Okay folks, I am back from New York City, and I had some of the best food I have ever had. I ate at some amazing vegan restaurants, and may have over done it. If that is possible! I definitely need to get back on track though, with my normal, pretty healthy eating and smaller portions. My brother and I ate so much food in New York. So I decided to do some meal prep, because that is seriously the only way I can handle eating well. Once I get hungry, I get ravenous, and then I will literally eat anything (except meat, of course.) So, this is an idea I have been playing around with for a while, and wanted to make a breakfast cookie that was not only vegan, but gluten free and refined sugar free. I also really wanted a flavor that I felt was wintery. So I decided dark chocolate and cherries sounded like a delightful winter flavor.
So, here is the most delicious, super easy make ahead breakfast ever. You can make about a dozen cookies with this recipe, so you have 12 breakfasts taken care of, which is totally awesome. I am generally running around like an insane person in the morning, just trying to get a little coffee in my system before I speak to anyone. Make these on a lazy Sunday, and then you don’t have to worry about the morning for while! Also, these have been tested by 2 four year olds with a unanimous 2 thumbs up! So throw the kids out the door with a healthy breakfast as well!
I think these are a great idea for anytime of year, so feel free to substitute the chocolate and cherries for any kind of dried fruits and nuts! The possibilities are pretty endless here, so be creative! I will say though, that the dark chocolate and cherries are such an amazing combination, I recommend you try that combo at least once! My favorite part about these cookies, is that this is literally like eating an entire breakfast in an easy and portable package. There are bananas, oats and almond butter in them, creating a whole meal!
This recipe contains only 10 ingredients, is gluten free, vegan, the sweetener is mostly banana with a bit of agave, only requires one bowl and takes about 20-25 minutes to complete the entire thing. Has a nice amount of protein, and all the other things you need to get you going in the morning. They are light and fluffy, yet super filling. Portable, adorable, and I would say all around, the perfect breakfast. Please enjoy!
- 2 Ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 2/3 C. Quick cooking oats,gluten free
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1/2 C. Almond butter
- 2 Tbsp. Agave nectar
- 1/2 C. Dark chocolate chunks or chips, vegan
- 1/2 C. Dried Cherries, chopped if they are large
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, mashed the bananas really well.Set aside.
- In a food processor, add half of the oats, so 1 1/3 C. Process to a pretty fine flour consistency, this should happen pretty quickly.
- Add the oat flour you made, the rest of the oats that weren't processed, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the bowl with the mashed bananas. Mix together.
- Add the vanilla, almond butter and agave. Make sure everything is fully combined and mixed well.
- Stir in the chocolate and cherries.
- Form large balls, and place on a prepared baking sheet and press down a bit to make cookie shapes.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes.
- The cookies won't spread, so you want to shape them how you want them to look.
- Want some extra goodness, add some a few scoops of flax or chia seeds!
- Store in the fridge for a week or two.
