Healthy and easy banana oat "cookies"

Hello, fresh new week!  The past week was a busy one.  Not only did we have Easter and the excitement of the Easter Bunny's visit, the little one was also home on a truncated spring break.  He had only three days off from school because of all those snow days but we managed to sneak off for a quick road trip to Boston before coming home and attending the beautiful wedding of friends over the weekend.  

When we got home from our short trip, I had very little groceries on hand.  I don't know about you but I feel like I go grocery shopping constantly.  In reality, it's more like 2-3 times a week (at least) and I've just come to accept it.  It's really amazing how, one minute, the fridge is stocked and loaded down but then you turn around, and it's practically empty!  

Banana-oat "cookies: Made with just banana and quick oats, then mixed with: mini choc chips, peanut butter and strawberry jam, and just chunky peanut butter

So while I always have things in the freezer and dry goods in the pantry, it was still slim pickings.  I did have one lonely ripe banana sitting on the fruit plate and thought I'd use it to make a handful of breakfast "cookies".

Ripe banana and quick oats bind to make the "cookies"...then add a mix-in or two of your choice

I thought I'd try a recipe I saw from Skinnytaste a few months ago.  When I first saw it, it made me think of one-ingredient banana ice cream because it again highlights the versatility of the banana.  These "cookies" are easy and quick to make - plus, healthy, too!  We're talking 3, maybe 4, ingredients and there's no added sugar, or flour, egg, butter/oil involved at all.  Start with a ripe banana (or two), add quick-cooking oats to bind, then add mix-in(s) of your choice.  I couldn't decide so I tried a few variations. 

Three ingredients: banana, oats, and miniature chocolate chips

This will come as no big surprise but of the variations we tried - ones with mini chocolate chips, chunky peanut butter, and chunky peanut butter with strawberry jam - we liked the chocolates ones best.  They tasted like this banana bread.  The ones with jam came in second and next time, I'd love to try a version with some toasted walnuts.  You could use other nuts, dried fruit, cocoa nibs, coconut, nutella, or whatever you like.  I think the mix-ins add a nice layer of extra flavor and texture.  A little goes a long way with these petite cookies so you can be a little less generous with the chocolate chips than I was.

These healthy cookies are ideally eaten warm from the oven.  Obviously, they're not cookies in the traditional sense (hence, those quotation marks) without all the usual ingredients like sugar and eggs. So don't expect a gooey, sweet cookie.  These are chewy and, ironically, somewhat doughy, despite not having any flour in them.  Adding some extra flavor and texture with a mix-in or two is really nice. I think this is a fun way to use up a ripe banana or two and get a sweet treat out of it without any guilt.  I hate guilt, don't you?


I wish I had more bananas on hand to make a bigger batch but all I had was one smallish ripe banana. I could tell I'd get roughly half a dozen tablespoon-portion cookies out of it.  I tossed 1/3 cup of oats into the mashed banana and divided the mixture in half.  

For one portion, I mixed in miniature chocolate chips.  For the other half, I stirred in a bit of chunky peanut butter.  I dropped one plain PB cookie onto the cookie sheet but made thumbprints with the other two and filled it with strawberry jam after baking.  This is obviously a really simple and a loose recipe to work with.  You might be tempted to play with it and maybe add a drop of vanilla extract, like I did, but keeping it simple is a good thing.

These can easily be prepped while the oven preheats.  In less than 15 minutes, they'll be ready and you can have a little something sweet yet wholesome for breakfast or for a midday snack to go along with your cup of tea.  Next time, I'm going to try it with a handful of toasted walnuts. 

Recipe:

Healthy and Easy Banana Oat "Cookies"
Adapted from Skinnytaste

- Approximately 16 cookies - 

2 medium-size very ripe bananas
1 cup quick-cooking oats 

Optional mix-in suggestions (choose one or, if using more than one, adjust proportions):
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or other nuts
2 tablespoons chunky or creamy peanut butter
4-5 teaspoons jam of your choice
Other ideas: cocoa nibs, shredded coconut, dried fruit, toffee chips, peanut butter chips, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.

Place bananas in a medium-size bowl and mash with a fork.  Stir in the oats.  Add desired mix-in(s) and stir to combine.  

Drop rounded tablespoon portions onto the prepared baking sheet.  If making thumbprints, make an indentation in the center of each using the back of a teaspoon of your moistened thumb.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until cookies are lightly golden.

If making thumbprints, fill indentations with a dollop of jam.  Otherwise, serve and enjoy while they're warm.