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No-Sugar-Added GF Banana-Oatmeal Cookies

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I didn’t really think I was going to like these cookies. The first time I saw them was at the blog Lick the Bowl Good, as a “you might also like” at the bottom of a recipe for homemade oatmeal cream pies. The author said she’d made them for a little boy she cared for who wasn’t allowed much sugar. She described them as tasting just like banana bread – which is fine stuff in a pinch, but not among my favorite foods. No added sugar, gluten-free, and tasting just like banana bread? Not something that really appealed to me.
But then I ran across the concept again – this time at Naturally Knocked Up (and seriously, I have no idea what got me to that page). This recipe appealed to me much more than the first one, with its additions of cinnamon and almonds and eggs. It just looked more like a cookie, albeit still one sweetened only with fruit, sweet spice, and the inherent sweetness of the oats themselves. 
That day, I had a sand volleyball double-header that started at 6:00 and would go until almost 8:00. I knew I wasn’t going to have time for dinner beforehand, and doubted my team would either. A healthy snack seemed in order to keep us from collapsing on the court. So I tossed these together, thinking of them as little more than simple sustenance.
But when I pulled them out of the oven, I was in for a wonderful surprise; they were delicious! It took a moment to adjust to their sweetness level – these cookies are sweet like a bowlful of oatmeal with bananas and raisins, not like a typical oatmeal cookie – but one bite is still enough to hook you. I took them to the volleyball game and everyone loved them – especially my teammate Lucy, who raved about them during both matches. Arne and I ate them for breakfast the next day, and I took the rest to work and presented them as dessert. They worked in all three contexts.
As written, these cookies are gluten-free. (If you need stringent GF, be sure to buy gluten-free oatmeal.) I couldn’t find the almond meal I absolutely know I have somewhere but can never find a use for – which is probably okay, since it must be going bad by now anyway, and maybe I threw it out – so I substituted 1/4 cup oat flour and 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour for the 1/2 cup of almond meal. It’s a small proportion of the ingredients, so I think you could sub in almost any flour for the almond meal. The mixture seemed pretty dry, so I added a few tablespoons of extra liquid (two of water and one of coconut rum, because I was in that kind of mood). It’s possible the almond meal would have soaked up less than my substitutions and not required the water. Use your judgment. 

Since this is a liquid-oil recipe (so no creaming of butter and sugar is required), it goes together in a flash. The batter doesn’t hold together like cookie batter usually does. I used a round-bottomed 1/4-cup measure filled about halfway to scoop the batter onto the cookie sheets in mounds. Usually it came out well enough, though sometimes I needed to reshape the mound a little. Don’t worry about it too much; as long as it’s in one contiguous lump, it will form itself into a cookie as it bakes. Just be warned that since they don’t rise, they will exit the oven in almost exactly the shape in which they entered it.

Quick to make with pantry staples, delicious like a bowl of banana oatmeal crossed with a cookie, and good for you, these cookies will be making regular appearances around here. Try them instead of banana bread next time you have some overripe bananas laying around, and I bet you’ll see a lot more of them too!

No-Sugar-Added GF Banana-Oatmeal Cookies

1.5 cups rolled oats (not quick or instant)
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted if you have puttering time
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger (optional)
1/2 cup almond meal, or oat or wheat or other flour
1/2 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1 cup raisins
3 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter, or liquid oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking liners, or grease well.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.

In a medium bowl, mash the peeled bananas. Stir the egg in thoroughly, then add the oil or butter and vanilla and mix. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir together until well incorporated. If the mixture seems dry, add water or other liquid by the tablespoonful until it seems right.

Scoop batter onto cookie sheets in two-tablespoon mounds. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until lightly browned.
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Comments

  2. These are amazing!

    I made a couple changes to conform to my sweet-tooth coworkers.

    I Doubled everything (which made about 40 cookies)
    1. Instead of almond flour I used garbanzo bean flour (cheaper and very healthy)
    2. I added 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
    3. Instead of doubling I tripled the cinnamon
    4. I added 3/4 cup of almond butter
    Came out amazing!!!
    Thank you!

  4. I’m so glad you posted the recipe for these cookies. I can vouch for their deliciousness in the work context! Thank you!

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