Baking is one of my absolute favorite things to do, especially when I get to eat what I've baked! Only, I always seem to go overboard with the eating part of the process, which isn't exactly conducive to a healthy lifestyle :p
So on Sunday, I decided to have a crack at cleaning up one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes- chocolate chip cookies!
A classic, but I'll never be bored with them!
To clean these up, I knew I would have to replace lots of ingredients like the butter, white flour, and tonnes of sugar. I did a little research (mostly on Pinterest!), and came up with a recipe which I think worked out absolutely deliciously :D
To make these cookies, you'll need:
- 2 cups of rolled oats, or quick-cook oats if you prefer
- 2 really ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs, whisked in a bowl
- 2 tbs brown sugar
- 2 packets of stevia
- 2 tbs of ground almonds (optional- I love the texture and the taste!)
- 1/2 a cup of dark chocolate chips
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
First, mix together your oats, bananas, eggs, and ground almonds together in a great big bowl
Your oats may appear a little dry at this point, but don't worry about it! As you keep mixing the oats will absorb more of the wet ingredients and will turn out fine. Don't do what I did and add in water! This made my dough become really sticky and hard to roll!
Secondly, add in your baking powder and baking soda and mix thoroughly. This helps the cookies to rise a little, and gives them more of a traditional 'cookie' texture.
Next, add in the good bits! The sugar, stevia, and chocolate chips! Mix the whole lot together, and your batter is all ready!
Line a baking sheet with baking paper, roll out tablespoon-sized balls and spread as many as you can out on the baking sheet.
Flatten the cookies out a little bit, and then pop them into a 180 degree oven, on 'fan bake'. They won't spread out on the tray at all, so don't worry about that! These cookies will take about 10 minutes to bake, and should be left to cool on a wire rack (if you can wait that long!).
The end result is a delicious, chewy, chocolatey cookie which tastes nearly exactly like a banana chocolate chip muffin! But even better, these cookies are much kinder to your health than a muffin or traditional chocolate chip cookies!
There are so many variations you could make to this recipe! Adding spices, vanilla, grated apple, whatever takes your fancy!
I think next time I'll try mine with some peanut butter added in- yum!
These cookies are high in fibre and protein, and MUCH lower in fat and sugar than traditional chocolate chip cookies! What's not to love??
So you see, eating clean and healthy doesn't mean giving up desert, or missing out on your favorite treats! All it takes is a little thought, and a few clever swaps here and there, any you don't have to miss out on anything!
I'm off to enjoy one of these tasty treats with my evening cup of green tea :)
Hope you all enjoy these cookies as much as I have!
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