Now you can indulge in cookies that are actually beneficial to your health! Made with whole, all-natural ingredients, these soft and chewy cookies are filled with lots of banana flavor, nutty oats, and tart dried cherries. Wonderful warm from the oven with cold milk!
I’m taking a momentary break from calorie-loaded things like cheddar-stuffed pretzel bites and soft-baked chocolate chip cookies to focus on some healthier indulgences. An indulgence that just so happens to be cookies.
Healthy cookie lovers rejoice!!
For today, lets concentrate on good, wholesome ingredients that actually make you feel good about eating them. I’m guessing a lot of people indulged in a lot of (ahem) slightly unhealthy football food over the past game weekend and I thought that you guys might appreciate a lighter recipe with whole, natural ingredients. Our main ingredients today? Bananas. Oats. Dried cherries.
Let me tell you….these three ingredients taste proved that they go pretty amazingly together—the bananas provide flavor, the oats provide texture, and the cherries provide a tangy sweetness.
These cookies are similar to the popular “breakfast cookies” that are going around the web, but they’re slightly softer and chewier because they have (just a little bit!) of butter in them. The other ingredients that make up these cookies are slightly more nutritious…
- Coconut sugar (essential ingredient to ensure these cookies’ chewiness)
- Mashed banana (make sure your bananas are VERY ripe!)
- 1 egg
- Vanilla extract
- Flour (I used white whole wheat)
- Quick-cooking oats (also essential for making these cookies chewy)
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Dried cherries (if you don’t like cherries, feel free to sub raisins or dried cranberries)
That’s really all there is! Just plain, all-natural ingredients. And I’ll bet that you have nearly all of these ingredients sitting in your pantry right now!
While I love digging into a totally decadent piece of cake, I love even more, munching on sweets that won’t make me feel guilty and actually have health benefits. These cookies fit the bill and satisfied my sweets craving.
You can easily have two (or three!) of these cookies without feeling guilty. Heck, they even make you feel good, (only without an unpleasant bloat afterward) I had one of these cookies for a snack in the middle of the afternoon and it kept me going til dinner!
For your convenience, these cookies are ready in under 30 minutes. Perfect for when you get that sweet craving, but don’t want something super-rich and don’t want to spend a few hours in the kitchen.
Pssssst… You could even serve these cookies for breakfast. Totally acceptable. But they also qualify as a healthier dessert or snack. Win-win. 😀
Banana Oatmeal Cherry Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 2 medium ripe bananas mashed
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup dried cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place butter and coconut sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Mix in mashed banana, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to liquid mixture, beating on medium speed until mixture forms a dough. (dough will be slightly sticky) Stir in dried cherries.
- Roll dough into 1-in balls and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350F 9 minutes (cookies will be very soft) Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Check out my other healthier indulgences!
Homemade Marshmallows (gluten-free and refined sugar-free)
Jennifer S. says
looks good if I could only get my hands on some bananas – they’re gone almost as soon as they come into the house 🙂
Sarah says
I know exactly what you mean Jennifer! I have to go so far as to hide bananas to wait for them to get ripe, otherwise they’ll get eaten immediately!