Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

You guys! These cookies are totally legal!! You can make them and eat the entire batch for breakfast and not even feel bad about it (that's what I did today, actually). These totally satisfy my craving for a warm, soft, chewy cookie with absolutely none of the guilt after I eat six of them. I am so happy about this I want to sing!

Nutritionally, this is like eating a bowl of oatmeal, minus the milk. The walnuts give you essential omega-3 fatty acids, and you're getting a serving of fruit from the banana, and whole grains from the oats. The other nice thing about this is it's totally adaptable. You can put whatever you want in them. The first time I made them I only used a banana, oats and chopped walnuts and they were still good!

Are you ready for the best part? If you make these as described below, the entire batch only has about 400 calories.  If you just make the basic cookie with only the banana and oats it's about 240 calories for 6-8 cookies. I know. I know. You can thank me later.

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Cookie base:

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs quick oats

The above ingredients are actually all you need, but I added a few extras:

dash of salt

splash of vanilla

2 Tbs chopped walnuts

1 1/2 Tbs craisins

1 1/2 Tbs shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together ingredients. Form into cookie shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray (they will stick to the pan without one of these precautions). These don't change shape, puff or rise while baking, so form them into the shape you want them to end up. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Makes 6-8 cookies.