Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The 'Less Is More' Healthy Cookie

Here's one for you: flour-less, egg-less, butter-less (and potentially sugar-less) cookies! I know what you may thinking, "You're losing it, Liz", but as unappealing as it may sound (for a cookie), I was intrigued by the ingredients (or lack thereof). Honestly, as much as I wanted to try them, I didn't think that they were going to be this good (and that I'd keep going back for more)... Sweetened and held together by overly ripened bananas and almond meal; mixed with rolled oats and chocolate, they really are a treat. And one that you can feel good about eating, at that.

I'm so happy to have found this recipe, as it's going to have to become a regular when I'm craving a chewy , delicious treat. Filled with chocolate and smelling of sweet, ripe bananas and Cinnamon - you can't go wrong. I owe it all to 101 Cookbooks (once again) and her article on her friend, Nikki's 'Healthy Cookies' recipe. In my version, I used both dark chocolate chunks and carob chips; coconut oil was replaced with olive oil since it would be one less thing to buy, and almond meal/flour was out of my price range, so I made my own by pulsing raw almonds in my Cuisinart to a fine, sand-like consistency (beware not to over do it, or else you'll end up with almond butter).

The 'Less Is More' Healthy Cookie (Nikki's Cookies)

Yields about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies


Ingredients

- 3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2/3 cup almond meal

- 1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips, carob chips or dark chocolate bar - chopped

Preheat oven to 350*F, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut/olive oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips. The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, but don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto an oiled pan. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these until golden brown on top, but soft on the inside. They were perfect. About 17 minutes baking time in my oven.

6 comments:

  1. Oooh, simple yummy and healthy! :)

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  2. They're great, Maggie! You should try 'em. And hey, who can beat cookie dough that won't make you sick! Thanks for writing! :) - E

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  3. your next challenge needs to be: dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, OIL FREE cookies.

    these sound fantastic though. i'm making them right now.

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  4. Ah! A true test! I'm intrigued. Tomorrow: research. Hope you guys enjoy them as much as I did. Thanks for writing.

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