Three Ingredient Cookies

So here it is. My first blog post. Apparently it has been much anticipated, since I have received overwhelming support and encouragement from friends and family to get this thing going. Alright, alright, I give in. I shall grace you all with even more pictures of my food experiments, workout goals, and photos of my cat. Hey, you asked for it.

Well, I guess I should get on with the good stuff, eh?

Now, the first thing I should tell you is that I have a MAJOR sweet tooth. Like, it's bad. I give it 100% credit for creating this bangin' bod I dwell in. And by bangin', I mean resemblant of a marshmallow. But I'm working on toasting it up a bit, don't worry. (Okay, enough with the s'mores references, I'm getting hungry.) Alas, when I need a quick cookie fix, I love making the famous three-ingredient cookie you see floating around the internet. Banana, oats, and choc chips. Yummm, can't go wrong with something so simple. And with no flour, oil, or excess sugar I don't feel too bad eating a couple... or 6.

But then my friend Sarah from Bloggity Bloo challenged me to make a clean cookie without using banana as the base. A bit blasphemous, but I accepted the challenge. So I turned to my next favorite mushy plant, the trusty avocado.

Here's the recipe I tried first with the avocado:

-Half a ripe avocado, smashed
-1 heaping spoonful raw cacao powder
-2 spoonsfull agave
-Handful quick oats
-Handfull dried cranberries
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

They looked so rich and fudgey, but my sweet tooth did not approve of this outcome. The cacao was too bitter, and just didn't taste right with the avocado. Without adding a huge amount of sugar, this combo was a fail. So I thought, what can I do to add some sweetness but keep it clean? I know... DATES! Okay, so they have a lot of sugar and carbs, but I'll give it a shot. Now I'm determined. I pulled out my crappy food processor and started mixing.

Second round recipe:
-Half ripe mashed avocado
-4 pitted dates
-Handful quick oats
-Spoonful raw cacao powder
-Spoonful honey (Agave just wasn't quite sweet enough for me this time.)
-Handful dried cranberries
Pulse until it forms a moist dough. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

These came out much sweeter, and a little tastier. I would probably make these again, but I would probably also keep tweaking it until it was just right.

Then I got thinking... what if I used applesauce as a base? So I washed up some dishes and started mixing up different combinations with applesauce. I made one with just oats, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts. Not bad, but I usually end up wishing there was chocolate... So then I tried applesauce, oats, cacao, walnuts... Kinda blah. The applesauce is a really hard flavor to mask. And it's almost TOO sweet (yeah, I just said that). Then I tried that same one with a scoop of PB2 and added choc chips. It was alright. I just wasn't crazy about the applesauce.

Obviously taste-testing all of these cookies wasn't a horrible job, but some did end up going into the compost bucket!

The conclusion? I'm just in love with the original recipe! I couldn't beat it, at least not today. So even if you don't like bananas, I urge you to at least give it a try. The recipe only makes like 8 cookies, so even if you hate them it's not a total loss. Feed them to your coworkers. 

Three-Ingredient Cookies (original recipe):

-One ripe banana, mashed

-One cup quick oats

-Handful choc chips*

-Optional: Add a scoop or two of PB2 for more protein and creamier texture!

Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. IF there are any left, I find it best to refrigerate them. 

*I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips cuz it's what my sister had in her kitchen. If you prefer not to have any additives by using choc chips, you could make your own chocolate by mixing coconut oil, cacao powder, and agave then drizzle on top after baking.

Happy nomming!