Cocoa, banana, oat & peanut butter yummy bites

Well well well, what do we have here? Oh, just some very yummy bites of nutritious deliciousness.

These super-soft, scrumptious treats are a variation of the classic “paleo” cookie (mashed banana and oats). Or really, “improvement,” if you will.

Ingredients*: 

• 5 over-ripe bananas (with brown speckles but not yet completely brown)
• 1/2 cup cocoa or cacao (since these cookies are baked, I choose to use cocoa over cacao. Stumped as to why? See “What is the difference between cocoa and cacao?“).
• 1.5 cups of organic quick oats
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• Peanut butter (optional but personally preferred!)

*Makes around 4 dozen cookies.

Directions:

Peel and mash the bananas with a fork or by tossing them in a food processor for a minute or so. Add the cocoa, quick oats, honey and coconut oil, and stir to create a consistent batter.

Using a silicone mold pan: I have a silicone mold pan (click here for more information about this pan) that I primarily use for homemade chocolate, but that worked just swimmingly for this recipe as it makes perfectly-shaped little bite-sized treats. If you use a mold pan, simply pour the batter into the molds, place the tray in the oven and bake for 25 minutes at 300°F.  No need to grease the pan.

Using a regular cookie sheet: Spoon tablespoon-sized dollops of the batter onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 300°F, remove the pan from the oven and flip the cookies using a spatula, and then bake for another ten minutes. The goal here is to partially dehydrate the cookies. If you find that the cookies are still too moist and not sticking together, pop them back in the oven for another five minutes. No need to grease the sheet.

After the cookies are cooled, simply spread some PB between two cookies and enjoy! The cookies are also delicious on their own, and you may wish to leave some without peanut butter.

Store the cookies in the refrigerator and eat within three days or so.