Seriously though, with all kidding aside, why do cookies need to be loaded with sugar, butter and flour, not to mention the store-bought cookies that have so many ingredients non of us can pronounce. Go ahead, flip that box over, and take a look at the ingredients list. PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CARAMEL COLOR. Those are just a few ingredients in the very popular chips ahoy cookies. Does that sound like something you want to eat, or your kids to eat?

Those boxed cookies, they taste great, but with so many of us trying to make healthier choices for our health, for our family, to lose those few extra pounds there. Don’t worry, there are smarter, and still just as tasty alternatives that won’t make you feel like you’re depriving yourself of those little pleasures.

I don’t bake very often, I get discouraged at some of the ingredients in recipes that have 10+ ingredients in them, loaded with canola oil, sugar, bleached flour and I just scroll right past those feeling completely discourages. Once in a while, I’ll come across something that inspires me to get creative in the kitchen and experiment.

This brings me to these delicious, 3 ingredient, oat and banana cookies. They are a chewy cookie, great as a snack anytime of day or for breakfast with some yogurt.

Three ingredient cookies – banana, oats, cranberries

What you’ll need

2 large very ripe bananas
1 1/5 gluten-free oats (or regular)
1/2 a cup of one of the following …… chopped hazelnuts, chopped cranberries, grated coconut, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, almond slices, dried pineapple, goji berries, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, or anything else you like in cookies.

Three ingredient cookies – banana, oats, grated coconut

What to do

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Rub some coconut oil on the baking sheet with a paper towel. In a large bowl, mash bananas until they are fairly smooth paste-like. Set aside. In a food processor, add oats, and pulse the processor 5-8 times, or until you see the oats are smaller in size. Add to the mashed bananas, with a spoon, stir to combine. Add chopped cranberries (or whatever your choice is from the list above) Leave for about 5 minutes. This way the oats absorb some of the moisture from the banana. Spoon about one tablespoon (actual soup spoon, not the measuring one) of the oat mixture onto the making sheet. Pat the mixture around to form an even ball. Repeat until the mixture is all on the baking sheet in the form of little round cookies. Bake for about 17-20 minutes. This will make about 14 cookies, depending on the size.

Three ingredient cookies – banana, oats, dark chocolate chips

There is no sugar needed in these. The added burst of sweetness comes from whatever you decide to put in them. Cranberries, or other dried fruit, chocolate chips, coconut, there really isn’t any need for anything else. Enjoy.

Three ingredient cookies – banana, oats, chopped hazelnuts