A Great Guilt-Free Cookie

I'm really not into the applesauce-for-oil, Splenda-for-sugar, black beans-for-flour kind of baking.

My general philosophy is: Make it yourself, the right way, with real food. Don't eat too much.

However, I am trying to branch out and realizing that just because almond flour (or millet or dates) isn't a staple in American baking doesn't mean it's not real food, and that it can sometimes even make what I'm cooking taste better. Really!

So when I came across this cookie yesterday on Sprouted Kitchen I had to give it a try. I modified it a bit to accommodate what I had on hand, but let me tell you, DELISH! A little sweet, a little salty, and definitely makes for a good chocolate fix. All this with NO SUGAR. The magic is in the mashed banana base - it satisfies my all-time favorite fruit/chocolate combination and doesn't leave you with that "I just had a fake dessert so I have to eat more to make up for the fact that I'm not eating real sugar/butter" feeling.

I really want to hoard these, but I'm going to surrender my selfish ambition and test them out on some friends' kids this afternoon during Stacy's piano lessons. I'm pretty positive they'll be a hit for kids and their parents. Here ya go...

Oat'Nana Pucks

from Sprouted Kitchen

My changes in green. Adapted from 101 Cookbooks.

If you have gluten allergies, omit the wheat bran and use almond meal.

3 Well Ripened Bananas
2 tbsp. Good Vanilla Extract
¼ Cup Coconut Oil (olive oil works fine)
2 Cups Rolled Oats
1/3 Cup Wheat Bran (fresh ground wheat flour)
2/3 Cup Finely Chopped Almonds (food processor works great for this)
1/2 Cup Unsweetened, Shredded Coconut (we could only find sweetened at the tiny grocery behind our house, so I only used 1/4 cup. you could omit this.)
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Powder
¾ Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips or Carob Chips

Oven to 350’
1. Mush the ripe bananas with a fork. Mix the wet ingredients together: bananas, vanilla, and oil. In another bowl, mix remaining dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently mix. Fold in the chocolate or carob chips. The dough will be loose. Here, my favorite line in her recipe, ‘don’t worry about it’. Ha.
2. On a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat, make mini balls, then give them a gentle smush to flatten them. They don’t really change shape while baking, so spacing 1’’ between is fine.
3. Bake for about 14 minutes until puck or nugget is firm. Do not undercook or they will crumble.

I'm sure this base could have endless nut/add-in variations. Let me know what you think!