Cookie Shock: Banana Oat “Cookies”

When I dropped my nephew off at school a few weeks ago this is what he said to me “Lali, if you want… you can go play at my house after- but you HAVE TO take off your shoes.”  Thank you for the permission Mase?  Believe it or not, this is normal for him- a kid who complains when his snow boots get “dirty” after going out in the snow and whose 1 year old sister shrieks “napi, napi” (requesting a napkin) after every other bite of food during meals.  This particularity is not completely innate, but my nephew’s type A personality is a sheer reflection of my sister’s organization and systemic way of parenting.  She is the best mama on the 54th street block, yes- and as you can tell, she has kept her kids on a strict schedule for meals (healthy ones of course), sleep, play, bath, hand washing, TV, etc- from day 1.  So, as you can imagine, my nephew’s concern regarding my shoes is not surprising. On the other hand, my type A sister making cookies for her kids last week- shocker of the century… That is until I found out what was actually in them- oats, bananas, eggs, cinnamon.  I said sign an Acrobat up- now that’s a balanced “cookie”.  So I played around with the ingredients and here is what I made…

^Mason excited because he thinks he’s making cookies- look at how thrilled he is!

Banana Oat Cookies

Servings: ~5 (2 cookies each); recipe makes ~10 cookies total

Prep time: 10 min               Baking time:  10 min                   

Ingredients:

• 3 overripe bananas
• 2 1/2 cups Old Fashioned or Quick Cooking Oats (these are a little easier to digest if you have GI concerns)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cow’s milk or soy milk (shaken!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup (or 2 packets Truvia or other zero calorie, heat stable sweetener)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
• In a large bowl, mash bananas until smooth (very few/small lumps only) and mix in the remaining ingredients; mix until all ingredients are well combined (please note, it should be a loose mixture)
• Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or canola oil
• Spoon “cookie dough” 1/4 cup at a time on the baking sheet, 1 inch apart
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies are firm with slightly brown edges