This is no joke. I ate cookies for dinner. Or more accurately, with dinner.

These are the first cookies I’ve eaten in TWO weeks. Seriously. That is a LONG time with no cookies. Why didn’t I make these gems sooner?? You won’t believe the ingredient list. I thought I would gag on them in bland disgust. They have no added sugar. I was really hesitant and almost added a little maple syrup, but am glad I held off.

I really think this is one of my favorite cookies ever. It’s barely sweet, but sweet enough. It has a mild banana flavor, a slightly crisp exterior, with a chewy soft interior and crunch throughout. Mixed and baked in 30min flat. How can you beat that??

I wish I could say I came up with this recipe on my own, but that would be a lie. I had the help of the fabulous Heidi from 101 Cookbooks.

I’ve made similar “healthy” cookies that have always been decent. Good enough. You know. But these, are better than “good enough.” Just make them and see for yourself!

NO added sugar, no dairy, no eggs, and no gluten [with gluten free oats] in these cookies? Hard to believe, I know.

Trail Mix Cookies [adapted from 101 Cookbooks] yields ~20 ping pong sized cookies

1.5 large bananas
1t vanilla
2T unrefined coconut oil, softened
3/4c rolled oats
1/4c buckwheat flour [can grind buckwheat groats]
1/4c almond meal [finely ground almonds]
2T ground flax meal
2T raw buckwheat groats
1/4c chopped almonds
2T almond milk
3T unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1/4c currants [or raisins]
1/4c apricots, finely chopped
1/2t cinnamon
1/4t salt
1/2t baking powder

Preheat oven to 350*
In a large bowl mash bananas with a fork, until very wet and egg-like.
Mash in coconut oil, vanilla, and almond milk until well combined.
Add oats, buckwheat flour, almond meal, flax meal, coconut, cinnamon, salt and baking powder.
Stir until just combined.
Add buckwheat groats, chopped almonds, chopped apricots and currants.
Fold in until combined.
Spoon dough into ping pong size balls and place on a parchment lined pan. The dough will be quite wet, but they should be able to hold a ball shape.
Bake for 12-14min. For a soft interior bake 12min.
Let cool on pan for 5min, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Let fully cool, before storing in an airtight container.

*No need to buy expensive almond flour. You can grind almonds to a fine powder in a blender, coffee grinder or food processor. The same goes for buckwheat groats. Just be careful not to over-process the almonds, or you will get almond butter!

*Feel free to add 1-3T of pure cane sugar or sucanat, if you want a sweeter cookie. Honestly though, with the dried fruit, this was quite sweet.

*If you want to add chocolate, add about 1/4c chocolate chips.

Oh…and if you put coconut butter on the hot cookies, it melts and then hardens when it cools. So you have a nice little coconut shell on top. How perfect. Breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner…you can’t go wrong with these.

Along with the cookies, I had a 1c side of smoked paprika roasted chickpeas. Season chickpeas with anything you want [including a little oil so they don’t dry out] and roast them at 350* for 40min, stirring once or twice. I learned this technique from Mama Pea. The chickpeas become crunchy and delicious! I also ate a huuuge salad, since I’m finally craving greens again.