I can’t get enough of these cookies. I ate 3 yesterday when they were warm out of the oven, and hold no regrets. They are delicious, healthy, and something I know I’ll make again.
Chunky Monkey Nut Butter Oaties
Ingredients:
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2 cups oatmeal, divided
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3/4 cup cashew butter(or peanut butter)
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1/2 cup brown sugar
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1/4 cup maple syrup
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1/4 cup water
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1 banana, mashed
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1 teaspoon cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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3/4 teaspoon baking soda
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1/4 cup chocolate chips(optional)
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1/4 cup raisins(optional)
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1/4 cup chopped nuts(optional)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Add 1 cup of oatmeal to a food processor or blend and process until the oats make a flour(if you don’t have either of these, just use 3/4 cup whole wheat flour instead). Add the oat flour to a bowl together with the cashew butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and water, and mix.
*At this point, I noticed something was missing: The batter wasn’t coming together and didn’t look like a cookie at all. It needed something to emulsify, and my eye happened to glance at the sole last banana in the fruit bowl. Banana, Cashews, Chocolate—this recipe was writing itself*
Add the mashed banana along with the cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and fold into the batter until it’s fully emulsified. Lastly, fold in whatever mix-ins you’d like to add(I used chocolate chips).
On a waxed baking sheet, spoon out balls of dough and press down into the shape of a cookie(these will only raise or spread out slightly). Bake for 28-30 minutes or until golden and slightly firm. Makes about 20 cookies.
What makes this a knockout recipe? These manage to be vegan, soy-free, and gluten-free without using any “special” ingredients like gluten-free flour or earth balance buttery spread(trust me, I’d put this on anything except I was out at the time). These are also whole grain and filled with healthier fats. The ingredients are just simple and you could make these for anyone and feel good about it(especially with anti-oxidant filled chocolate).
Nuts, chocolate chips, raisins—what do you like to add to your cookies?
I am so making these!! they look fantastic – are they crunchy or chewy?
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Evan Thomas Reply:
August 22nd, 2010 at 11:10 am
They’re actually pretty soft because of the oat flour, but also somewhat chewy because of the whole oats. You can play around with softness/chewiness by blending more or less oats
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You’re right, I want to make (and consume) these immediately. I don’t have an oven to use at school though! Maybe I could just eat the dough…?
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Those look awesome! I will have to resist making them until I can find someone to pawn most of them off to – otherwise, I’d eat them all
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omggg those cookies look DELICIOUS!
thinking of you
hope you have a splendid sunday!
love, becca
http://fromheretothereinpurple.blogspot.com
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Oh mannnn Evan! These look fantastic! I love nuts in cookies
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Woah, totally didn’t know you were going to be in Chicago! If I hadn’t still been in Italy, we could have met up!
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Ooh…these look great!!!! I hope to make them soon for my son to pack in his lunches for school.
Kim
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I have a vegan GF maple nut oat cluster recipe (sorta like this one) AND I also just made vegan GF cinnamon raisin banana muffins. And I have no bake vegan PB choc chip energy bars. So if you blended those 3 things together, you’d have this recipe. Pretty much any combos of oats + banana + choc chips + nut butter and just get it to stick/congeal and either no-bake style it or quickly bake it, that’s how i like to roll!
i love that no specialty ingredients were used, it’s vegan and gf and sf. And that you used cashew butter. nice!
I bet your house smelled amazing too!
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ohhhh man… those look amazing! definitely making these
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These look SO good. I love that they don’t have butter/oil/eggs. A good justifiable cookie is essential in life
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Um, all 3?! Really, I do add them all. Unless it’s carrot cake muffins, then usually just raisins and maybe some chopped walnuts or pecans.
Wow that picture of the stack is phenomenal. Cover of a magazine?? Submit them to someone!
I assume they’re gluten-free only if it’s GF oats? (just to clarify). I usually just use WW flour or white rice sometimes from the Bulk store.
Looks like you had a productive afternoon
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These sound great, I will have to try them! I love to make cookies that are healthy enough to have as a snack and not just as a dessert.
It would be fun to try different combos of nut butters and mix-ins too!
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wow they look awesome!!
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Whoa, these look sinful! Yumm. I don’t bake often, but cookies that I like to eat will have chocolate chips, coconut and/or toffee in them. Mmmm..
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Yum! These look amazing! Maple syrup, cashew butter, and bananas, oh my! My mother used to make a much less tasty looking version of these back in the 80′s…they were always a family favorite. (But one should double check that their chocolate chips are also gluten free before giving these to anyone with a gluten allergy.) Thanks for sharing! =)
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the name of these cookies alone makes me want them! and then i see the pictures? yum!
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These things look AMAMAMAZING!!! I love that they are wheat free, AND free of other ingredients I can’t eat (honey being one of them). I wonder if I could use molasses instead of maple syrup?? Hmmm….I may have to test that out.
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I love adding “exotic” dried fruits to cookies, like diced dried papaya or pineapple.
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I recently discovered your blog – what great food ideas! I’m looking forward to making these cookies one day – using cashew butter as the fat instead of an oil to hold the base together is a great idea. Cashew butter has that nice mellow flavor.
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good God of all that is holy – those cookies look amazing!!!!
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I need healthy cookie recipes! I am so looking forward to making these, except I have a banana hater in the house, even though I love them. Is the banana flavor predominate? Any substitution suggestions?
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Mmmm…these look absolutely delicious!!
Bananas, chocolate and oats. Three of the best foods in life.
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nom nom nom! May I just print out your entire blog? You sure do get crafty/awesome in the kitchen.
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Did I read correctly that the chocolate chips were listed as optional? Say it is not so!
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Cashew Butter – I’ve never had that. The cookies looks yummylicious!
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gahhh…these sound amazing! however, doesn’t oatmeal have gluten in it? or did you just buy gluten-free oats? happy tuesday
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A simple vegan oat cookie recipe? I’m in love!
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You are right these sound fantastic, I will want to make these, thanks for sharing!
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