Its bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!!!

Ahhh Gwen, she can do no wrong!!! Now that I have that song stuck in your head, let’s get to the good stuff!!

Do you ever wonder what to do with overripe bananas? Most people’s first thoughts probably jump straight to banana bread – l know mine used to (hello quarantine 2020!!!). And if I wasn’t making banana bread with the overripe bananas, I was freezing them for smoothies. Until one day my creative juices started flowing…

What if I was able to make a banana cookie? And what if I only needed a few ingredients? My brain was in overdrive as I searched the pantry. I had two overripe bananas that were screaming at me and as I continued to scan, my eyes stumbled upon a of container of rolled oats. I grabbed the oats and the bananas and then my eyes wandered over to the spices…. Cinnamon is always a good thing with bananas!!!

A one-to-one ratio seemed like a good start so I combined one cup of mashed banana with one cup of rolled oats. This was a fairly dry mixture so I added a ½ cup of almond milk. I then added about a teaspoon of cinnamon along with a dash of salt. The LPs love raisins so about 1/3 cup of raisins was added to the mix. All ingredients went into a medium bowl and were stirred together. After spraying a cookie sheet with cooking spray, the mixture was distributed evenly in 12 equal(ish) blobs. The cookies were popped in the oven at 350 degrees. After checking on the cookies at 15 minutes, it was apparent they needed a little more time. 5 more minutes was all it took!

These are not going to look "done" when you take them out of the oven. But believe me when I tell you they are good - they even got the stamp of approval from the LPs! Plus, they are a "healthy" cookie because healthy is where it is at over here. As most of you know, I have NSCA ( Non-Small Cell Adenocarcinoma) and added sugar is something our family tries to steer away from.

So here you have it! Let me know if you try it by tagging me @tailoredbytiff. Also, feel free to omit the raisins and/or add chocolate chips (after all, everything in moderation!)

Recipe:

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium/large bananas)

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup almond milk

¼ cup raisins (can omit if not a fan!)

½ tsp. cinnamon

Dash of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix until well combined.

3. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper. Place a dollop of the mixture about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet (s-hould make 12 cookies)

4. Place in oven and bake for 18-22 minutes (oven times vary)

5. Let cool and enjoy