Cookie Pre-Game

Last night, I decided to test out a new cookie recipe. Tomorrow's class focuses on converting unhealthy baked goods, such as cookies, brownies and muffins, into healthy ones. We will be replacing each individual ingredient from something bad for you to something health-supportive (or at least less bad for you). So, in honor of this (and also just because I had an old banana lying and the boys at work were begging for baked goods), I felt I should practice making vegan cookies. The recipe for these came from the NY Times a month or two ago. I just changed them slightly by adding coconut. Give 'em a try!

Oatmeal Banana Cookies: Yields about 2 dozen
1 large ripe banana
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (can substitute up to half with whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (vegan if you desire)
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the banana in a medium bowl with a fork. Mix in oil, sugar and vanilla.
2. Add in flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder, mixing until combined. Stir in oats, walnuts, chocolate chips and coconut.
3. Roll 1-2 Tbsp of dough into balls (or use a small cookie scoop like I did!) and place 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

These make a delicious lunch-box treat! Tomorrow will be the big game- The Cookie Conversion Showdown! Stay tuned for healthy baked-goods recipes.