Monday, May 5, 2014

Chunky Monkey Cookies

Hi, everyone! I'm so sorry that this post is so late - I've been really busy with school and AP tests, but I promise that I'm going to be updating on a regular basis from now on! The theme this month is... healthy desserts! People have been very responsive to my healthy dessert recipes, so I figured I would dedicate this whole month to them. 

 First of all, healthy baking is really different from normal baking. There are a few things you'll need to stock up on if you want to bake healthy treats. Lots of my friends from school have wanted to make my recipes, but they didn't have any of the ingredients, so they couldn't. If you know what to stock up on, you can find a recipe online and make it five minutes later because you already have everything you need. Here are my suggestions for healthy baking essentials:
  • A few gluten-free flours, such as coconut flour and almond flour
  • A few gluten-free flour blends that taste and act more like all-purpose flour. My favorite is Namaste brand. I don't use these in my desserts because they're really tricky to work with if you don't have a recipe, but if you stumble across any recipes that use these, you should have them on hand!
  • Nuts! Hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, and everything else you can think of! 
  • Rolled oats (preferably gluten-free) 
  • Non-dairy milks, such as almond milk, soy milk and coconut milk
  • COCONUT OIL! Coconut oil replaces butter and other fats in so many recipes. You basically can't make any of my dessert recipes if you don't have this. 
  • Nut butters, such as peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, and more
  • A variety of seeds, such as pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds and more
If this list seems long and scary, don't worry! Just start accumulating these ingredients as you see them pop up in recipes. Remember, these aren't just for desserts. The flours can be used to bread chicken, make pasta and thicken sauces, too. Almost all these ingredients work in breakfast foods, too! You can throw oats and nuts into a fruit smoothie, into a big bowl of oatmeal, drink almond milk straight in the mornings, spread almond butter on your toast and more. 

Now onto the recipe! These cookies were inspired by one of my favorite flavors of Ben and Jerry's ice cream: Chunky Monkey. While I love this ice cream, I don't like the fact that it has huge chunks of walnuts in it. I'm just not really a walnut fan, if I'm being honest with you. I figured I should make a cookie out of these flavors so I can indulge without feeling guilty, but I replaced the walnuts with peanut butter and chopped peanuts. Who doesn't love peanut butter, right? These cookies are super easy; I was able to make them in 30 minutes including the cooking time for both batches. They're perfect for beginners because you literally stir ingredients together and stick them in the oven. No fancy techniques are required! 

Chunky Monkey Cookies
Makes 18 - 24 cookies

Ingredients
3 large ripe bananas
½ cup all-natural peanut butter (check the label to make sure there aren't any hydrogenated oils!)
1 tbsp coconut oil
5 tbsp honey
3/4 tsp vanilla extract 
2½ cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt 
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 
3/4 cup organic chocolate chips 
(optional) ½ cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, finely chopped 

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put a silicon pad or parchment paper on two baking sheets. Set aside. 

2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl with a potato masher or a fork. I find a potato masher to be much more effective. Mash until there aren't many lumps left. Microwave the coconut oil for 10 - 15 seconds, so that it is warm and soft, but not completely melted. Stir the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey and vanilla extract into the bananas until completely smooth. 

3. Combine the oats, shredded coconut, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Pour these dry ingredients into the large bowl for wet ingredients. Stir using a large spoon until completely incorporated. Stir in the chopped peanuts and chocolate chips. 

4. Drop large spoonfuls of the batter onto the cookie sheet. Each cookie should contain approximately 2 - 3 tbsp of batter. You should fit 10 - 12 per sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. The cookies should be golden brown and fairly firm. Remove from the oven and let cool for two minutes. Then, transfer the cookies on a cooling rack. Cool completely and enjoy!

I hope you like this recipe! I like it so much that I had 3 cookies tonight. Please give it a try so you too can have three cookies without feeling guilty. Share your recreations with me on Instagram using #teenscancooktoo! Make sure you're following me at all the social media sites below:


Stay healthy!
- Madeline 

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