Trust me when I say that I have had my fair share of disasters in the kitchen! Just ask my poor husband who has had to deal with the brunt of my frustratingly annoying mishaps (the time I flung my shrinking pie crust dough across the kitchen was certainly not my proudest moment!)
Sure, there have been times when I just want to sit in the corner of the kitchen and cry because I acidentally more than doubled the amount of butter needed in my lemon slice and had to send Kristian down to the shop to buy more ingredients so I could fix it. Or when I took some gluten free muffins out of the oven, as hard as bricks and could be used potential weapons!
But the successes I have had in the kitchen certainly outweigh these flops. After all, this is what cooking and coming up with new recipes is all about, trial and error. The pure joy of getting it right makes it all worthwhile.
These cookies were one of those times where I barely tried and it just worked. They are the perfect midday snack when you need a pick me up (like after having a class of year eight students who refuse to listen to a word you say and insist on throwing paper at each other from across the room!) They have quite a 'cakey' consistency but aren't too sweet. Kristian is addicted to them, so that's a good sign.
I made these with coconut oil so they are dairy free but you could certainly substitute it for regular butter. A breeze to whip up and a great use for all those everyday items in the kitchen.
MAKES APPROX. 16 COOKIES
Dry ingredients:
2/3 cup gluten free plain flour (or regular plain flour)
1 1/2 cups oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup light brown sugar
Wet ingredients:
1 large, ripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut oil (or unsalted butter, melted)
Preheat the oven to 165-170˚C fan-forced. Line a large baking tray with non stick baking paper.
Add all the dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and mix. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well to combine.
Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the mixture and place on the baking tray, ensuring you leave about 4cm between each cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookie is slightly browned on top (you may have to bake in batches or use a couple of trays).
Allow to cool on the tray for about five minutes and transfer to a wire rack.
Cookies should keep for about a week at room temperature.