Flourless Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve been a huge slacker on blogging lately, but if you’ve been following on social media or if you’re on my mailing list you’d know that I’ve had some big changes in the past few months. In November I had a baby and l’m currently on maternity leave. So far baby Gwenyth is healthy and happy and, although I’m a bit more tired than before, I can’t complain too much as she’s a decent sleeper too! I plan on coming back to work sometime in the springtime or summer to host my online classes again and I’ll be sure to keep you posted about my return via my newsletter.

In the meantime, I’ll be hanging out with Gweny, getting to know her better, and also cooking and baking a lot. Since she was born I’ve made a lot of muffins, loaves and cookies. I like to make something sweet each week. The recipes change, but they always tend to be made with more nutritious ingredients and I try to keep them lower sugar as I’m not a huge fan of super sweet sweets.

The recipe I’ve shared below is one of my go-to’s. I’ve made these cookies a lot! When I shared the recipe on social media I received so much positive feedback that I felt they were worthy of the blog. Please use the recipe below as a guideline and add or subtract whatever you’d like as this recipe can easily handle substitutions.

Ingredients:

3 mashed bananas
2 cups of oats (I used rolled oats, but quick oats would work)
1 cup of natural smooth or crunchy peanut butter (1/2 cup PB and 1/2 cup tahini or 1 cup other nut or seed butter of your choice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
3 tablespoons maple syrup
Dairy-free dark chocolate chips (as much or as little as you’d like)
Sea salt (just a couple pinches to add into the recipe or to sprinkle on top)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

Mix all of the ingredients together. You may choose to add or omit ingredients and/or swap the peanut butter for other nut or seed butters, or any mix of your favourite nut/seed butter (please note that if you use alternate butters - like tahini - you may need to adjust the sweetness a bit with extra maple syrup or extra chocolate chips). In the photo above you can see that I added pumpkin seeds. I also included chia seeds and some cinnamon. Other times I’ve made this recipe I’ve added ground flax, hemp, walnuts, and/or raisins. Be creative! Add your favourite ingredients as this is not your traditional cookie recipe and is very forgiving.

Once you’ve thoroughly mixed your ingredients taste the batter to make sure it’s to your liking, then create evenly sized balls (I usually get about 20 - 24 cookies as I keep mine on the smaller side) and place them on your baking sheet. Flatten them a bit with a fork or your hand. Transfer the sheet to the oven. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes. These cookies don’t really expand or become fluffy, but they will crisp up a bit on the bottom.

Once cooled you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container for a week or the freezer for a few months. Enjoy!