Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 I've been wanting to bake these cookies for about 2 weeks now, and have slowly been accruing all the ingredients.  I finally decided to give it a shot yesterday, and I have to say, they turned out pretty good.  The best part about them is that they're relatively healthy, with no flour, sugar, butter, or eggs in the recipe.  This cookie, which I got from Sweet Make Me Smile is comprised of only good, wholesome ingredients, and as long as you get the right kind of chocolate chips, can even be vegan!

I have to be honest though.. When I first bit into the final product, I was a little disappointed.  I was expecting more of a crunchy granola kind of thing, but instead they tasted almost like one of those chewy granola bars with a hint of banana bread.  But once you get it out of your head that it's neither granola nor a typical cookie, it's actually quite good!  I was also thinking that maybe next time I'll try baking them flatter as opposed to round, to hopefully get a more consistently crunchy cookie.

Just for safe measures (in case the link above doesn't work), here are the ingredients and recipe.

      Ingredients:

• 3 large ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 and 1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut, finely shredded
• 4 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup chocolate chip, more or less as you wish 

     

     Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Rack in the to third.
2. In a large bowl, combine -- mashed banana + vanilla extract + olive oil -- set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together -- oat + almond meal + shredded coconut + sunflower seeds + cinnamon + salt + baking powder  --
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir until combined. 
5. Fold in -- chocolate chips --
6. With a small ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, an inch apart.
7. Bake as long as you want, until nice golden brown, about 20 minutes. Depend on the size of cookies