Trying to lose weight is not fun. Imagine you could eat a delicious banana cookie and stay on track! Depriving myself of everything I love doesn’t work for the long term and can lead to a binge of all things brownie. In the maintenance phase, the 80/20 rule works well (80 percent healthy food for fuel and 20 percent food for comfort) and in the losing weight phase, I raise that number to 90/10 or even 95/5 (sorry).
The best approach is finding healthy recipes that taste like comfort food (healthy donuts anyone?) so that you can make smart choices even when you’re “cheating.” I have never met a cookie I didn’t like (check out my protein cookie recipe for proof) and this banana cookie recipe is so easy and delicious that James stole one during our photo shoot. Check out Instagram for bonus pictures of Buster with the cookies. Doesn’t he look impressed? Don’t worry, he got a piece of banana as his reward.
What is your favourite healthy treat? How about your favourite not-so-healthy treat? I might be able to “lighten it up” for you in a future post! Requests are welcome 🙂
Banana cookies with only 2 ingredients
Healthy, easy, and delicious banana cookies with only 2 ingredients! They are vegan and free of gluten, oil, refined sugar, and dairy.
This recipe makes 12 banana cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe bananas (the riper the sweeter!)
- 2 cups of steel cut oats (or gluten free oats)
- Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
- Optional: You can add whatever you like to this recipe (be careful though – it’s easy to make these cookies unhealthy). Consider adding 1/4 cup of any of the following:
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl (I used a potato masher, but a fork will do). If you’re adding cinnamon, this is a great time to do it
- Grind up the oats in a food processor (I used my Ninja while dreaming of a Vitamix)
- Pour the oats onto the mashed bananas and stir until well combined. If you’re adding any unsweetened coconut, walnuts, pecans, raisins, cranberries, or dark chocolate chips, now is the time to do it
- Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet by the tablespoon (I use silicon baking mats to prevent sticking) and flatten each ball slightly with the back of a wooden spoon
- Bake for about 10 minutes to allow the cookies to set. The bottoms will be slightly brown when they’re done
Pro tip: these cookies will be the tastiest if they are consumed within 3 days of making them, so freeze any that you think will be “extra” if extra cookies are, in fact, a thing at your house. To prevent freezer burn and waste, I use my FoodSaver.
To see bonus pictures of Buster the boxer with the banana cookies, head over to Instagram. Don’t forget to follow our hashtag #authoropwrites, turn on our post notifications, and show Buster some love with a like or follow!
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