You know those moments when all your bananas ripen at once. That was me this week, but where most households have a a few bananas, I had a whole bunch, literally. My sister bought a house with an established banana plant which, with all the rain the east cost of Australia has received has drunk heavily and cropped the same, and i ended up with my fair share, all of them. So it has been banana smoothies, banana cakes, banana bread and these Oaty Banana Choc Chip cookies.

The first batch disappeared within an hour. I found an empty biscuit container hiding behind a door and 2 chocolate faced kiddies not far away. Since then I have made 2 more batches and have had few requests for the recipe so I thought I would share it with you all.

If your looking for a kids cooking project, these oaty cookies are perfect. They require little skill and require using your hands to shape and mold. My 3 year old has enjoyed making every batch with me and surprisingly there has been minimal mess. Being refine sugar free there is also the added comfort that they are reducing the amount of processed foods within there systems and helping to maintain natural blood sugar levels.

The cookies themselves are a cross between a biscuit and a muesli bar. They are dense and wholesome and full on nutrition, high in omega 3 and protein and fiber thanks to the oats, chia seeds and LSA. The bananas are used as a binder or egg replacement, they also add sweetness to the cookie. The dates also add flavour and sweetness, along with the honey.

This is an adapted recipe from the amazing Theresa Cutter. The biscuits are wheat free but could be made wholely gluten free by replacing the oats with 2 cups of qinoa flakes that have been soaked for 10 minutes in water.

Oaty Banana and Choc Chip Cookie

1 cup Mashed ripe Banana

2 cups Oats

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

1/2 cup LSA

1 tbsp Chia Seeds

10 dates finely chopped

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 200C fan forced

Line 2 biscuit trays with silicone paper

In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix to combine.

Add the wet ingredients and mix until everything is incorporated.

Roll tbsp worth of mix to create a ball. Place on biscuit tray and slightly flatten into a disk. Continue until all mix is used.

Place baking trays in the oven and immediately reduce temperature to 150C.

Bake for 30 – 50 minutes. (30 minutes will give you a softer cakey cookie and 50 minutes will give you an almost muesli bar textured cookie)

My Notes:

If don’t have coconut oil just replace it with any other type of oil you have.

LSA is a ground blend of Linseed, Sunflower and Almond. It is available in most major supermarkets, in health food shops and of course online. You could replace it with any ground nuts of choice. Ground Hazelnut meal works particularly well in the recipe complimenting the banana flavour.

You can freeze ripe bananas for later use in cakes and smoothies. I have 2 containers worth in there at the moment.

For a vegan version use rice malt syrup or agave nectar to replace honey and use vegan dark chocolate.