Simple Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I’ve been doing a good bit of baking lately and today I’m making a batch of these banana oatmeal cookies. Since we’re all stuck in the house, with extra time on our hands, it only makes sense. Plus it’s a great way to relieve stress and feel like we’re treating ourselves to a little something special. Even if that “something special” is an extra cup of coffee and a healthy cookie in the afternoon.

This simple two ingredient recipe is quickly becoming my favorite way to use up ripe bananas. This recipe uses no flour and is gluten-free. You can make this with any reasonably ripe bananas, but the darker they are, the better the end result will taste. If your aren’t quite ripe yet, consider adding a spoon of honey, or a little bit of sugar to sweeten things up. It won’t be quite as healthy, but I won’t tell anyone.

Outline below is the very basic recipe for these cookies. They are great if you follow the directions as is, but even better when you add a few extra ingredients. Experiment. Play with these cookies. Get the kids involved, and come up with a version all your own. Dig around the pantry and see what kinds of dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate chips you can find. Or throw in a handful of mini M&Ms if you have them sitting around. It’s your cookie. You add what you want to.

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Allow the cookies to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container for two days on the counter, or up to a week in the fridge … if you can get them to last that long. The cookies also freeze well if you want to make a bunch at once. Thaw at room temperature until completely defrosted.

This is the basic recipe. From here, you can play with it by adding more ingredients. Try adding up to 1/3 cup of a combination of any of the following:

• Mini chocolate Chips
• Peanut Butter or Butterscotch Chips
• Raisins
• Dried Cranberries
• Chopped Walnuts
• Chopped Pecans
• Sliced Almonds
• Dried Dates (chopped)
• Candied Ginger (finely chopped)

Or add a sprinkle of cinnamon or a splash of vanilla to the batter before forming and baking the cookies.

I hope you give these two ingredient banana oatmeal cookies a try. They are quickly becoming a staple around here.

Of course this isn’t the only thing you can make with ripe bananas. Try these banana muffins, or one of my other favorites – homemade banana nut bread.