Irit’s Oatmeal Banana Cookies- guilt free and fat free

November 18, 2014 Published by Dina

On my recent visit to Israel I stayed for a couple of nights with a long time gal-friend Irit. Irit and I now see each other infrequently so it was a special treat to spend some time together. She lives in a beautiful home in Zichron Yaakov and has a spa-like guest suite in which I stayed. The bright and serene suite has an arched window above the bed overlooking a profusion of purple hanging flowers and orange Bougainvilleas climbing nearby.

We went out for breakfast on the beach in Caesarea but early in the morning we still had time for a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee at home, chatting, reminiscing, enjoying a gals’ talk. The two cats and a dog who share her house brushed against us occasionally, reminding us that they also live there. To go with the morning coffee Irit pulled out from her freezer what she calls her “breakfast cookies”. We had one and then another and it took some self discipline to stop at three. Irit runs a weight loss and nutrition business in Zichron called Freedom from Diets and has significant experience in the nutrition and weight loss industry after living in the US and working in this field for more than 20 years. She is an intuitive cook and very conscious about keeping her food low in fat and in simple carbohydrates. I am not sure where she obtained this recipe, or if she made it up herself. Forgot to ask. I have since seen it on line in some variation but I will attribute the recipe to Irit.

Banana- oatmeal cookies vegan, fat free

It is a very simple base recipe that you can embellish with additional ingredients, but sometime simplest is best. Irit places the oats in a bowl, mashes a couple of bananas into the oats and mixes them together with clean hands. She then adds about 1/3 cup of dried cranberries and distributes them into the mixture with her hands or a spoon. I had an apple within reach when I made them so I grated it and added to the mixture for some extra moisture as it is so dry up here in Western Canada where we live.

All you need to do now is form the dough into small cookies and bake at 35 for 20 minutes or so. The cookies do not need to brown, just to dry a little as they cook and set. I wouldn’t make them too large either, a couple of bites size is plenty. I use a small ice cream scoop to measure out the dough and then press it into rounds with wet hands.

I suggest you keep them in an air-tight container or in the freezer. You can warm a few up in the microwave or leave them on the counter to thaw.

Makes about 18 X 2.5 inch cookies

Ingredients:

3 cup quick cooking oatmeal (not instant, not old fashioned)

2 large bananas

1 small apple, peeled and grated

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Place rolled oats in a bowl.

Add the bananas, one at a time and with your clean hands or a spatula mash them into the oats until well combined and there are no dry oats in the mix.

Add the grated apple (with the juice that accumulates) and mix it in with a spatula.

Add the dried cranberries.

Using a small ice cream scoop scoop out balls of the dough and flattened them with your hands into small disks.

Place on a foil lined baking sheet (you can lightly grease the sheet if you’d like but it is not necessary).

Bake at a 350℉ oven for about 20 minutes until they just begin to turn golden.

Place on a rack to cool.

Freeze fro later or store in an air tight container.

Enjoy.