Cooking Done Light

While at the supermarket recently, I came across an entire section of “breakfast cookies”. They looked pretty yummy, so I thought that I would check them out – but after a glance at the nutrition label, I was dismayed to find that they were nothing more than “sugar bombs” disguised as a breakfast meal!! I would be better off eating cake for breakfast if I wanted that much sugar to start my day.

Naturally, a few days later, I made it my mission to create a delicious, soft, chewy cookie that would actually be worthy of the title “breakfast cookie”. What I came up with was this recipe. These cookies are extremely healthy and you can easily change them around with various additions to suit your preferences or mood. They contain absolute no processed flour, no oils, no preservatives or additives, and they are low in calories, and completely fat free. (Oh, and they freeze wonderfully!)

3 large, ripe mashed bananas,

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups quick-cooking raw oats

1/4 cup skim milk

1/2 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit you want to add)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar (or other dry sweetener)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper; set aside.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until very well combined. Let this mixture stand for about 5-10 minutes to let the oats absorb some of the moisture from the wet ingredients. Using a heaping spoonful of batter for each cookie, drop batter onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving room for each cookie to “spread” slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

**Additional Variations: If you add any variety of chopped nuts, you will have a grab and go breakfast that includes protein as well as fruits and grains (with a very trivial amount of added fat). Dried cranberries are also a wonderful addition (especially in the fall). And cardamom will add an interesting flavor twist if you want to substitute that spice for the cinnamon.

NOTE: Due to variations in the size of the bananas, I have yielded a different quantity of cookies each and every time that I have made this recipe. Also It is important to note that this is not a dessert type of cookie, so it will not be extremely sweet (like what you are used to eating when you think of a “cookie”.

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Quantity produced will vary. Per 3 Cookies: 187 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 16 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, less than 1 g sugar, 3.5 g protein, 39 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol