Vegan Magic Cookies Recipe. All Variations
Magic Cookies!
Two deliciously loaded words! Breakfast could be just a few minutes away, just because they are the perfect breakfast cookies! This is why we see them so often on breakfast menu: They are 100% nutritionally correct, so they totally belong there!
They are perfect in bars too!
The recipe is exactly the same for both, so you can make magic cookies and magic bars anytime you like, with the exact same batter. It’s just that the bars are more compact, and therefore they will travel better.
I adore oats. And not just in cookies.
Take a look at my giant Oatstanding Oats chapter: You will find loads of super healthy oat-centric recipes!
You may never again get anywhere close to the commercial worthless unhealthy health bars perplexingly and inaccurately marketed as healthy and good for you; Made with high fructose corn syrup and soy protein isolates: Healthy? Ugh, I don’t think so! Most unfortunately, not enough people are aware of the dangers these two ingredients pose. Please read my blog post on the subject, What Price Protein: Beware of Those Protein Bars!
My Magic Cookies are loaded with super healthy ingredients.
This fact alone place them in an ideally enviable position, both as a healthy dessert and as a healthy small meal: Hence the Magic in their name. The other part of the magic is, well, they live up to their healthy name, plus they are fabulous, vegan, gluten-free, nut-free-adaptable, soy-free, crunchy and very moderately sweet. Gosh, what more could we possibly ask for? Did someone just say Magic Cookies for Lunch? I’m there!
Magic Cookies and Bars freeze very well:
And this is why my war cry is, don’t divide the recipe! Make a full batch, and freeze. You’ll be happy to whip them out of the freezer when you are dashing out the door. This is why I like to wrap them individually. Wrapping them makes it very easy to take one out anytime, not just for yourself; be a pal and share your magic cookies with the friend who drops in on you, shmooze and munch and crunch and all, the fun, delicious and healthy way!
I am always tinkering with healthy bars.
Scroll down for all Magic Cookies and Bars variations!
You will find exactly what you like, even if you are not a banana lover. Bananas are perfect in this recipe, as they are so sweet you can greatly reduce the sweetener in the recipe. But they tend to dominate the other flavors, so you can use apple sauce and date paste with equally great results.
Ingredients
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond or other nut butter (nut-free: seed butter. I love Sunbutter)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or pure date syrup
- 1/4 cup plant based milk
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup coarsely ground almond or other nuts (nut-free: pumpkin or sunflower seeds)
- 1 medium carrot, shredded (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Mix the first set of ingredients in a bowl, mashing with a fork as you go to incorporate the ingredients evenly and get a smooth the mixture.
Combine the second set of ingredients in a second bowl.
Combine both mixtures thoroughly by hand.
Drop the batter using 1/4 cup measuring cup, or just eyeball it. Place on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. flatten them with your hands, making sure the flattened cookies are one inch apart, to allow for their expansion.
Bake 17 to 20 minutes. I love my magic cookies nice and crisp. Taste a cooled cookie and see if they are as you like it. If you like it crisper, bake a couple minutes longer. Or, return the cookies to a hot oven with the heat turned off, and let them get crisper.
Allow the bars to cool before storing them in an air-tight glass jar or tin.
Variations on Magic Cookies
- Magic bars. The bars are more compact, and as a result they will travel better. Exact same recipe.
Press the final batter firmly into ta greased cookie sheet with sides. Bake 17 to 20 minutes. While the mixture is still warm, cut into bars, approximately 1" x 3". You will get about 24 bars. If you like them crunchy, return the cut bars to a hot oven with the heat turned off, and let them get crisper. Allow the bars to cool before storing them in an air-tight glass jar or tin.
- Don't care for bananas? Substitute 1 cup natural unsweetened apple sauce.
Or use 3/4 cup pitted medjool dates or pure date paste, with 1/4 cup added hot water. In this case, place all ingredients in the first set of listed ingredients in the food processor to get a smooth date mixture easily. Just to be clear: Put the dates or date paste, hot water, vanilla, nut butter, maple syrup, milk, cinnamon, salt (nothing from the second set of ingredients) and process until smooth.
- Substitute shredded zucchini for the carrot, in equal parts.
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