Do you have a few over-ripe bananas and unsure what to do with it? If you're like me, who grew up with a Mamma who taught you the motto - "Waste not, want not", even the thought of throwing it away would not have even crossed your mind, let alone out of your mouth. I'm giggling as I think of what Mamma's reaction would be if I asked her, "Mamma, these bananas are old, can I throw it away?" She would pull her head back with a confused look on her face which would lead to her exclaiming, 'Is jy mal?! Ek sal piesang brood maak!"
I am so grateful to have grown up with her instilling these ways in me as I know live by them. When I see that my bananas have become spottier and softer, I get excited as I start thinking of these easy cookies that I can make! I've yet to get to making banana bread, which will happen soon as the colder months start creeping in and I'm craving for a warm slice of fluffy, moist banana bread with cup of Rooibos Tea.
Only two ingredients, if you'd like to keep it simple, but with the added dried fruit pieces and cinnamon, these oat cookies are still super easy to make. When it's ready to enjoy, you get to bite into a chewy, filling and healthy cookie. There are other variants of the oat cookie recipe to make it sweeter and crispier, but if you only have these few ingredients, start out with this recipe. If you've never made any cookies before, this is a good one to start with as there's not a lot to do, and once you've achieved success with these ones, you'll be confident enough to move onto more somewhat complicated recipes.
INGREDIENTS:
1 & 1/2 Cups of Rolled Oats
1 TSP of Cinnamon
3 Spotty Bananas
2 & 1/2 TBSP of Small dried fruit (Cranberries, Goji Berries, Raisins)
RECIPE:
Preheat the oven to 175 Degrees Celsius and line your baking tray with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, use a fork to mash the bananas with the cinnamon until it turns into a gooey consistency.
Pour the rolled oats into the gooey banana mixture and mix until all of the oats are coated with the banana.
Pour the dried fruit into the wet mixture until it is evenly incorporated.
Take a full tablespoon of the wet cookie mixture and roll it into a ball.
Place the wet oat and banana cookie balls on the baking tray, evenly spaced out and use the spoon to press on the middle of the cookie to spread it out as they won't spread out much during the baking process.
Place the cookies into the oven on the middle rack and leave to bake for 15 minutes.
Keep an eye on the cookies towards the last 2 minutes of the baking time as ovens vary and cookies may be baked a little bit before or a little bit after that 15 minute mark.
Once the cookies have reached a golden brown color, remove it from the oven and place on a cooling rack or plate to allow it to cool.
Once cooled down, store in an airtight jar or container.
SERVING SUGGESTION:
Enjoy the cookies with some homemade oat milk, Rooibos Tea of coffee for any time of the day.
Note that these cookies are CHEWY and not that that crispy. As there isn't any butter or sugar being used, the cookies haven't spread out or become crispy in texture.
I've enjoyed these cookies as a breakfast meal with a cup of tea when I didn't have much time to prepare breakfast. They were surprisingly filling and sustained me until my pre-lunch snack time, where you can enjoy another cookie or two to last you until lunchtime LOL.