Cherry Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe from the Wicked Noodle

I’ve always had a thing for oatmeal cookies. My mom has made them for more years than I care to reveal and, over those years, they’ve progressed from just regular oatmeal cookies to chocolate chip oatmeal, my personal favorite. Her recipe is amazing although I rarely make them myself because it’s more fun to look forward to them when I visit.

The recipe I’m sharing with you today isn’t your typical oatmeal cookie and it’s nothing like what Mom makes. There’s no flour, just steel-cut oats and quinoa with mashed bananas, dried cherries and some other goodies. I made them with Udi’s Steel Cut Oats after learning more about “ancient grains” (like quinoa, millet, chia, oats, flax and amaranth) and why they’re so good for you.

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 large bananas, very ripe
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
• 1 3 oz. package dried cherries (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Bring one cup of water to a boil. Stir in steel cut oats, remove from heat and let soak for thirty minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Mash bananas with cinnamon, brown sugar, salt & softened butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add oats and cooked quinoa and mix well. Stir in cherries and pecans.
4. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet, pressing each down to flatten. Bake for 15 minutes, checking carefully to make sure the bottoms don’t burn. Flip cookies over and bake another 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.