Favorite Healthy Cookie Recipe

I am always a little nervous to try new healthy dessert recipes because I have had some major fails!!  My friend Kim showed me this recipe and I tried the ones she made-I really liked them.  It is always nice if you get to try the recipe before hand.  Thanks to Kim I have a great new dessert/snack/breakfast cookie recipe.  I say breakfast, but mostly I will eat these for snack and dessert.  I am a dessert person (I'm talking every night I want something sweet), so these are a great because they don't have any added sugar (only natural sugar from coconut and bananas)!  You have got to try them, see my note at the bottom for my official report!

 

 My new go-to dessert

 They are so yummy with peanut butter on top (I'm sure you aren't surprised)

 They created a small disaster

 Wet ingredients

 Dry ingredients

 Place dough on cookie sheet (make sure you make them the shape/size you want them because they don't change while they are baking)

 Bake 12-14 minutes and enjoy!

Favorite Healthy Cookies

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 cups rolled oats (I used 1/2 cup old fashioned, 1/2 cup quick, 1/2 cup Coaches Oats, 1/2 cup oat flour-totally optional they are good either way)

2/3 cup almond meal

1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I did a heaping 1/3 cup)

1 tsp. cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

Chocolate chips or dried cranberries, I divided my batter and did 1/2 cup choc. chips in one and 1/2 cup cranberries in the other

Peanut butter or almond butter for topping (optional!)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix your mashed bananas, vanilla and coconut oil in a bowl (you may need to slightly melt your coconut oil if it is really hard, mine was fine to stir in without heating).  In a separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips and cranberries.  Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients.  Divide your batter in half and mix chocolate chips in one half and cranberries in the other half.  Drop by big spoonfuls (I used my large cookie scoop) onto a pan lined with parchment or non-stick foil.  Flatten your dough balls into the shape you want them to be becuase they won't change shape while baking.  Bake for 12-14 minutes.  It is kind of hard to tell when they are done.  I did mine for 14 minutes and the tops felt like they were set so I took them out. 

*This makes 20 nice sized cookies, store in fridge

Note:  I had these for dessert the first day I baked them (chocolate chip is my favorite).  Today I took one for a snack (cranberry is best for a snack) with peanut butter and it was just the right amount of filling.  I also had one for dessert tonight and it was great.  Keep in mind they are healthy, so don't expect them to taste like a normal buttery, sugary cookie.  They are more like a cookie colliding with a granola bar!  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do:)