Yes it IS possible to have healthy cookies…

Yes it IS possible to also make them delicious…

One fruit I have never really been able to live without are bananas. Maybe it’s the runner in me, and growing up bananas were always and still are my go-to snack before and after workouts.  Or maybe it’s the different variations of the nickname “banana” that always stuck with my name.  Either way, I love to eat them as well as bake with them!  

TOO RIPE?  A PERFECT SOLUTION:  Two bananas sit on my counter.  Covered in small brown spots, I know the ripened fruit are past the stage of eating. So I decide to use them in one of my favorite cookie recipes…

Eating healthy and natural foods is part of my lifestyle, and I incorporate it into my baking.  These cookies are made with whole wheat, peanut butter, oats and applesauce.  People just love these cookies and I have given the recipe to countless family and friends!

The banana flavor is very faint, so in case you are not a fan of the fruit, you don’t really notice it in the cookie. But you can also add just half of a banana to the mix.   It makes the cookies so moist that you’ll want to add it. 

Since I had two bananas I doubled the recipe, but the recipe below requires just one mashed banana and makes about 2 dozen cookies.

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES

• 1 cup whole wheat flour  (or all-purpose flour)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons  butter or applesauce
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup peanut butter
• ¼ cup mashed banana (1 small or medium banana)
• 1 ½ cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

-Preheat oven 350 degrees.  In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

-In large bowl cream sugars and applesauce/butter.  Beat in egg until smooth. Mix in the peanut butter, mashed banana and vanilla.  With mixer on low, blend in dry ingredients and stir in the oats.

-Shape dough on cookie sheet and flatten slighty with your fingers.

-Bake around 10 minutes until golden brown on the edges. Cool on wire rack.

When I scooped the cookies onto the baking sheet I pressed them down a little and arranged the chocolate chunks.  Don’t forget to do this, because they do not spread out much while baking so the size you make them on the cookie sheet will be the size of the baked cookie.