k Banana Chocolate Beauty Cookies (sugar free and gluten free) k
I’ve named these ‘Beauty Cookies’ as their ingredients of bananas, oats, almonds and dark chocolate all have incredible health compounds for anti-aging as well as beautifying the skin, hair and nails. If you have bananas that have gone a bit past their best then they are perfect for this recipe – over ripe bananas and only a small amount of honey work as the natural sweeteners in these yummy, soft, chewy cookies. Bananas are known for their potassium content which is great for delivering fast energy. They are easily digested, feed the good bacteria in the gut plus the amino acids and silicon boosts healthy hair, nails and collagen. But most surprisingly, the riper the banana – the more antioxidants they contain!
Oats are mineral rich and are mega high in anti-aging selenium a powerful nutrient for skin elasticity and manganese to also help maintain healthy hair and nails. The almonds deliver your daily dose of vitamin E that keeps the skin moisturised and protected from the sun.
Finally the dark chocolate (look for a minimum 70%) is an amazing all round beautifying super food due to its incredibly high concentration of antioxidents. The catechins block the formation of wrinkles, protect skin from UV damage and boost the skins hydration levels. Who would have thought a delicious cookie could deliver such a beauty power punch -so much so that you don’t have to stay away from the cookie jar….Serve with a glass of chilled almond milk for healthy dunking.
Ingredients
(makes 16 large cookies)
2 ripe bananas – mashed with a fork
150g organic porridge oats
50g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch sea salt
Handful whole almonds roughly chopped
70g melted butter
3 teaspoons honey or maple syrup
1 free range egg beaten
60g chocolate 70% cut into chunks
Handful whole almonds roughly chopped
Method
- Heat the oven to 180oc. In a large bowl add the oats, ground almonds, baking powder and salt and mix.
- Stir in the mashed bananas, honey (or maple syrup), melted butter, beaten egg.
- Gently fold in the almond pieces and the chocolate chunks.
- With a dessert spoon scoop a blob of the mix and place onto a paper lined baking tray – and press down slightly (it will make 12).
- Put into the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.