Wellness Wednesday: Healthy Elvis Cookies

"Mo' Butter Mo' Better." Right?! Ugh... maybe not so much.

Husband and I are trying really hard to live a healthier lifestyle. We are eating less carbohydrates during the week and limiting ourselves to one cheat day on the weekend. It's HU-ARD. Especially when you are a baker...*sigh* please cue the sad music.

Determined to do some long over due baking, I set out to see what few "good" things I could find in my pantry. No oil (yuck.), no butter (hmm), and a pound of sugar was far from my mind.

I did spot two bananas quickly ripening in our fruit bowl and I just knew we had a random handful of dried oats lost in the back of the cabinet. A quick search for "bananas and oatmeal" led me to the perfect recipe for 2-Ingredient Cookies.

Except I made mine into 3-Ingredient Cookies. With Elvis in mind. Because he is the King of Rock and I'm kind of like the Queen of Baking  (well, at least in this house) With the main ingredient as bananas, I just knew Elvis would totally approve of me throwing in something sweet like peanut butter chips. Can I get an "Uh Huh"?

Source

Here's what I used:
-2 ripe bananas (Don't fear the brown, go for the brown!)
-1 cup of oatmeal (not quick oats)
-1/2 cup of peanut butter chips mixed with a few Reese's Pieces (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, I poured the oats into a small bowl. Then I placed the whole bananas on top of the oats. I mashed the bananas and stirred until both ingredients were mixed.

Then, I folded in the peanut butter chips. Originally, I had planned to use a full cup but in the end I only needed 1/2 cup. If you want an even healthier version, you could replace the peanut butter chips with raisins, cranberries, walnuts, etc. 

The last thing I did was to scoop the mixture by a tablespoonful and place it on the baking sheet. I did use a silicone sheet to keep the cookies from sticking to the pan. If you don't have one, make sure you spray your baking sheet with cooking spray first. (Mine even had to be pried a bit off the silicone sheet)

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The cookies will not expand while cooking so don't worry if you think they are not baking. The heat allows the cookies' ingredients to better stick together for a nice chewy cookie. This recipe makes 12-14 cookies.

These cookies are practically guilt free. I just ate four of them right out of the oven. *Gasp* but no worries, when I break it down I got some banana, oatmeal, and a tiny bit of peanut butter. The health benefits of oatmeal shouldn't be forgotten!

Here's What I Read:

• Oatmeal is a heart healthy food. It actually helps lower cholesterol in the bloodstream.
• Oatmeal takes longer to digest and therefore provides a full feeling stomach for longer than most foods.

Recipe Adapted From: The Burlap Bag
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The King sure knew what he was doing when he fell for those peanut butter and banana sandwiches!

*Follow up- Husband LOVED these. To be honest, I was shocked because I thought the cookies would be a little "too out there" for him. After eating the last cookie he asked, "Do we have any more bananas?" How can I resist baking more of these cookies when I know they are as healthy as cookies come?

What would you mix-in with banana and oatmeal cookies?

What's Baking,