RECIPE: Skinny chocolate chip banana oat cookies.

Oh mama, do I have a good’un for y’all today!

I wanted to call these “skinny chocolate chip banana oat date almond and cinnamon cookies”, but then I realised that was just listing all the ingredients. (Not to mention being stupidly long.)

But yes, that is literally all that’s in these heavenly cookies!

They are simple and full of natural goodness. And chocolate.

What’s more – they’re squuuiiiidgy. Boy, are they squidgy.

Unlike a lot of conventional cookies, they stay squidgy too – don’tcha hate it when you whip up a batch of seemingly chewy cookies, only for them to lose their softness and turn crumbly as they cool? Such a disappointment in life.

Well, not here, ma dears!

These cookies are squidgy, banana-y, moreish, sweet and bursting with little chocolate morsels of joy – particularly heavenly when warm from the oven. And everyone knows that’s the best time to eat chocolate chip cookies, right? Waiting would be a rookie error, I tell thee.

Not only are these little wonder-cookies beyond delish, they’re also super easy and quick to make. I’m still in my – how should I put this? – less-than-well-equipped-for-baking Brussels flat, which means I’m limited with what I can bake. I gots ta be inventive!

As a result, these cookies are so simple to make – the only “equipment” you need is a knife, fork and baking tray. I also don’t have scales so can’t give quantities in volume I’m afraid, but it doesn't really matter: as long as you have the right consistency of dough you don't need to be too precise.

Don't like cinnamon? Leave it out! Fancy adding peanut butter (and trust me, I really nearly did)? Go for it! 

Oof! They're delish little fellas!

It's hard to stop at one, put it that way.

Oh how we love to stack baked goods!

AND YOU GUYS IT'S OK TO EAT MORE THAN ONE BECAUSE THEY'RE SO HEALTHY! For reals.

What's that? A fourth cookie in the stack? Yeah, I went there.

Allow me to explain:

• Using oats and ground almonds means no flour needed.
• There's no egg.
• Super-ripe (preferably speckly and brown) banana + medjool dates = no sugar or even honey required.
• They use no butter.

And then let's talk about the goodness they do contain:

• Banana - great source of potassium, energising, and hello! it's fruit.
• Dates - full of fibre and vitamins.
• Oats - energising and keep you full.
• Ground almonds - a "good" fat, great protein source and packed with vitamin E.
• Cinnamon - boosts your metabolism.
• Chocolate - makes you happy.

OK, obviously if you wanted to make these 100% good for you, you would leave out the chocolate. But I mean c'mon, when the rest of the cookie is pure goodness I don't think a few chocolate chunks need to leave you feeling guilty.

Actually, if you use dark chocolate that's totally healthy - everyone knows it has health benefits!

But I just like milk chocolate because it's yuuummmmyyyy.

A full fruit bowl, freshly-baked cookies and tea make me happy

Warm from the oven with a cuppa or glass of milk, at breakfast, afternoon tea or before bed, these cookies are a total winner. And the awesome thing is they don't even taste like a "health food." 

I'm just so into creating healthy treats that are amazingly delish these days, and I hope you're enjoying my recipes! Put it this way, you can totally have your cookies and eat them.

This recipe makes 7 cookies but you could easily increase the quantities if you feel like sharing...

Ingredients

1 banana, very ripe

5 medjool dates, pitted

1 cup oats (see pic below)

1.5 tbsp ground almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chocolate chunks or chips (see pic below)

The cup size I used for the oats...

And my chocolate pieces.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with foil or greaseproof paper. In a medium-sized bowl, mash the banana well. 

2. Chop the dates into tiny pieces...

...then add to the banana mix, and mash it all together a bit.

3. Add the oats, almonds and cinnamon and mix well until a dough forms. Fold through the chocolate pieces until evenly distributed. (If your dough seems a little runny, cover and chill in the fridge for a few minutes or add more oats and ground almonds.)

4. Place small spoonfuls of the dough on to the baking tray, pressing each one down a little into circles. Don't worry about placing them close together, they won't spread. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes (check them after 10) until turning golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes before using a spatula to carefully lift the cookies on to a wire rack to cool fully. Actually scrap that. Tuck in while the cookies are warm and the chocolate is melty. Ooh yeah.

Click here to vote Handbags and Cupcakes for "Best Lifestyle Blog" in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2014!