Makeover Monday: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Can you satisfy your sweet tooth and still fit into a bikini?  Maybe so.  If you are on Pinterest, you probably have seen this peanut butter oatmeal cookies floating around.  I have seen them pinned about a million times in various forms.  And it's easy to see why.  The description of the pin always says something like "no flour, no oil, no eggs, and no added sugar."  That's pretty tempting in a delicious looking cookie.

So can you really have it all in one cookie?  After seeing this pin several times, I finally decided to give it a go.  I wasn't too surprised to see the ingredient list.  Filling in for granulated sugar was a mashed banana, applesauce was in for the fat and eggs, and oats were taking the place of flour.  Oh, and there was peanut butter and chocolate chips.  But I think those are just in the recipe because they're delicious.  Minor detail.

I did change a few things from the version I looked at.  First of all, I cut the recipe in half.  Mainly because I only had one banana to use.  I also added peanuts.  I guess I just felt like it.  I thought they gave the cookie a nice bit of crunch which worked because the texture of these is a little more like baked oatmeal than a traditional cookie.  

So what's the verdict on these cookies?  Are they as good as my favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, or even peanut butter oatmeal cookie?  Um, no.  What did you expect with no butter, flour, eggs, or sugar?  Was my husband thrilled to get these when I told him I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?  Nope.  But are they are reasonable way to get that sugar monkey off your back while still eating healthy.  Yep!  And would they be acceptable to someone with a gluten or egg allergy?  You betcha!

There is one clarification I want to make about this recipe.  As I said previously, this recipe is described as not having any added sugar.  The dietitian in me begs to differ.  While you might not be adding any sugar to this recipe, the good people in Hersey, Pennsylvania added some sugar to your chocolate chips.  So there is sugar in these cookies that is not just the natural sugar found in the fruit.  With that being said, an easy way to resolve that if you truly want to go no sugar added would be to use raisins instead of chocolate chips.  You wold also cut even more calories by making that swap!

The bottom line is that these cookies are good.  They are not knock-your-socks-off good.  But they are tasty, and they are whole grain, as well as low in added sugar.  I would make them again, and if you are wanting a sweet treat that won't undo a good day of eating, whip up a batch for yourself!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup quick or old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  
Mix together the banana, peanut butter, applesauce, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Add in the oats, nuts, and chocolate chips.  Stir until well combined.
Spoon a rounded 2 tablespoon of batter onto baking sheet, leaving 1-2 inches of space between each.  Repeat with remaining batter and flatten slightly.
Bake 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Makes about 8 cookies.

Recipe adapted from The Skinny Cook