5-Minute Vegan Energy Cookies to Power Up Your Day
Looking for healthy, energy-boosting snack options? It might be easy to reach for a protein bar or other pre-packaged snack, but in an effort to work more whole, unprocessed foods into your routine, we have an amazingly delicious option for you — Dark Chocolate and Banana Vegan Energy Cookies (crispy on the outside, warm and tender on the inside — simply delicious).
These healthy cookies are fast to make and use easy-to-find grocery store staples. No hard-to-pronounce ingredients or need for any specialty stores. Plus, it’s vegan and completely customizable depending on your preferences. It’s loaded with healthy ingredients, such as:
Dates — This fruit acts as a sweetener, but it’s also full of B-vitamins and fiber. And because they’re a whole food, the sugars in them digest evenly in your body.
Dark Chocolate — Sweet and full of antioxidants. You can go up to about 85% — you want to get a high proportion of cacao solids because the more cacao you have, the less sugar there will be. The bananas and dates are natural sweeteners in this recipe, so you don’t need that much sugar.
Bananas — When choosing bananas, look for ones that have spots that are turning brown. Bananas have a special kind of fiber in them called pectin. Pectin can reduce your cholesterol and stabilize your blood sugar. Choosing ripe bananas means there is increased pectin and the proportion of fructose increases, which helps reduce the glycemic index of the banana. Plus, ripe bananas taste a lot better in baked goods!
Oats — Oats have a heart-healthy soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which is linked to helping slow digestion, increase satiety, and suppress appetite, helping you feel fuller for longer.
Whether you’re looking for a quick breakfast, healthy snack, or something to take while hiking or on the go, these vegan cookies will hit the spot.
Dark Chocolate and Banana Vegan Energy Cookies Recipe
(Makes about 10 medium-sized cookies)
3 very ripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup / 65g chopped dates, chopped
1 ½ cups / 150g rolled oats
1/3 cup / 50g dark chocolate (70-85% cacao), roughly chopped
1/4 cup / 20g walnuts
A few pinches of salt
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350° F / 175° C.
Peel your bananas and place them in a large bowl. Using a fork, mash the bananas until you have a chunky paste that is quite liquidy.
Add the vanilla extract and dates, then stir to combine.
Add the oats and walnuts and stir until the oats are fully coated in the banana mixture.
Fold in the dark chocolate, then crunch the walnuts in your hands and throw them in. Sprinkle with a few pinches of sea salt.
Spoon the dough onto a lined baking sheet. The cookies will not rise or spread during baking, so make sure to mold them to the final shape you want to create.
Bake for 10-20 minutes (depending on the size) until the edges and bottom turn golden. Remove from the oven, let cool, and store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Tips:
If you don’t like dates, try substituting them for raisins or cranberries. Look for unsulfured dried fruit — sometimes they add sulfur dioxide to pale fruits like golden raisins to preserve their color.)
Roughly cutting the chocolate will help you get large chunks of chocolate in your cookies.
Why rolled oats? Rolled oats are healthier because they haven’t been as processed as quick-cooking oats. Look for large-flake or old-fashioned oats.
Don’t like walnuts? You can also use hazelnuts or chopped almonds. If you’re allergic to nuts, try pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds instead.
This recipe makes about 10 medium-sized cookies, but you can opt to make one large cookie or several smaller ones. Your cooking time will vary depending on the size.
Adding sea salt might seem odd, but the contrast of the salt draws out the sweetness of the other ingredients!
Recipe courtesy of Sarah Britton:
Sarah Britton (BFA, CNP) is a Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Nutritional Practitioner based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Sarah is the creative force behind My New Roots, the award-winning food blog which features original recipes that taste great, look beautiful and boast incredible health benefits. Following her philosophy of “making healthy choices every day” she has been creating recipes for her readers all over the world since 2007.
Winner of the 2014 Saveur “Best Food Blog – Special Diets Blog” Awards, Sarah currently teaches cooking classes, runs workshops on detoxification and cleansing, food as medicine, and nutrition fundamentals. She creates exclusive menu plans and recipes for various media and gives lectures and speaks in public forums such as TEDx.