Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

What's awesome about the Banana Oat Breakfast Cookie is that there's no egg, dairy, flour, or added sugar. The only sugar is from the craisins. These are great for breakfast on-the-go!

I'm still going through my four pounds of shredded carrots and have been baking away in the evening when it's a little cooler. The boys asked for something without shredded carrots so I made these Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies. They were hoping for chocolate chip cookies but I wanted to try this recipe so I threw in a few chocolate chips for them. The addition of chocolate made them seem like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. They really liked them! :) In addition to baking Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies, I also got out the ingredients for Carrot Pineapple Breakfast Cookies, Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins, and Carrot Coconut Bread. I'll post those recipes over the next few days. Since all of the recipes used similar ingredients, I was able to easily bake one batch to the next using the same bowl and mixing spoons without washing in between batches. It made baking so much easier to bake smarter, not harder! :)

So yummy fresh out of the oven...

Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

yield: 12 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c oatmeal
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3 c craisins
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and prep two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Mash bananas in large bowl.
3. Add apple sauce, craisins, vanilla, and cinnamon.
4. Stir in oatmeal.
5. I used a Pampered Chef Medium Scoop to drop dough onto cookie sheets.
6. Flatten cookies with your palm so they're shaped like cookies.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden.
8. When baked through, remove from oven, cool a few minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
9. When cooked, store in an airtight container.

Note:
The boys wanted chocolate chip cookies so I made this batch with 1/4 c craisins and a 1/4 c chocolate chips. The boys really liked the bites of chocolate and seemed like more of a "real" cookie. :)
If you don't think you'll eat these right away, you can freeze them. I froze two cookies side-by-side in wax paper, then wrapped in plastic wrap, put them in a ziploc, and then put them in the freezer. Take out the night before you eat them and they'll be ready the next morning. When ready to eat, warm for 20-30 seconds in the microwave. YUM!

Source: Adapted from "Watching What I Eat"