Oatmeal Banana Cookies {no sugar} {gluten free} {recipe}
There’s nothing like a warm homemade cookie, fresh out of the oven. But years ago, after learning how sugar affects my body, I basically stopped baking. Leaving cookies to very rare occasions like Christmas.
Which, don’t get me wrong, is a very good thing!
But there are also days where I need to bring cookies to church or family functions, or bless my family with a treat. And for those days I now have a go-to recipe that has no sugar, not even honey or maple syrup.
Oatmeal Banana Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method of Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients until well mixed.
3. In another bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir into the dry mixture.
4. Place approximately 2 Tbsp of the mixture on the cookie sheet for each cookie. I used a round cookie cutter to make them, lightly pressing it into the cutter for each one.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes, just until they begin to brown.
I love finding simple recipes like this, and all of the ingredients are pantry staples for me. I also love taking recipes that most people deem as “healthy” and making them “unhealthy” again! This recipe is an adaptation of one I found on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago. The original had no saturated fats or eggs.
So I added them back in.
And no – these aren’t ‘properly soaked’ cookies. I can deal with that since they are void of sugar. These are best when eaten the same day as they were baked. Or at least while warmed back up. I think what I’m going to have to do is mesh it with my baked oatmeal recipe……
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About donielle
Donielle is an amateur herbalist and natural momma to two littles (with another babe in heaven) after struggling with infertility. She has a passion for nourishing nutrition, natural living, and spreading the word on how food truly affects our health. Her blog Naturally Knocked Up focuses on fertility and reproductive health and her book on natural fertility will be available in June 2012. She also runs a local blog (Grand Rapids Natural Living) and is active the local community in order to provide the area with resources and information for natural families.
Any ideas for subbing the almond meal? We’ve got severe nut allergies to work around, but these sound amazing!
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donielle Reply:
January 6th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
@Erica, A gluten free flour would work or you could grind up some sunflower seeds if you can get those from an allergy free plant.
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What should I sub for the coconut and almond meal? we’re not gluten free, and I don’t have those in the house, but these cookies look great!!
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donielle Reply:
January 6th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
@Theresa, You can use butter instead of coconut oil, just make sure it’s either softened or melted. For almond meal you could try ground almonds if you have those on hand, or I might even try something like almond or peanut butter.
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Theresa Reply:
January 9th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
@donielle,
What about the unsweetened coconut flakes? Could I use extra oats or flour? I don’t have any unsweetened coconut – Thanks!
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Ally Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
@Theresa,
I’d like to hear a coconut flake substitute too – I’d love a cookie I can feel good about giving my toddler (and the rest of us) but my husband despises coconut. The oil is fine, but the flakes will not go over well
You mention that the almond meal could be replaced with a gluten-free flour – could it also be replaced by a wheat flour? Trying to work with what I have here, and we aren’t gluten-free.
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donielle Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
@Ally, I would try and just up the oats or flour if needed. These cookies are moist but not runny before cooking, so just go by how the dough feels, should be somewhat sticky.
Ally – you can use any type of flour in place of the almond meal.
Wheat flour will work just fine!
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Genius! I can hardly wait to try making these!
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Sounds yummy!! Just wondering where I can find almond meal?? I’ve never heard of it before
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donielle Reply:
January 6th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
@Trish, It’s basically finely ground almonds – so you could blend up some almonds as well. (though don’t blend to much or it’ll turn to almond butter!)
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Thank you! After Christmas, we could really use some no-sugar treats, to help us detox from it all!
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Donielle, these cookies look fantastic! They are made with ingredients I usually have on hand, too. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Shirley
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These really have no ADDED sugar, as you are getting sugar from the raisins and bananas. I’m going to try them; they look yummy and a good candidate for breakfast bars. Thanks!
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What is Almond Meal? Is it a flour?
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donielle Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
@mary, Almond meal is basically just ground up almonds. When they are finely ground it’s considered almond flour – both will work with this recipe!
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Hey Donielle, I just posted the link to this recipe on my Facebook page and some were asking about the oats, stating that you didn’t note that the oats had to be gluten free. Those of us who live gluten free must use certified gluten-free oats to stay safe, of course. Numerous varieties of “regular” oats have been shown to contain gluten. You might want to add the “certified gluten-free oats” info to your recipe to make sure that everyone knows to use those.
Thanks so much!
Shirley
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What a blessing it is to have found your blog! My huband and I have been dealing with infertility for 7 years. For some reason, something has been telling me to try a gluten free diet. I’ve been researching and researching this week and just found you…can’t wait to read up!!
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These cookies were amazing! I made two batches and can’t wait to share the new cookies with everyone!
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donielle Reply:
January 13th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
@Carolina, YAY- so glad you liked them!
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These sound good! Too bad I can’t tolerate bananas
Even one little bite stops my digestion. So sad. Maybe I’ll have to make them for my family, though. I’m ready for a serious sugar detox. My daughter and I really need it for mental health.
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donielle Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
@Mary, I’ll bet you could easily use applesauce or mashed pears!
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Mary Reply:
January 12th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
@donielle, Maybe I’ll have to try that!
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I just made a 1/2 batch of these with subs and they were great!
I left out the coconut flakes, but did use coconut oil. I also used cashews in place of the almonds. I put cashews in my food processor, and that worked great in place of the almond meal!
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I made the cookies, they were yummy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rV6k9fei6c
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You don’t soak oats for this recipe? Do you think it will work with soaked oats?
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donielle Reply:
February 20th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
No – for this recipe I did not soak them beforehand. To do so, you’ll probably want to soak and then dehydrate, otherwise the dough will be way to wet.
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