Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Cookies

Nearly 6 months after having a baby and I'm finally motivated to get back to striving to be healthy, especially now that Ben is on a schedule and I have free time staying at home with him.  I intend to meal plan (and save a whole lot of money shopping) weekly, be mindful of what I'm eating every day (no more constant snacking), and have found a routine that allows me to run in the morning and walk in the afternoon every day.  It's early yet, I'm only two weeks in, but I feel so great already that I hope to keep up the momentum.

While I eat lunch during Ben's second nap of the day, breakfast takes place while we play in the morning after he gets up, so simple and quick is pretty important.  For awhile now I've been loving the Bel Vita breakfast biscuits and a glass of juice, but I'm starting to crave some alternate choices.  One morning last week I decided to try and create something simple in the form of "on the go oatmeal".  I loved them.

Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Cookies

Makes approximately 12 large cookies

2 large very ripe bananas

2 cups oats

2 tbsp peanut butter (I prefer to use powdered PB2)

1 large handful of mini chocolate chips (my first batch I made with raisins, but I prefer them with chocolate!)

Generous sprinkle of cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium sized bowl, mash bananas

Add the remaining items and stir thoroughly to evenly incorporate ingredients

Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes (optional, but this makes it easier to handle)

Form dough into 2 tbsp sized balls and evenly space on cookie sheet, pressing down to flatten a bit

Bake for approximately 18 minutes, until golden brown

Allow to cool for about 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack

I suspect you could probably make these into breakfast bars instead of cookies if you so desired and bake it together in a pan, but these were thrown together on a whim and I just went with the cookie idea.  In reality you could play with this recipe a lot to make whatever suits your personal tastes, sub raisins for chocolate chips, add a splash of vanilla, try out different spices....

I did end up calculate the approximate calories for these guys and it comes to about 60 calories per cookie, I found 2 cookies was perfect to fill me up along with a large glass of water and small glass of juice.


Addendum: These cookies are quite soft and don't hold up too well in the cookie jar on the counter.  I found they last about 3 days at room temperature, a week in the fridge, and can probably last a few months in the freezer.  Since I ate two a day, mine lived in the fridge.