up and stirred them into my yogurt. Wow. It softened them just so, and infused the yogurt with a subtle, lemon-y sweetness that was both refreshing and felt like the perfect lil’ treat to start my day on a high note. I found myself looking forward to using up every last morsel that way, and plan on making another batch next week.

GET THE RECIPE

Candace Davison

VP of editorial content

Oversees home, food and commerce articles
Author of two cookbooks and has contributed recipes to three others
Named one of 2023's Outstanding Young Alumni at the University of South Florida, where she studied mass communications and business

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