I believe that people should eat foods that nurture them, but also comfort them. You know what your body needs, you may not always give it those things, but you do know what it needs. One of the things I like about these cookies is that they have all real ingredients.
It makes me nervous when I see people eating things like "Chik'n nuggets" I understand not wanting to eat animal products, but is eating chemicals and artificial ingredients any better? My answer is no. I think if you're going to have a special diet you should be prepared to do more cooking and eat real, whole foods. Spend some time in the kitchen and see what you come up with. That's exactly what I did with these cookies. Trust me, I eat some processed foods, but I have become more aware of what I am actually eating.
I found these cookies easy to make and actually quite tasty! I used the basic elements in cookies, just leaving out the eggs and butter.
Originally I was going to make them without flour, but after tasting the dough (it's okay, no raw eggs..okay, I would have eaten it anyway) I thought it needed more substance, so I threw in just the tiniest bit of whole wheat flour.
Peanut butter, banana, and oatmeal vegan cookies
makes 2 dozen
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 or 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbsp real maple syrup
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl combine peanut butter, mashed bananas, maple syrup, and vanilla. Use a hand or stand mixer to mix ingredients until smooth.
In a separate bowl whisk together oats, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and flour. Add to peanut butter mix and stir until just combined.
Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
*I wasn't exactly sure how long to bake these cookies. I checked them at 8 minutes..not yet. Again at 10, still not done. 12 minutes..um, are these ever going to bake? I pulled them at 14 and they still came out slightly soft, but I didn't want to overbake. I think about 15 minutes is just right.*
I packed some little treat bags to share with my Vegan friends. They all gave these cookies positive reviews. I will make them again! Next time I want to add chocolate chips..even more flavor!
While I love my cookies to have butter..lots of it, preferably browned. These little treats were a good trial run. I'm glad I tried something different, and it was surprisingly easy! I didn't even miss the butter! (okay, maybe a little.)
