RECIPE 4 minutes

Bake Better-For-You Cookies

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Skip the guilt this holiday season and indulge in these naturally sweetened, vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.


Yes, Virginia, you can eat cookies this holiday season. Desserts don't have to be full of butter, sugar, or flour. Whether you are invited to a holiday cookie exchange or want to bring a homemade gift to your loved ones, these cookies have all the rich, gooey sweetness of a baked good with much better-for-you ingredients. The recipe swaps dates and banana for white sugar and almond meal and oats for traditional white flour. Creamy peanut butter holds the dough together without eggs.

Whatever the season, these cookies are also great for breakfast with a cup of hot tea.

By Suzanne Boothby


Prep Time:
25 min
|
Cook Time:
16 min

Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dates (soaked in warm water for 10 minutes)
    1 medium ripe banana, mashed
    2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
    1 cup almond meal
    1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
    1/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Once the dates have soaked, drain them and add to a food processor or high-speed blender. Pulse to break into smaller pieces. Add banana and peanut butter and pulse until smooth. Add almond meal and oats until ingredients form a sticky dough. Scrape the mixture into a mixing bowl and gently mix in chocolate chips. Chill dough for 10 minutes.

  2. While dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°. Place tablespoon-size dollops of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 16 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for several minutes before serving.

    Tip: Allergic to peanuts? Use almond butter or cashew butter instead. Or try using sunflower seed butter.


    © 2015 Omega Institute for Holistic Studies