0 Tasty Tuesday: Peanut butter and banana oat cookies

Y'all know I am a total cookie monster. Doesn't matter if it's fresh out of the oven, or 5 days old, chocolate chip, or oatmeal, I love me some cookies. Even when I am satisfying my sweet tooth in a healthy way, I still want cookies. Or cupcakes, but that's a whole 'nother post. Basically, give me a baked good, and I'm a happy girl. I digress. Back to those healthy cookies.

I've been fighting a sweets craving something fierce lately while on this TIU bikini series, and while I applaud myself for my restraint, I am still dying for something sweet to take the edge off. Last week, I finally allowed myself to experiment with some healthy cookies in hopes I could find something that would satisfy the craving, while not dumping me off the wagon. These did great! Chocolate chips, peanut butter, the lovely mouth feel of the oats...not bad at all. I had to put the rest in the freezer to get them out of my sight so I wouldn't eat the entire batch ;)

Healthy peanut butter and banana oat cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups old fashioned oats

2 ripe bananas

1 cup peanut butter (I used Jif reduced fat)

1/2 cup apple sauce (I used one Gogo Squeeze pouch)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life brand chocolate chunks which are dairy, soy, nut free)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray.

In a stand mixer, mash bananas with peanut butter, apple sauce and vanilla until creamy. Add in oats until combined. Add in chocolate chips.

Use a small cookie scoop to place 1 inch balls of dough on your cookie sheets. Smash down slightly with a fork. 

Bake for 15 minutes, and immediately transfer to a rack or onto a plate to cool.

I was able to make 50 small cookies, at 65 calories each. 

And just try not eating the dough, it was delicious before even being baked!

Detail: Tasty Tuesday: Peanut butter and banana oat cookies

0 Tasty Tuesday: peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with coconut products

Hey there you Tasty Tuesday loving dolls! I've got another recipe to share with you today. You may notice a theme for the last few weeks, and if you said 'chocolate peanut butter' you would be correct. It's probably my favorite flavor combination, so of course you will see many recipes from me using them. Remember to check out my friend Cassie's blog to see what she is cooking up for Tasty Tuesday as well!

There are just some days where everything can be made better by chocolate chip cookies. Last week, Billy and I had one of those. A childhood friend whom Billy loved, respected and looked up to lost his battle with cancer. The mood in our home was heavy, to say the least, so I was itching to make my favorite comfort food, which happen to be warm gooey Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies in an effort to cheer us up.

Unfortunately, that recipe uses white and brown sugar, both of which are on the no go list in my life now {except once in awhile in very small amounts}. I've been making an effort to use more coconut products in my diet after writing this post, and trying to figure out how to bake without using refined sugars a la this post, so I decided to experiment  and came up with a darn good cookie you can feel better about eating! 

Healthier ingredient peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar

1 cup coconut oil {or use 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup butter}

1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter

1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix {can be omitted, I just love adding to my  cookies}

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups coconut flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 10oz bag of Enjoy Life mega chocolate chunks {this brand is soy, dairy & nut free, using evaporated cane juice instead of refined sugar}

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray. 
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda. Whisk and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine coconut oil, sugar and peanut butter until thoroughly mixed. 
4. Add in vanilla pudding mix, beating to incorporate. 
5. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in between. 
6. Scrape down sides and bottom, then add vanilla. 
7. Slowly add in dry ingredients, mixing between each batch. 
8. Fold in chocolate chunks. 
9. Place onto cookie sheets using a medium cookie scoop to get uniformity. I placed them 3x4 in case they spread out too much and got stuck together. 
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until centers are set. Makes about 44 cookies, serving size 2 cookies.
11. Serve with a nice glass of coconut milk if you want!

Nutritional info: 287 cals, 5g protein, 29g carbs, 18g fat, 3g fiber, 17g sugar

Billy said he thought these tasted "a little coconut-y" but he liked them, which is saying a lot since he hates coconut. I thought they were a pretty good cookie for not being my favorite Tollhouse chocolate chip recipe. The peanut butter added moisture and a little flavor, without being overwhelming, and the texture is just a tad more grainy than normal cookies, which I can live with.

Like any cookie, these should be eaten in moderation. They are by no means low calorie or low fat. However, I feel better eating them knowing the coconut products I used are keeping them lower GI, so my blood sugar levels won't spike and insulin won't cause these to be stored as fat. Pretty nifty, eh?

Detail: Tasty Tuesday: peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with coconut products