Fruit & Nut Oatmeal Cookie Balls

~One of my resolutions for this year, is to spend less on food magazines and cookbooks (unless it’s one of many I’ve been dying to get AND it’s a great deal) and actually cook from the books and magazines I already have in my collection. Going along with this idea, is also to try and pin less (riiiiiiiiiiiiiight) and attempt more. I failed miserably on the former but at least it doesn’t cost me anything to pin =) 

This is a recipe which has been repinned and tweaked (including by me) lord knows how many times over, so I’m not sure who it originated from. Nevertheless, it’s become part of my healthy eats rotation. It would be deceiving to call it a cookie because it’s much more moist than actual cookie. I love it; it has everything I like about oatmeal type cookies- warm cinnamon notes, tartness from cranberries, and everything soaked in applesauce so that even the nuts nearly resemble small nuggets of apple. 

Special Equipment:

half sheet pan

silpat or parchment paper

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 ripe bananas

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup dried sweetened cranberries

¼ cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

¼ cup toasted sweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mash bananas until creamy. Add applesauce, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add oats, cranberries, hazelnuts, and coconut. Set aside for 10-15min, for all the ingredients to soak into the applesauce and bananas.
4. Use a spoon to form about 1” balls onto silpat-lined (or parchment-lined) sheet pan. Press down on cookie ball to flatten slightly. Repeat until no more “dough” remains. Unlike “real cookies” which include flour and butter, these will not melt and flatten more so there is no need to leave more than a ½” space between them.
5. Bake for approximately 20-30min or until golden.
6. Cool completely before storing.