We got invited at the last minute to a cookie exchange party this year and I was in a panic. I looked at the schedule and found that between dragon boat practice in the morning and dragon boat caroling in the evening, I had about five hours to choose a cookie and bake it. I am my own worse enemy since I decided to take a quick nap after running to the store to get the ingredients and only had one hour left to assemble and bake! I succeeded in making the cookies by the skin of my teeth, and ran to go caroling.

I chose this recipe because I wanted to use the over ripe bananas that both Kevin and I had forgotten about; it was an added bonus when I scanned the recipe and found that it was quick, easy and (gasp!) healthy! Yes, healthy- no butter, flour, eggs or dairy and I added a scant amount of brown sugar for some sweetness.

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked quick cooking oats
1 cup currants or raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 medium)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Combine banana, oil, and vanilla; stir well. Add banana mixture to dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Let stand 15 minutes.
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely.

Notes

The recipe originally called for regular oats, but I used quick cooking oats for a cookie that is more moist. I replaced the raisins with currants for a bit of a fancy flare, then added one tablespoon of light brown sugar for a touch of sweetness that wasn’t called for in the original recipe.