cookie recipe

vegan banana maple cookies

These cookies should really be called Sugarless Vegan Maple Banana Apple Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, but I figured that was a little excessive.

I wanted to make my mom something delicious for Mother’s Day on Sunday. I went down to the Vineyard to surprise her at work and although, let’s be real, my presence is gift enough in itself, I never like showing up somewhere empty-handed. (I kid, I kid.) My beautiful mom is vegan-ish and she LOVES cookies, so I made it my personal mission to create vegan cookies that were healthy (well, as “healthy” as a cookie can be).

After researching substitutions for sugar, butter, eggs, oil—pretty much everything that makes a cookie a cookie—I was ready to get my Bill Nye the Science Guy on and experiment in the kitchen.

Marvel at the healthiness of the final ingredient list…

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole grain rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 banana
¼ cup apple sauce
¼ cup peanut butter
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp water

Ok, peanut butter and maple syrup aren’t exactly slimming, but that is still one sexy list.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Celsius.
Stop being an idiot and adjust the temperature of your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mash up the banana and mix in all the wet-ish ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
Mix er’thing together.
Stick your finger in the batter and taste the guilt-free glory of this cookie recipe. This step is mandatory because in all honesty, the dough is better than the final baked product. You also may want to lick the spoon, spatula, bowl, etc.
Plop spoonfuls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. The dough will be sticky, leaving you with a great excuse to lick your fingers again.
Bake 8-13 minutes. The first round, I used a heaping spoonful of dough for each cookie and let them stay in there 13 minutes. The second round, I used small spoonfuls and kept them in for only 8.

These cookies are soft, moist and delicious. I figured the peanut butter would overwhelm them, but the dominant flavor is most definitely the banana. Almost like a banana bread cookie.

Try them out and let me know what you think! And if you’re pro in the sport of vegan cooking, let me know what other substitutions you use!

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cheesecake chocolate chip cookies rolled in oreo crumbs

With a title like that, you’re probably asking yourself what the heck this recipe is doing in a blog about health & fitness. Well, happiness is a key component to overall health, and a life without the occasional cookie is not happy. End of story.

I found this recipe on Pinterest during one of my nightly 2-hour pinning rampages, and fell in love. Maybe because I had these high expectations, I was a little disappointed when I made them and wasn’t blown away. A delicious cookie, don’t get me wrong, but I was expecting to bite into them and instantly go into Cookie Monster binge mode. My slight disappointment didn’t last long, though, because a scoop of vanilla ice cream takes all cookies/brownies/pies to the next level. Cheesecake chocolate chip cookies rolled in Oreo crumbs topped with vanilla ice cream? Yes, please.

INGREDIENTS

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup chocolate chips
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs
Vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS

Preheat over to 375. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cream together the butter and cream cheese. The original recipes says “on medium speed until smooth and well-combined,” but if you’re poor like I am, and don’t own fancy baking equipment, a fork and your hand also work well.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Turn the Oreo cookies into crumbs by putting a handful in a double-bagged zip-lock and beating the living hell out of it with your fist.
Roll dough into 1-2” balls and then roll the balls in a bowl filled with the Oreo crumbs until they’re coated.
Place cookies on sheet and bake 12-15 minutes. This recipe will make about a dozen.
Cool on pan for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack (or plate…again, I have no baking equipment).
Serve with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream to take these bad boys from “good” to “I’ll-have-eight-please.”

Feeling extra ambitious? Make an ice cream sandwich out of them!

So, I went a little overboard with the cookie photography. You know that scene in the Lion King when Rafiki stands on the cliff edge and lifts baby Simba up as the light shines down on Mufasa’s son? That was the inspiration for these next pictures. I really managed to capture that same raw emotion, right?