I just love these banana oatmeal cookies. Like many people, I am trying to eat healthier these days, but I love something just a bit sweet too. These little gems fill the bill for both.
These healthy cookies are sweet without using any sugar. They get their sweetness from ripe bananas and a few dates. That’s it. Young and older alike are going to love these gluten free cookies.
These banana cookies are perfect for those who need sugar free or gluten free cookie recipes. They are also vegan, which is a real plus for some people.
Dates, bananas, and dried fruits are all natural sweeteners that are great for sugar–free baking. Dates are so much healthier than white sugar. In addition bananas are just filled with health giving properties.
Make sure the bananas are nice and ripe because super ripe or slightly over ripe bananas are sweeter and easier to smash than their greener counterparts and are always the better choice for baking.
As I said, these wonderful oat and banana cookies are gluten free. If you have celiac disease or for other reasons need these cookies to be completely gluten free please make sure the oats you use are marked gluten free because some are not.
I especially think that all of you with kids will love having these cookies around to offer to your young ones. It’s great to be able to give your kids a delicious treat that you can feel good about while they enjoy.
I hope you love these as much as I do. They make a yummy healthy snack. I am going to make them over and over again and change them up each time by adding different ingredients. See some of my suggestions below the recipe.
Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 bananas, very ripe
- 1/4 cup olive oil, or coconut oil
- 3 dates, pitted
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 cups oats
- 1/2 cup nuts, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- If you are using the solid type coconut oil, heat it gently until it melts.
- Purée the bananas, coconut oil, dates and salt together in a blender or food processor. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add them to the wet ingredients and mix them all together.
- Spray a cookie sheet or cover it with parchment paper to make cleanup easier. Spoon the mixture on to the cookie sheet, one spoonful per cookie. You should get about 12 cookies, but it depends on the size you make them. Keep them well separated.
- Bake the banana oatmeal cookies at 400°F for 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven to flatten them a bit with a spatula, then place the cookies back in the hot oven and bake them for another 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Makes about 12 cookies.
Variations:
You can change up these cookies easily with a few sweet additions to the batter. Try these suggestions or use your own imagination.
- Add 3/4 cup fresh blueberries and the zest of 1/2 a lemon to the cookie batter.
- You can add 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots to the batter.
- Add about 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, white chocolate chunks or peanut butter chips to the cookie batter.
- If you like coconut, 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut would be nice.
- Dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries work beautifully in these cookies too.
I have marked these cookies as a good diabetic recipe, but judge for yourself if you are diabetic. They are sugar free but not low carb, so if you are watching your carb count closely, they may not be appropriate.
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