Healthy Cookies? Yes my friends, here they are.

No butter, flour, eggs or sugar in these babies. And, they're good! I make them frequently and they're always a big hit. They're great to make for kids because they're free of junk but also taste like a cookie. You can freeze them as well and just pull out a few at a time if you like, I do that a lot.
So here's to a new year, I'm sure many of you are doing the whole "I'm not eating junk and loosing those last 5 pounds" resolution. If so, this is a recipe that might just help you get there.

Note- for the almond meal, I always just process 2/3 cup of almonds in my food processor to a mealy texture (sort of like course sand). Don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter.

Healthy Cookies:
3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.
In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and olive oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a baking sheet (spray it first). Bake for about 15 minutes. You'll want to check towards the end of the baking time and maybe move the baking sheets around a bit-bake them for as long as possible without burning the bottoms.
Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

I found this recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs: 101cookbooks.com. Heidi Swanson is a photographer and cooking blogger extraordinaire. Her recipes are healthy, vegetarian and always delicious-I can spend hours on her site-check it out, it's a must!