Last night, I had the urge to bake something healthy and a couple of ripe bananas that needed using up. I threw together some ingredients and boom…healthy cookies! Not too sweet, whole grain, with fruit and vegan(depending on your sweetener) to boot.
Banana Oatmeal Healthy Cookies (makes 12 big cookies)
These healthy cookies have a limited amount of added sugars, and no added fats. Think of them as a great granola bar substitute for a snack on the go. Enjoy crumbled over yogurt, or try with a thick schmear of almond butter or peanut butter.
Wet Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas mashed
1 tbsp ground flax seeds or chia seeds, mixed with 3 tbsp warm water(stir together to form a gel-this acts as your egg)
1/3 cup honey, maple syrup or agave
2 tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup oats(not quick cooking)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour(can use reg. whole wheat but cookies will be denser)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Optional add-ins to equal 2/3 cup: chocolate chips and/or dried fruit and/or shredded coconut and/or nuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix wet ingredients and add in dry ingredients(I added the dry ingredients on top and stirred them together before incorporating to the wet ingredients to prevent dirtying another bowl). Stir to combine, but don’t over-mix. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-17 minutes or until bottom of cookies is golden brown and cookies appear firm to touch.
Let me know if you try this recipe and what you think! But know that they definitely taste “healthy”, not like a traditional cookie.
In other news…I caught Food Network’s The Worst Cooks in America and my boyfriend and I had quite the chuckle watching all the contestants in the kitchen. It got me thinking of my own kitchen mishaps. Back when I first started baking, I was so excited to make peanut butter and jelly muffins. The batter looked delicious but as they were baking an awful smell was coming from the oven. I had accidentally sprayed the muffin pan with garlic flavored cooking spray. Into the garbage they went. Has anyone else had a funny screw up in the kitchen? I know I can’t be the only one.
Those sound awesome for a “healthier” snack. I will have to try them next time I have ripe bananas.
When our friend moved away from Boston she left us her last bag of beer bread mix. All you do is mix it with 12 oz of beer, drizzle some melted butter on top and let it bake. Easy right? Well the butter overflowed when the bread started rising and it smoked up our entire kitchen. The smoke detector kept going off no matter how hard we tried to clear out the room. You definitely aren’t alone in your kitchen mishaps!
Haha, that sounds awful!! Hopefully your bread making endeavors are more successful now. And duly noted, I shall not top my bread with butter until after I remove it from the oven!
I was making pumpkin cheesecake filling in the blender. when I removed the blender from the stand, the bottom fell out (I think I had inadvertently loosened it) and there flowed all my beautiful filling on to the counter and floor…happy thanksgiving to me.