Hi! Hope you are enjoying an amazing long weekend – we are home from our incredible trip to CO and trying to get back to reality and ready for the new school year. I am working on sharing all the details of our trip in a blog post soon. In the meantime, I wanted to share our first day of school lunchbox treat, soft and chewy Dairy Free Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made Kelsey Nixon’s Family’s Favorite version last year for Savanna and I decided I wanted to make it a tradition. I believe it is comforting to have a yummy special treat in your lunch on the first day. For a nervous student (especially a kindergartener) it can come as a warm reminder of home on what may be a long first day. 
This year I decided to adapt this Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe to make them Gluten and Dairy free for those of you with allergies and intolerances. I added in oat flour for some extra nutrients and I also lowered the sugar and the oil to make them a little lighter. I was super excited with the result – they taste exactly the same and they came together in one bowl with no mixer! To make them even more special Savanna and John made them – check out the video here. They will be super proud when they open their lunchboxes on Wednesday! It unfortunately does not look like a beach day in the northeast so for the last day of your summer break grab your little helpers and make some cookies!
PS These are really yummy for any occasion we made a batch for a bbq before we went away 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 overripe bananas
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup oil - avocado or any neutral oil (adjust oil down to 1/3 cup if you use almond flour)
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cups flour (regular, whole wheat, a gluten free blend, or almond flour) I tested the gluten free blend with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Mix.
- ¾ cups oatmeal flour I use this Bob's Red Mill or grind my own in my Vitamix
- 1 3/4 cups rolled oats (gluten free if needed)
- 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips I used a combo of enjoy life semi-sweet or dark
Instructions
- Peel and mash bananas in a large bowl
- In the same bowl crack the egg and whisk with banana
- Pour and whisk in vanilla, oil and sugar
- Pour and whisk in the baking soda, salt, and spices
- Fold in the flours
- Fold in the oats
- Fold in the chocolate chips
- Chill for 30 minutes (or overnight)
- Using a medium scoop or round tablespoon measure and portion out the cookie dough onto a lined (parchment paper or silicone sheecookie sheet
- Preheat oven to 350
- Bake for 10 minutes
- Let cool for 2 minutes before moving to cooling rack
Notes
- This recipe is adapted from Kelsey Nixon to made gluten & dairy free and quickly in one bowl - find the original recipe here
- The amount of cookies will depend on what size scoop/spoon you use to measure. This recipe was tested with a medium cookie scoop.
