As I write this post I’m sitting in bed nibbling on the last of these cookies. I don’t know whether to savor these few remaining bites and relish in how truly delicious they are or weep over their soon-to-be absence. Yes, these cookies are that good; and they’re healthy.
I’ve made banana-based cookies before and this recipe is based off of that concept. Only this time I added a healthy scoop of pumpkin puree to the batter, as I always seem to have an excess of it lying around in the fall.
I also made them vegan and nearly gluten free thanks to the help of almond meal in place of most the flour (the whole 2 dozen batch has just 1/2 cup whole wheat flour). They also feature pecans and dried cranberries in addition to dark chocolate chips for extra substance. For this reason, I can easily call them breakfast with a clear conscious. But really, they’re so delicious I can eat them morning noon and night (and I do).
These cookies are irresistibly delicious, and unlike other desserts don’t leave you feeling miserable and heavy afterwards. They are insanely moist and slightly dense, pack a healthy serving of protein thanks to both almond butter and almond meal as well as pecans, and are just sweet enough with the addition of agave nectar and dark chocolate chips. You simply can’t have just one – you have to have two or three. Trust me, I tried. Didn’t work out.
Bake these, snack on these, share these, save these all for yourself. But simply don’t pass up making them – they’re too good to miss out on.
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
- scant ½ cup almond butter*
- 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp agave nectar
- 1.5 cups rolled oats
- ½ cup whole wheat flour (pastry flour, if you have it)
- ½ cup almond meal
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- scant ½ teaspoon salt (add more or less depending on preference and saltiness of your almond butter)
- 3 Tbsp lightly crushed pecans
- 2 Tbsp dried cranberries (more if you prefer)
- ½ cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips (non-dairy for vegan)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl mash the bananas then add almond butter, pumpkin puree, baking powder, baking soda, oil, agave nectar, salt, vanilla and stir.
- Add oats, almond meal and flour and mix well.
- Add chocolate chips, cranberries, pecans (optional) and stir until well combined.
- Drop cookies by spoonfuls on a baking sheet and press down slightly to flatten. Make them as uniform in size as possible (generously rounded tablespoons).
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown.
- Rest on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container to keep fresh for up to 5 days.
* This is my recipe for almond butter: http://bit.ly/almondbutter
Ashley November 8, 2012 at 9:44 am
I absolutely love thick and textured cookies like this! They look perfect.
The Food Gays November 8, 2012 at 9:55 am
These look pronominal… will definitely need to try these soon :)
crystal November 8, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Looks delish! I don’t have almond flour. Could I just use AP flour or whole wheat?
Dana November 8, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Yes, that would be fine!
natalie@thesweetslife November 9, 2012 at 10:45 am
i conveniently have some pumpkin puree hanging out in my fridge… :)
Dana November 9, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Party. :D
Belinda November 9, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Dana! I just made these this morning. AMAZING!! I didn’t have any pecans but used a mix of sunflower and pumpkin seeds instead and omitted the cranberries. So good! These are my new fav cookie recipe. Thank you so much!
Dana November 9, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Yay! So glad you liked them, Belinda. They’re certainly a contender in the race for my all-time favorite cookie!
Jenn@slim-shoppin November 9, 2012 at 8:31 pm
I could eat those for breakfast!
RisaG November 11, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Question – my son is allergic to almonds. What can I substitute for the almond butter? Another fat? Coconut oil? Also, I think I will use pumpkin meal (I use pumpkin seeds for all kinds of stuff for him) or hemp meal for the almond meal. Both work well in baking.
He is also allergic to oats and I substitute flaked barley or flaked kamut for that and that works really well. Can’t tell the difference at all in texture or taste. These look so good. I am going to make a batch for him.
Sherry in Chicago November 14, 2012 at 9:20 am
I made these last night, YUM! My sweetie saw the word Vegan in the recipe and commented that I could have them all to myself. Once they came out of the oven, he sampled half a cookie and suddenly I no longer had them all to myself. This morning we both were tucking several into our totes and backpacks as we headed out the door. We love the not too sweet flavor and goodies in them. This was added to my recipe file as a make again.
Aliesha November 26, 2012 at 12:29 pm
I just made these this morning with the help of my two-year-old daughter. They are so good! I subbed flax seed meal for the almond meal, subbed honey for the agave, left out the nuts and chocolate, and added more Craisins. Moist, chewy, and delicious!
Sherry January 4, 2013 at 3:15 pm
I do not like bananas — can I substitute more pumpkin instead?
Joyce January 27, 2013 at 8:18 pm
I made these cookies for my friend’s 2year old twins. They have milk,egg, and peanut allergies so these were perfect. They kept asking for more. Brown rice flour is a nice alternative to whole wheat to make them gluten free. Yum!
Olivia March 16, 2013 at 9:24 pm
These were delicious! i did make some mods however…better n’ peanut butter instead of almond butter (one of trader joe’s gems), vanilla whey protein powder instead of almond meal, and raw almonds instead of pecans. amazingly addictive! i put a lot of chocolate chips in, so im not sure these counted as a healthy breakfast…but i did eat about two a day for about a week! thanks for this great recipe. ill be using it again and again (and making more fun changes) :)
Casey April 6, 2013 at 12:17 am
These are so good! I subbed 1/4c coconut flour and 1/4c GF flour blend for the whole wheat flour and added cinnamon and unsweetened coconut flakes. I also used honey in place of the agave. Delicious! Can’t wait for my kids to wake up and see that we are having cookies for breakfast. Thanks for the recipe!