Ripe Bananas

Ever buy bananas only for them to get mushy, squishy, and brown really fast? I buy them constantly in an effort to get my husband to eat some fruit, but usually I wind up with a few that bite the dust. I like making banana bread, but every once in a while I'll make Bethenny Frankel's Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from her book "Naturally Thin". They substitute bananas for butter, making it a slightly healthier cookie option.

I used:

1 1/2 c oat flour

3/4 c rolled oats

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c raw sugar

1/3 c chocolate chips (I use extra dark)

1 tsp canola oil

1/3 c soy milk

1/2 c banana puree (1 medium banana)

1 tsp agave nectar (I didn't have vanilla extract like the recipe called for, so I used agave instead- it turned out fine)

**I've also added craisins, walnuts, and lots of other types of dried fruit instead of chocolate chips**

I preheat the oven to 375 and covered a cookie sheet with some wax paper.

Then, I combined all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, then mixed them together. I don't see the point in dirtying an extra bowl, but that's what the recipe called for...I've done everything in one bowl and it's worked out fine.

Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, I put the batter onto the cookie sheet.

I like soft cookies, so I baked them for 12 minutes total, and rotated the pan halfway through.