Guiltess Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stare into my dark chocolate eyes. Taste me and find love!

I'm here to satisfy your dessert desire. 

Yes, this cookie is talking to you. No, you don't need to go to therapy. You need to go to the kitchen and make some.

Ingredients:

3 ripe Bananas*

2 cups of rolled Oats (GF)

1/3 cup of unsweetened Applesauce

1 teaspoon of pure Vanilla Extract

3 tablespoons of dark Agave or 1/8 cup of sugar in the raw

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mash bananas and mix in the applesauce. If you're curious why we use unsweetened applesauce only to add sugar, the answer is the sugars in jarred applesauce are refined or processed sugars and we don't want any of those in our body. Plus you'll still have a whole jar left over to use for other things like sauces and an afternoon snack. 

Now, add the vanilla, baking soda, salt and agave (or sugar).  Mix well. Lastly, add the oats and chocolate chips. 

Form into 2 inch round circles and bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Do not over cook them, they won't be completely solid when they're ready. They get firm as they cool. Use their color, not their firmness, to judge when they're done. 

Makes about a dozen. Enjoy!

*You can pull some straight from the freezer, now that you're saving them. Right?! If you aren't saving your old, over-ripe bananas, click to the article on this website called "Wait! Don't throw that out. Freeze it!" You'll learn why the ugliest bananas become the secret ingredient to recipes just this one if you freeze them.