Tuesday Tutorial: 2-Ingredient Cookies

2. Mash the bananas into a thick blob of slime. My kids love this step, but I equally love getting out a little aggression at the end "just to make sure they're totally mushed" of course.

Want something quick and easy to make that a) you can do with your kids without losing your mind, b) uses up those brown bananas on the counter that you swore you were going to use for your healthy smoothie resolution, and c) are prepped and cooked in under 20 minutes? Boom. You're ready for a Smith-family favorite: 2-ingredient cookies featuring ripe bananas and oats. And if you're really brave and feel a little Rachel Ray-ish, you can even add some of your own "extras" to give these healthy snacks a little more zip.


Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1 cup of oats (rolled or quick-cook); we love these Bob's Red Mill extra thick rolled oats because they taste more "oatsy" if you will. They're a little trickier to use to hold everything together, but I'm magical and I make it work. 
*Optional extras of your choice: chocolate chips, dried fruit, cinnamon, etc.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel the two bananas, and scoop out a cup of oats. Throw 'em in the bowl.

3. *Optional: Add the extras of your choice. I LOVE adding a handful (*cough, or two, cough*) of chocolate morsels and some dried cranberries. Who doesn't like chocolate, and I like how the cranberries cut the sweetness of the bananas.

4. Ball up 12 gooey chunks of banana goodness. This can be a bit tricky with the thicker oats, but you really just have to get it onto a greased cookie sheet in a general lump. As you can see, the Smith family does not suffer from OCD. Just throw 'em on there. 

5.  Bake for 12-15 minutes. The cookies will not really change much, but the bananas will get toasty and the oats may brown up a bit. 
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. They are ready to eat now if you have people like Mr. Smith in your family who just can NOT wait. Personally, I like to leave them in the fridge for awhile to stiffen up a bit. Or save them (if you can!) to eat with your morning coffee. Believe me. It's so worth it. 

What do you think? Do you have any good additions we should try? Try them and let us know what you think!