While most of Europe seems to be basking in sunshine and baking cookies may be the last thing on anyone’s mind, we are still freezing our buts over here so a tray of sugar-free oat cookies is very much called for. These simple sugar-free oat cookies are so healthy you could have them for breakfast, I did in fact. I was catching an early morning flight the other day so instead of waking up even earlier to have my breakfast, I grabbed a couple of my sugar-free oat cookies with me and had them at the airport, with my morning coffee. To my surprise, they kept me going for hours.
These sugar-free oat cookies are really simple to make, they use a few cupboard staples and require hardly any work. They are sweetened with a well mashed up, ripe banana and some raisins. I only used a few raisins per cookie as I wanted a bit of different texture and a few surprising bursts of sweetness here and there. I added my raisins at the end, just before the cookies went into the oven. If you would like to use more raisins, you can add them directly to the cookie mixture in step three so that you have lots of hidden pops of sweetness within each cookie.
Aside from bananas and raisins, these sugar-free cookies are made with peanut butter. Peanut butter gives these cookies body and some much needed plant-protein, which helps to increase satiety. Finally, they would not be called sugar-free oat cookies if they did not contain oats. I used rolled oats as they offer nice, chewy texture. They are also minimally processed, which helps with satiety. Aside from these four staples, I used ground flax for extra nutrition and to hold these cookies together, a dash of cinnamon and salt for flavour and a bit of baking soda to help them rise. They are so simple to make that even if you are not convinced, I encourage you to give them a try.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
BANANAS: Ripe bananas is what gives these cookies subtle sweetness, moisture and what holds them together. Mash them well with a fork and that’s all you need to do.
NUT BUTTER: I used peanut butter as it goes well with bananas and I always have some to hand, but you could use almond butter too if you wish or if you are allergic to peanuts. I used 100% natural peanut butter, i.e. one that has no sugar or oil added and that’s what I recommend you use too. You can opt for crunchy or smooth, it does not matter. I used crunchy as that’s what I always have in my cupboard.
GROUND FLAX SEEDS: Ground flax seeds add nutrition to these simple cookies and help to thicken them and hold them together well. Theoretically ground chia seeds should work as well but I have not had a chance to test that.
OATS: I used large rolled outs to make these cookies as I like how chewy they make them, they are also least processed oats so I am keen on using them whenever I can. I have not tried making these with fine porridge oats but I suspect the texture may be less satisfying and they may get dry (if using cups to measure, use less!).
CINNAMON: A dash of cinnamon never goes amiss in most baked goods and as it goes well with bananas, I added some in. It’s not necessary though.
SALT: I added a small amount of salt for flavour balance, if you just realised you ran out, it’s not the end of the world if you skip it.
BAKING SODA: A small amount of baking soda helps these rise a tiny bit.
RAISINS: I decorated these sugar-free oat cookies with raisins, which add a little, surprising pops of sweetness and a bit of a different texture. I soaked my raisins in boiling water first to soften them, then squeezed them out well before adding to the cookies. You can add more raisins directly to the cookie mixture in step 3 if you want these pops of sweetness to be more frequent. And if you dislike raisins, how about cranberries although be warned that they usually come sweetened with sugar, unless stated otherwise.
Use ripe bananas for maximum sweetness and mash them up really well with a fork, then add peanut butter…
… and ground flax seeds. Use a fork to combine everything well and ensure the bananas are well mashed. At this point, you may want to add more raisins than the recipe calls for – don’t go crazy but I think double the amount would be nice.
Once wet ingredients are well incorporated, add rolled oats and all of the dry ingredients. Mix well to combine. Leave the mixture to stand for 10-15 minutes to thicken. You can leave it on the counter if you want to use a spoon to shape the cookies or pop the mixture into the freezer, if you would rather use your hands.
Shape twelve flattish cookies out of the mixture and decorate with raisins if liked. Bake for about 20 minutes or until darkish brown, cool before eating – they will be fragile initially.
- 240 g / 8.5 oz (1 cup mashed) bananas, peeled
- 100 g / 1½ peanut butter or almond butter
- 1½ tbsp ground up flax
- 140 g / 1½ cup rolled jumbo oats*
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 20 g / 2 tbsp raisins*, soaked in boiling water for 5 mins
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 160° C fan / 320° F fan (or 180° C / 355° F with no fan function) and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
- Mash peeled bananas with a fork in a medium bowl, add nut butter and flaxseed and mix well.
- Add in oats, salt, cinnamon and baking soda and mix well.
- Sit the mixture on the counter (if using a spoon to shape the cookies) or chill in the freezer (if using your hands) for 10-15 minutes.
- Divide the mixture into 12 even portions (mine were 40 g / 1.4 oz each) onto the baking tray, flatten them with the back of a spoon and stud with raisins – make sure to squeeze out excess water.
- Bake for about 20 minutes (or until quite brown). Allow the cookies to cool down completely before eating. Keep in an airtight container, they keep for a few days but are nicest of the day they were made.
NOTES
*OATS: I recommend using minimally processed oats. In the UK, these are called jumbo rolled oats (see photo of the ingredients for what they look like). If making this for someone who cannot have any gluten, make sure to purchase gluten-free certified oats.
