my favorite new "cookies"

Wow. I've been a blogger-slacker! I knew it had been a while, but didn't realize it had been since FEBRUARY that I last posted. In the past month or so, I've made a few of my go-to recipes and even tried a new one. I also just realized that I haven't blogged TWO of my most favorite go-to's and therefor.... this is a MUST.

Everyone has a sweet treat snack preference, don't they? In this house, we don't buy cookies too often (unless Mr. Picky picks them up) and I have to be in the mood for them. But these "cookies" are totally different. I stumbled upon them via Pinterest (obviously) but only by mistake. I read the description on a photo and only after pinning, realized that the recipe in the description and the recipe actually attached to the picture were two different things (in hindsight, I am going to attempt the photographed recipe eventually too but, that's for another post).

The recipe listed was as follows:
2 ripe bananas
1 cup of quick cook oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 heaping spoonful of natural peanut butter

I made them this way the first time, exchanging natural peanut butter for the store bought brand I had in the cabinet. Confession: I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter. I mean, here and there, it's fine, and there are some RARE occasions where I actually crave it but overall, it's not a staple in my life. I don't like peanut butter sandwiches either. They were fine this way and I probably could have kept making them this way but then I decided to switch it up and give it my own twist.

Here's what I did:
2-3 really ripe bananas
1 cup of quick cook oats (+ some extra if they feel too wet)
Some chocolate chips
1 heaping spoonful of homemade almond butter

I started making almond butter because it's super expensive to buy and it's pretty easy to make. I just take raw almonds from Trader Joe's and bake them for a little bit, throw them into the food processor with a little bit of sea salt and a little bit of coconut oil to help the process along and wallah... homemade almond butter... the trick to it is cooking the almonds just the right amount of time. Last batch I cooked a little too long and before that, not quite long enough but still edible.

But back to the cookies!

So... take 2-3 really ripe bananas and mash them up. If they are frozen/defrosted, I end up using 3 because I don't end up using the whole thing from each banana since they are almost over mushy. After those are mashed, I add 1 cup of quick cook oats and mix them together. Then, I add a big spoonful of my homemade almond butter and stir them up. If they are more mushy than cookie consistency, I add a little more oats at a time until they have a little bit thicker consistency. Then, you can pretty much add whatever you want. I usually add a handful or two of chocolate chips. If I had coconut, I'd probably add that (YUM) and today, I mixed some dark chocolate and semi sweet chips in. They were leftover so it was an easy go to.

I take about a spoonful of "dough" and roll it into a little ball. Then, I squish them a little bit to flatten them because they don't spread at ALL when you cook them. Throw them on some parchment for about 15 minutes at 350*, let them cool and they are ready to eat.

The BEST part of these cookies? Everything in them is breakfast friendly: oats, bananas, peanut/almond butter.... and who doesn't like chocolate in the morning.... My students LOVE them too and can't get enough. I usually make a batch (about 15 cookies) and just bring them to work. This way, I don't eat too many, the kids get a healthy treat and they don't go bad if I can't eat them all.

Forgot the before pictures...
but here are the after pictures!

Do you think you'd try these cookies? Do you have a favorite go-to, on-the-go breakfast treat?

Happy Fooding!