Sugar-free Banana Cookies. V. GF.

 

Happy May! Wow I officially feel like summer is here… well at least on the calendar despite our cool temps here in PA.

I know many cities had some snow this past weekend.  We had a lot of rain and chilly temps.  Our grass is a glorious green and all of our flowers are blooming.  I just have been hesitant to do my planters due to the temperature drops.  Hoping by this weekend we get into a nicer weather pattern soon.

So cookies.  Who doesn’t love them?  My kids always feel like they’re a special treat, and they are however these cookies are sugar free and healthy (gasp). They are perfect breakfast cookies or post workout. Grab and go.  So moist and delicious and no need for sugar when using super ripe bananas.  You can also add some walnuts for extra protein or some dark chocolate for a sweeter kick.  I hope you whip these up and please let me know what you think 🙂  I’ve been eating these all week pre-workout running out the door, which I love.  Fast food that’s healthy… simple solutions for a busy world.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of almonds –  or almond flour
3 ripe bananas
1.5 cups of gluten free rolled oats (I prefer Bob’s Redmill)
3 tablespoons of almond butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheet with a silpat liner.

Into your food processor blend the almonds down to a flour.  Then add your bananas, oats, almond butter, vanilla and salt.  Blend or pulse in your food processor to blend down and make creamy.  Stop the machine to scrape it down and blend.

I made two different varieties of cookies.  One plain without any added nuts or chocolate and one batch with mini chocolate chips that are vegan.

Optional mix-in ideas
1/4 cup – any of the following:

Mini vegan chocolate chips
Raw cacao nibs
Chopped walnuts or almonds
Chia seeds
Sesame seeds

Banana slices on the top of each cookie would be cute as well.

If adding mix-ins, add to your processor and blend.  Scoop out your cookie dough with a melon baller and place onto your baking sheet.  I pressed the cookies down to flatten them a bit.  Bake for 16-18 minutes or until golden.  The dough will be looser so don’t panic.  Remove from the cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack.  Allow to cool and enjoy!

If you follow me on Instagram I shared my journey over the past two weeks.  I tore my meniscus on a run and was unable to participate in my 50 mile ultra I had been training for over the past 6 months.  Surgery will either repair or remove the torn meniscus.  Removal is a quick recovery however repairing is a 3-4 month stint.  I’m remaining faithful in my journey.  I’m already focused on my next marathons and ultra 50 I’ll be doing.  For now… I lift and swim to keep up my fitness level before surgery.

Monday:  1.5 hours of lifting (arms, back and shoulders) along with core.
Tuesday:  1 hour swim
Wednesday: 1 hour of lifting (shoulders/back and abs)
Thursday: 1 hour swim (1250 meters)

— Knead to Cook