Saturday, April 2, 2011

Healthier Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Oatmeal): A Guilt-Free Vegan Treat

Sometimes, even when you want to be eating healthy, you need a little something sweet and baked like these vegan Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are from a recipe I pulled from Health magazine a while back and "found" the other day when I was looking through some recipe clippings. They are from Bethenny Frankel, who although I find somewhat annoying to watch and listen to on the Bravo channel, I will readily admit, makes a darn good vegan cookie.

There's no "java" in the cup--it's hot chocolate with coconut milk, but I had not used my old Starbucks mugs lately and they make me smile...

I did make a few changes to the recipe--adding some unsweetened coconut, a bit of wheat germ to add a few more nutrients, swapping out the raw sugar for some agave syrup I had in the pantry, and exchanging vanilla coconut milk for the soy milk. My changes are in red below.


Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Coconut)
Adapted from Bethenny Frankel, Health Magazine 11/08
(Makes 16 Cookies)
Prep: 10 Minutes / Cook: 25 Minutes

1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raw sugar (I subbed 1/3 cup agave syrup)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup plain soy milk (I used vanilla coconut milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 ripe banana, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or other favorite nut
1/3 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips (such as Tropical Source) (I used Enjoy Life vegan mini chips)
(I added 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut)
(I added 2 Tbsp wheat germ)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine first 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl. Whisk together oil, soy milk, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients; stir to combine. Fold in bananas, walnuts, and chocolate chips.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough onto pan with a small ice-cream scoop. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown, turning baking sheet halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.

Nutritional Info: Calories 138; Fat 8g (sat 1g, mono 4g, poly 2g); cholesterol 0mg; protein 2g; carbohydrates 16g; sugars 9g; fiber 1g; iron 1mg; sodium 114mg; calcium 16mg.


Health Notes: Use this cookie base (minus the last 3 ingredients) as a blank canvas for other flavor variations. So instead of using bananas, walnuts, and chocolate chips, try one of the following:
  • raisins and a pinch of cinnamon
  • dried blueberries with raw sugar sprinkled on the cookies
  • dried cranberries 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
  • slivered almonds and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Notes/Results: Soft, chewy and tender--like a cross between a cookie and a muffin. These are really good cookies, vegan or otherwise, and totally hit the spot for that sweet craving--especially with a cup of hot chocolate made with coconut milk. It's also a good "breakfast" cookie. ;-) I liked the changes I made--the cookies were not too sweet and the coconut and wheat germ added good texture. I did bake mine only about 19 minutes--as I like my cookies softer rather than brown and crispy. Frankel suggests using the basic dough as a canvass for different ingredients and I think they would be fun with some dried tropical fruit and the coconut, or maybe chunks of apple and cinnamon. A great little, not-so-guilty treat and one that I will make again.

***Giveaway Reminder***

Don't forget to enter my giveaway of a copy of a great book, "The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted" by Bridget Asher. Check out my review, a recipe inspired by the book and the details on how to enter here.

Happy Weekend!

7 comments:

  1. I once watched part of an episode of her show... :p

    These cookies look and sound great!

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  2. Well, I do love Bethenny (she makes for some really good tv watching at the gym!). But I've never actually made anything of hers. So it's good to know that her whole "empire" is actually based off of tasty food! The cookies sound delicious.

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  3. Oh! These do sound fantastic...for a healthier, vegan option ;P. Tee Hee...kidding...they look delicious!

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  4. I just learned that Bethenny was a chef the other day when I saw her on the Top Chef finale. I've been all about bananas for awhile now and these sound fabulous!

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  5. I've had a hard time watching the housewives of New York too. Bethenny seems the most normal, but those women are scary, and this is coming from someone who lives in Manhattan.

    I like your idea of using this cookie as a base to integrate other goodies. I'm all for guilt-free cookies, it means I can eat more of it.

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  6. I just started watching Bethenny a few weeks ago - compared to the other housewives shes the voice of reason. The cookies look yummy - I like the idea of a breakfast cookie!

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  7. WOW - these sound fabulous! Can't wait to give them a try... but I will be having Lion Coffee with mine. :-)

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