Banana oat cookies

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius with a rack in the middle, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. The oven needs to be hot from the start so the cookies set quickly instead of spreading. The oven is ready when the preheat light turns off and the sheet is lined flat.

   Mark step 1 as done

2. Step 2

   Peel 240 g very ripe bananas with brown-speckled peels, put them in a bowl and mash them very finely with a fork, then stir in 30 g peanut butter, 3 g vanilla extract, a pinch of ground cinnamon and a pinch of salt. The riper the bananas, the sweeter they are and the better they bind the oats. The mixture is ready when it is almost as smooth as cream, with only a few tiny bits of banana left.

   Mark step 2 as done

3. Step 3

   Add 160 g rolled oats to the banana mixture, along with 50 g chocolate chips if you are using them, stir well and let it sit for about five minutes. This short rest lets the oats soak up moisture from the bananas, so the mixture thickens and is easier to shape. The mixture is ready when it is moist and sticky and holds together in a mound when scooped.

   Suggested time: about 5 minutes.

   Mark step 3 as done

4. Step 4

   Drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture onto the sheet about 3 cm apart, then press each one flat with the back of the spoon into a round about 1 cm thick. These cookies don't spread in the oven, so shape them exactly the way you want them to look. They are ready when they are evenly round with neat edges and all the same thickness.

   Mark step 4 as done

5. Step 5

   Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for about 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the sheet once halfway through so they brown evenly. Baking them just long enough keeps the centers soft and moist, while baking too long turns them dry like crackers. They are done when the edges and bottoms are golden brown, the tops look dry and they feel firm when pressed lightly.

   Bake at 175°C for about 14 to 16 minutes.

   Mark step 5 as done

6. Step 6

   Let the cookies sit on the sheet for about ten minutes before moving them to a wire rack with a thin spatula. While hot they are very soft and break easily, and they only firm up enough to move once they cool a little. They are ready when they don't bend as you lift them and the bottoms come away from the paper easily.

   Suggested time: about 10 minutes.

   Mark step 6 as done