Fruit Chewy Cookies With No Added Sugar

ladypit's Note:

These are a slight variation of a lovely cookie from a great diabetic cookbook called "Sweet & Natural: Desserts without sugar, honey, molasses or artificial sweetner" by Janet Warrington. I found this cookbook at a thrift store and have been meaning to try something from it. This is my first try. The original recipe lists carob powder as an optional ingredient. I decided to use it, but had to use cocoa powder as that was what I had. So feel free to leave it off. When you look at these cooled cookies the dates look like chocolate chips and my kids were slightly dissapointed when they realized they were fruit, but the enjoyed these a lot. A nice little fruity cookie which is quite sweet without any added sugar. Also, if you have over-ripe bananas which have not been frozen feel free to use those. I just have a bunch of bananas in my freezer.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 24

Yield: 2.0 dozen

• 2 bananas , frozen
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup dates , chopped or ground
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 ½ cups rolled oats (I used quick cooking)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Defrost the bananas so they are soft and mash them in a bowl, leaving some little chunks.
3. Into the bowl add the egg whites and mix well.
4. Then add the dates and the raisins and mix well or until the fruit is coated with the egg mixture.
5. Add the oatmeal and the cocoa powder if you are using it.
6. Let the bowl sit for 10 minutes or until the oatmeal absorbs all the liquid.
7. Spray baking pans with cooking spray.
8. Using 2 teaspoons, spoon the mixture onto the baking pan.
9. With the back of one of the spoons, smush the mixture down so it is somewhat flat.
10. Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are getting golden brown.
11. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack.

Reviews

[Lenore Spirit]

These were great! I left out the cocoa powder and they are a delicious healthy snack! Thanks for sharing!

[Rollin in the Dough!]

These were okay, we found them to be a bit rubbery and they don't store well. The flavor however is very good.

[Jenni D]

these cookies are one of my favorite go to's! The options are really endless. I used dried cranberries instead of dates, but almost any dried chopped fruit would work. To lower the carbohydrate factor, i used a combo of oats and puffed brown rice cereal (easy to find near the natural cerals- even at wal-mart!). everytime i make these, they dissappear!