banana oaty bites!

Do you ever find yourself with a couple of very ripe bananas and don't know what to do with them?
Well I have the answer, in fact I have a few answers but this post is about the simplest wee cookies you could ever make! They are packed full of healthy ingredients, in fact there are only 5 ingredients in them and they are delicious!
First for the health benefits:
Bananas as we all know are a great source of energy and are easy to digest. They also contain tryptophan  which the body converts into serotonin, the feel good chemical which improves our mood and helps us to relax!  They do contain a fair amount of sugar, albeit all natural, so the addition of cinnamon helps our body to deal with it and we all need to give our body a wee helping hand!.
Both oats and coconut are great sources of soluble fibre which will slow the rate at which the sugar is released into the system, so another helping hand right there, and lower your cholesterol at the same time and feed your good gut bacteria!
Last but certainly not least the dark chocolate chips will act as a natural mood enhancer and they taste quite decadent!
In conclusion these are well worth making, kids will love them, and will most definitely enjoy helping you to make them.  They can easily be rustled up as a healthy after school snack! The recipe makes between 12 to 15 cookie bites depending on the size you make them. The smell of baking bananas is quite wonderful and really gets your taste buds tingling! Feel free to add some chopped nuts or sunflower seeds to boost the benefits even further and provide a bit of crunch! If you use gluten free oats then the recipe is also gluten free! Remember to use ripe bananas, ones with brown spots on the skin are so sweet and will make your cookies yummy! Here is the recipe

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup of oats, any kind will do, I used jumbo oats
1/4 cup desicated coconut
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
handful dark chocolate chips
Method
1. Heat oven to 350F/170C
2, Mash the bananas in a bowl and add the other ingredients.
3. Mix together until well combined. If the mixture seems too wet add another spoonful of oats or coconut.
4. Lightly grease a baking tray, put spoonfuls of the mixture on the tray, flatten them slightly.
5. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Cool for 5 minutes then eat and enjoy them!!

                 ........your health in your hands.........