A Cookable Feast

You may have heard of the two-ingredient banana oatmeal cookie. It’s the easiest baked good to make: Take some bananas. Mash them. Add some oats. Mix and form into cookies that you bake in the oven and Bam! The healthiest cookies ever are born. They’re processed-sugar-free, made of whole grains and fruit, and surprisingly addictive.

Many recipes for two-ingredient cookies give a list of add-ins you can incorporate to jazz up the cookies. Chocolate chips are frequently listed, and with chocolate being on my list of Favorite Things in Life Ever, I’ve always wanted to add them. But the thought of the baddie processed sugar in traditional chocolate chips always bummed me out – because then the super-healthy cookie wouldn’t be so healthy (or justifiable to eat six at breakfast like I just did today). Solution = use raw cacao nibs! Ok, so they aren’t as sweet as chocolate chips, but they do lend a chocolaty flavor and a satisfying crunch to the cookies. Plus they’re loaded with fiber, magnesium, and antixoidants and contain no sugar. Hooray! Adding these to the banana cookies with sliced almonds equals total yumness.  And really, you could eat the whole pan of cookies here, and how bad would it really be? You’d be consuming three servings of fruit – and whole grains and protein and fiber and antioxidants. How many desserts can you say that about?

-3 large ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

-3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

-1/4 cup raw cacao nibs

-1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, then spoon out individual cookie balls (about two inches wide in diameter) onto a greased baking sheet, leaving at least an inch of space between each. Bake for 15 minutes, then let cool and enjoy! Store any not consumed immediately in an airtight container; they will keep for at least a few days. Makes about 11-12 cookies.