These 4-ingredient oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are totally vegan and couldn't be simpler. There's no whisking or sifting required. Just mash, stir, scoop, and bake.
These easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies only have 4 ingredients!
Toot toot! I'm delighted to be the first stop on Laure Theodore's blog tour for her beautiful new cookbook: Vegan-ease. The book comes out in just a couple of weeks, and I was lucky enough to receive a review copy.
Laura is a long-time vegan who moved from New York city to rural northern New Jersey. She went from having an enviable number of vegan options to one grocery store choice. That store was not very vegan-friendly. She found herself struggling to find ingredients for her favorite dishes.
She basically had to make over her whole diet, focusing on seasonal produce and readily-available plant-based protein sources. She also figured that she wasn't the only person facing this struggle as a vegan, which is how she got the idea for this cookbook.
I love Laura's cooking philosophy, because it's very in line with my own. She believes that anyone can prepare simple, vegan dishes without a lot of fancy ingredients. You can get the 4-ingredient chocolate chip cookie recipe from the book below and enter to win your own copy of Vegan-Ease!
But Also, Cookies!
Guys, I will admit to you that I was shocked at how easy this 4-ingredient chocolate chip cookie recipe was to make. This recipe gets an "Ease Factor 1." All of the recipes in the book are rated on a scale of ease, so you can know just what you're getting yourself into before you start cooking.
In this case, you're signing up for some measuring and stirring, some scooping, and then some waiting while the cookies bake.
Bananas work as the binder in this recipe, and they are the main source of sweetness. If you use raisins, like the recipe calls for, then the only source of refined sugar in these cookies is from the chocolate chips. The craisins I used were sweetened, so they added some extra sugar. I'm not sorry. I think it would be fun to try this recipe out with other sorts of dried fruit, too! Diced, dried apricots would be really good, I think.
If you're used to making more conventional cookies, you might be worried about the dough consistency on these suckers. You're not going to have a nice ball of dough like you may expect. This dough is what I call "fall-aparty." Don't worry! Just do your best to form pretty little cookies, and they will firm up when they bake and then cool. I promise!
4-Ingredient Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 16 to 18 Cookies
EASE FACTOR 1
Oh yeah! These delectable little cuties are so simple to make, you just may want to make a double batch. With only four ingredients, you can’t go wrong with this easy twist on a classic cookie.
Ingredients
- 2 large, ripe bananas
- 1 ¼ cups rolled oats
- ⅓ cup raisins (I used sweetened, dried cranberries, because that's what I had in the pantry.)
- ⅓ cup vegan dark chocolate chips
Method
- Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- Put the bananas in a medium-sized bowl and mash with a potato masher or large fork until smooth. Add the oats, raisins and chocolate chips; stir to combine.
- Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, drop a heaping tablespoonful of the cookie batter onto the lined baking sheet, gently flattening it with a rubber spatula or clean fingertips. Continue in this manner with the remaining cookie dough.
- Bake for 13 to 17 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and cookies are almost set.
- Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, cookies will keep for about 3 days.
Recipe © 2015 Laura Theodore, published by Jazzy Vegetarian, LLC, reprinted by permission.
Gaby
bean chili with anything I have on hand is super easy and always good!
Anne
Bean burritos with salsa and guacamole
P
rice and beans
Ashley
Portobello burgers are so easy and FAST. I try to keep frozen burger buns in the freezer, so it's a cinch to toast up the buns, throw the mushrooms on the griddle, and steam some veggies as a side. 15 minutes later dinner is served!
Becky Striepe
Oh nice!
Barbara Johansen
Broccoli soup love it, saw it on the show and has become a staple.