Healthy Banana Drop Cookies

These cookies are not going to win any awards for beauty, or taste for that matter. But, if you are on a diet, or want to give your kids something healthy these are good cookies. I enjoyed them, and the kids would eat them if they were hungry, but Scott was done with them after his first cookie.

I made them to take on vacation so I would have something to eat while everyone else ate the more fattening (fun) food. I might experiment with the recipe to see if adding some baking soda or something would make them bake up a bit bigger. They pretty much just stayed exactly the same glob of dough on the pan, only baked.

Healthy Banana Drop Cookies

(recipe from food.com formerly known as recipezaar.com)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

5 tbls. softened margarine

1 cup mashed bananas

1/4 cup orange juice

(I also added 1/2 cup of raisins)

---Process oats in food processor or blender until finely ground.

--- Combine first six ingredients

---Use a pastry cutter to cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles crumbs

---Add banana and orange juice and mix well

--- Chill 20 minutes in the freezer

--- Drop teaspoon sized cookies on well greased baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes

Low Fat, Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars

These are part cookie, part breakfast-bar from a recipe on the Quaker Oatmeal container. They are still chewy and delish even though they are low fat. I don't believe they are low calorie though because I want to keep eating and eating them. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour this time and may try going to all whole wheat. My next step is to try using splenda to lower the calories, but the kids may start complaining at that point. They didn't notice the 1/2 whole wheat flour.

LOW FAT CHEWY FRUIT AND OATMEAL BARS

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

8 ounces of plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt

2 egg-whites, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. fat free milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 wheat 3/4 all purpose)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) (I used old-fashioned)

1 cup diced dried mixed fruit, raisins, or craisins (I mixed raisins and craisins)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk and vanilla, mix well. In medum bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add to yogurt mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and fruit.

2. Spread dough evenly onto bottom of ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan.

3. Bake 28 to 32 minutes (I love that odd exactness; not 27-31 minutes or 29-33, but I'm just weird.) or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

That's it!