Almond Flour Banana Bread Cookies

Almond Flour…my new best friend in baking. I am SO excited! My nut butter cookies have been a success so far, and I can’t wait to experiment with this as well! Keeping it grain free and healthy with all of the usual unhealthy treats is an awesome feeling. I have such a huge sweet tooth, and almond flour is going to be yet another way for me to make healthy baked goods that I don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying!

What’s even better about this almond flour is that I can make it myself! If you don’t have a VitaMix, you can buy almond flour at specialty grocery stores. But if you do have a VitaMix (a must-have in my kitchen!), then you can make it yourself! Just take raw almonds & turn your VitaMix onto the high setting. Blend for a very short amount of time, about 5-10 seconds, just long enough to turn the almonds into a flour consistency. Be careful not to over-blend or it will turn into almond butter (hey- if this happens, just make nut butter cookies instead!). Also, blend no more than 1 cup of almonds at a time.

Mmmm… these were so good! This makes a lot of cookies, so unless if you are having a party, you may want to cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar or raw sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mashed banana (preferably an over-ripe banana)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°
2. In a medium bowl, mix together almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, & salt
3. In a stand mixer, beat together apple sauce, sugar, honey, egg, mashed banana, & vanilla
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients & mix until thoroughly blended
5. Fold in oats, nuts, & white chocolate chips
6. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drop by 2-teaspoon fulls
7. Bake 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 75-80 cookies.