Good for the lunch box: Skinny chunky monkey cookies
Once, I was flippantly fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants. Then I met Dave, and we each worked spells on each other. I transformed him into an eggplant, quinoa, and other healthy foods eater, and he turned me into a right stubborn List Maker. The spreadsheet obsessive, Excel-happy kind. Since the arrival of Felix, however, that's changed significantly, along with too many things to count (but not the eggplant, quinoa, and other healthy foods eating, hooray!). I still make bunches of lists, but they dance in disorganized fashion in my head, and they consist of topics like: Things I Can Accomplish One-Handed, Ways of Arranging a Pseudo Productive Boppy Environment, and Things I can Make Wearing the Little Monkey in the Boba Wrap. As far as that last one is concerned, this cookie recipe fits the bill nicely.
I hardly feel like I deserve the title "Busy Mom" yet, but "Nursing Mom" feels awfully close and given the accepted constant sleep-deprivation, I am all for cooking according to busy mom philosophy. Sometimes that means picking the slow cooker meal that doesn't require any browning, or anything but chopping in advance; sometimes it means giving up BPA blues and embracing the convenience of the odd can. But the end product still needs to fit in the range of what I'd call healthy.
These skinny chunky monkey cookies, so easy to prepare, are for sure going to make their way into future lunch boxes for my little monkey (and are being stored in a mental Plans for 4 Years From Now list). They use mashed bananas, oats, cocoa powder, a little applesauce and a bit of peanut butter, vanilla, and that's it. One quick batch makes a lot, too (like two large cookie sheets, and they are good. OK, they are good in a healthy-tasting way, and if you're not into Things that Taste on the Healthy Side, they might not be for you. For instance, Dave does not like them at all. I love them however, and if you are into things that taste on the healthy side, you may well find them lick the batter good like I do. And, without eggs or anything you'd question in batter, that is definitely part of the fun. While making them, I felt simultaneously proud of myself for managing healthy cookie baking wrapped with the little monkey, and guiltily like a bad mom when I got greedy and allowed some of the batter to drop from my finger onto Felix's nose. I'm not sure where this recipe originally came from (thanks, Linds, for sharing on Facebook), but if someone does, let me know! I had to get this one in the records...it's a keeper.
Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies
- 3 ripe bananas
- 2 cups oats
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter (or substitute another nut butter)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Mash bananas. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes.