Healthy Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (Free of Top Allergens)

I am not a morning person. Never have been, and likely never will be.

My little man on the other hand, loves getting up early.

With an early riser in the family, nowadays I get up as early as 5 am. I have found that since I get up much earlier now, I like to have a light breakfast to tide me over until lunchtime.

I discovered this Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookie recipe back in April and have made it countless times. This recipe is quick and easy to make, and can be kept in the fridge for up to a week (if it lasts that long).

For those with food allergies, this recipe is free of all the top allergens. I made my own apple sauce from scratch using this recipe and substituted honey in place of sugar to make these cookies even healthier. Did you know you can freeze homemade apple sauce?

These Healthy Banana Oatmeal cookies are a huge hit and a winner in our household as they are delicious, sugar free and good for you.

It makes me feel like a rebel when I tell my little man he can have a cookie at 5 am. Just don't tell him these cookies are healthy! ;)

Makes: 20 to 24 cookies

Ingredients
3 large ripe bananas
2 cups rolled oats (gluten-free or regular)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar free dried fruit (homemade or store bought; I used dried cranberries)
1/3 cup apple sauce (homemade or store bought)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Add in dried fruit, apple sauce and vanilla.

2. Mix well and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Please do not skip this step as the oatmeal needs to soak up all the moisture to bind the ingredients together.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Drop cookies by the teaspoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet. With the back of a large teaspoon, flatten the cookie flat into a round shape.

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown.

6. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before eating. Store in a tight lidded container for up to a week in the fridge.

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

A Prolonged Absence...

The last four months have been anything but predictable and routine in my life. At the end of February, our family experienced some significant changes and then in mid April, we coped with even more stress with more changes. Without going into my personal life too much, these last four months have been exhausting, challenging and nerve-wrecking.

Our family's diet and this blog took the biggest hit. With a lack of time, I started incorporating more pre-made foods into our diet (check back for a blog post on my thoughts on this). This blog took a back seat as I struggled to find time in my day to do everything. Don't worry though, I still took pictures of some new recipes that will be published shortly.

Through it all, I missed blogging, writing and sharing recipes and neat things I discovered. During my absence, I discovered that in order to maintain this blog, I needed to cut back on the daily posts to posting once or twice a week. This will allow me to have a better work-life-blog balance and hopefully result in more quality, thoughtful posts.

Up next is a recipe that has become a family favorite. Stay tuned for Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies which are free of the top allergens and sugar-free!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Kid-Friendly)

My little man got up this morning at 6:45 am instead of his usual 8 am wake up time. Needless to say, it took me by surprise.

With a hot cup of tea in my hand, I sat at the dining table contemplating what to do with a little one full of energy, at 7 am. I am so not a morning person. Yawn.

As I was watching my little man wolf down his cereal and yogurt, I asked my early riser if he wanted to make banana muffins or banana pancakes. With a sparkle in his eye, he clapped his hands and squealed "muff". Okay, muffins it is.

This was the first time my little man and I baked/cooked together. My goodness, I was super surprised by the fact that he is a seasoned pro (for a toddler!). This is all in part thanks to my husband who gets the little man's help on weekend mornings making pancakes. Check out the pictures below of my little man mixing, mashing and stirring the banana muffin batter. Hey, Chef Ramsey, my little man will be a MasterChef (Junior)!

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 medium, ripe bananas
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 large egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chocolate chips (you can add up to 1/2 cup if you want more chocolate chips)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork or potato masher.

"Mas Mas Mas" (aka Mash Mash Mash)

4. Add in sugar, egg, butter to the banana mixture until it is thoroughly combined.

5. Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture until it is just combined; do not over mix.

Mix Mix Mix.

6. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Mix Mix Mix some more.

7. Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups (greased or lined with muffin liners).

8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown.

Source: Adapted from 201 Organic Baby and Toddler Meals