I’ve got a special recipe for you guys today – oat cookies featuring two of my favourite foods – walnuts, and dark chocolate! These cookies are a chocolately twist on my classic Banana Berry Breakfast Cookies – they’re a great snack option you can grab on the go, and also make a delicious dessert with a couple of scoops of yoghurt too!

Recipe (Makes 12 Cookies)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 heaped tbsp nut butter of choice
• 3 tbsp cacao powder
• 150g of quick-cook oats (I use Flahavan’s)
• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 2 tbsp milk of choice
• 50g of good quality dark chocolate, broken up into small pieces (go for 70% or higher – my favourite is 85%!)
• 1 large handful of walnuts, broken up into small pieces (my favourites are the Tesco or Aldi 85% bars, very cheap too! Lindt is also delicious but slightly more pricey).
• Optional: 1 tbsp milled flax or chia seeds (you could add pumpkin or sunflower seeds here either!)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C. Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper (if you don’t have any, just line it with tinfoil and grease the tinfoil with a little olive  or rapeseed oil!)
2. Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl – oats, cacao powder, walnuts and seeds (if adding seeds) – and stir until combined.
3. Mash up your bananas until almost liquid in consistency.
4. Add the banana mash to the bowl, and mix until all the dry ingredients are coated.
5. Add the milk and honey, and stir again until the wet ingredients are fully mixed with the dry ingredients.
6. Finally, add the dark chocolate chips and fold them into the batter.
7. Scoop out fist size balls of cookie batter using a spoon, and place each onto the baking tray. Flatten the ball out a little so it makes a rounder cookie shape to bake!
8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then leave to cool for 30 minutes (have patience!)
9. Flick the kettle on, and tuck into to give your cookies a taste test with a cuppa!

Note: Store in a sealed Tupperware or other container for up to 4 days. You can also freeze these cookies – ensure they are fully defrosted (give 24 hours) before consumption.

Enjoy guys! Tag me if you give these cookies  a go – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x