Three-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookie

I love sweets. Donuts, cookies, pie; you name it, I probably like it.  But I am currently avoiding A LOT of foods due to my baby's multiple food sensitivities.  This cuts down on possibilities for store-bought desserts. Any homemade desserts cannot have any dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, or potato starch, so this eliminates many delicious options I see floating around on Pinterest or in cookbooks.  In order for my husband to enjoy them, they also have to be gluten free. I do not want to crowd my pantry with very rare flours or ingredients that I will use once or twice, so I avoid those dessert recipes with obscure ingredients. So, when I found this incredibly easy recipe for three-ingredient cookies on Pinterest from Tasty,  I fell in love. I've already made these a handful of times and customized them to my liking.  It will probably be the first cookie recipe I teach my son once he is a little older since it is so easy! It would be a perfect way to teach him how to fill the measuring cup with oats and chocolates.  No liquids to spill or teaspoon measurements that would be more challenging for him.   It makes a great dessert or a quick breakfast bar. It is hard to stop at just one or two cookies, but luckily, they are pretty healthy, depending on the ingredients you use.

Prep Time: 5 minutes   Bake Time: 12 minutes    Yield: 8-12 cookies**

Ingredients:

1 cup of oats (I use Old Fashioned Rolled Oats)

2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup flavor(s) of your choice: chocolate chips*, coconut flakes, any nut butter,  dried cranberries, etc

* If you are dairy-free, I recommend Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips, which are allergy-friendly. 

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mash up bananas and combine with oats and flavors. Mix well.

 (I like to combine chocolate chips and coconut flakes (1/4 cup each), so they are technically four-ingredient cookies, but that's just because I like the extra flavor.  I have noticed cranberries do not stick really well with the banana-oat "batter" so adding a nut butter or chocolate with cranberries would help.)

3. Scoop up a heaping tablespoon's worth of batter onto cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper. 

**I typically make 8-12 cookies, depending on how large the cookie is, as well as how big my bananas were, and whether I add extra flavors.

4. Bake for 12 minutes. Check bottom for any burning. I like to turn off the oven at this point and then flip the cookies and let them rest in the oven for an additional two minutes so that the top can have a bit of browning. This makes the cookies a bit more crispy and keeps them together better.

These cookies refrigerate well and can even be frozen. Let me know if you try out this incredibly easy cookie recipe! I am not a baker, but these are pretty fool proof, even for me!