Oat and chocolate cookies (sugar-free and gluten-free)

Making healthy bars couldn't be easier! To make these completely sugar-free oat and chocolate cookies or bars and full of energy it's just a matter of grabbing a few ingredients, mixing for 2 minutes and baking... In 12 minutes they're ready! And honestly they're delicious. Will you give it a try?

I usually make this recipe at home because the kids love them. Whether for breakfast at home or to take to school, they're a breakfast or snack that feels like a treat, a delicious sweet, but they're 100% guilt-free because they contain no sugar, honey, or other sweeteners: we use a couple of bananas to sweeten and bind, so they're a perfect option to fill up on energy and satisfy hunger.

Cookies or oat bars?

I call them both cookies and bars, and I'll tell you why: I make them in several formats:

• You can make the mix and give them a small flat round cookie shape using two spoons. Then, place them on a nonstick baking tray or a sheet of non-stick baking paper, and you get perfect cookies for snacking.
• You have the option to spread all the dough out in a tray (I always use the Naturals by Nordic Ware for that), in a smooth layer a few centimeters high. Bake and, after baking, make some vertical cuts to get bars. Ideal!
• Square bites: today's case is between a cookie and a bar. I used the new Le Creuset square muffin and brownie pan, and I really loved this option. I got thick square oat bites that are more generous than a single cookie, a pleasant square bite to eat. If you use this pan, you can fill the cavities to different heights, so you can make square cookies if you fill them a little, or a generous bar-like bite if you fill them as I did.

Le Creuset nonstick pan for muffins, brownies, sobaos and tartlets

Ingredients

• 300 g rolled oats
• 2 ripe bananas (large, or 3 small)
• 1 L egg (lightly beaten)
• 2 tbsp mild olive oil
• 3 tbsp coconut oil or hazelnut oil
• 3 generous tbsp shredded coconut (if you're not a fan of coconut, don't add it)
• Chocolate chips (2 handfuls)
• One teaspoon cinnamon (optional, although I always add it)

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, add the peeled bananas cut into large pieces.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl except the chocolate chips (that is, the oats, the coconut, the olive oil and the coconut or hazelnut oil, the beaten egg and the cinnamon).
3. With the help of a fork or a potato masher, start crushing the banana while mixing it with the other ingredients. You will see that little by little the oats (which are dry at first) get soaked with the oils, egg and banana. You should keep mixing and mashing until everything looks integrated, the banana broken down and the oats are all "wet", no longer appearing dry. You'll see it's a quick process; in 2 minutes it'll be ready.
4. Add the chocolate chips and mix with the fork or now with a spatula. You only want to distribute the chocolate throughout the mixture, so keep mixing and "pressing" the dough with the spatula to incorporate the chocolate and spread it through the mix.
5. Apply a little nonstick spray to the Le Creuset nonstick pan.
6. With a spatula, fill the cavities of the pan. With the quantity obtained, it should be enough to fill all the cavities to a height of 3/4 or completely. The bars contain no leavening and will not rise in the oven, so they will come out as thick as you make them now.
7. With a silicone spatula, press the dough into each cavity so it is compact.
8. Bake in the middle of the oven, in a preheated oven at 200 ºC, about 12 minutes approximately (if making them thick; if you make them thinner it will be a bit less). Remove when the oats look golden.
9. Let them cool and unmold. You can invert the pan (you'll see they come out easily) or help yourself with a wooden spatula (do not use metal, you don't want to damage the nonstick surface).
10. When serving, you can enjoy them as is, or you can accompany them with melted chocolate, salted caramel, dulce de leche... Each combination is a winner and different! Do it to your taste (or let everyone top theirs as they like).
    In my case, I used Tiptree salted caramel we love it at home.

How to accompany your oat cookies?

Here are several options, I leave you the ones most liked at home:

• Served plain, with the flavors of banana, coconut and especially chocolate, they're already very tasty.
• You can melt dark chocolate and pour it over the cookies, and let it cool to serve them with the hardened chocolate.
• Apply melted chocolate to the base of the cookies (dip them up to half their height once unmolded), and let cool. Being little squares, they also look very pretty in two tones.
• Drizzle white chocolate in a thread over the cookies, then repeat but with dulce de leche. Let cool or serve still liquid... They are delicious and beautiful!
• Bring hazelnut spread, dulce de leche or salted caramel to the table, and let everyone serve themselves at the moment to top the bars as they like.

Notes:

• When mixing the ingredients, if you see the oats need it, you can add a little more oil... but never overdo it, a little is enough and you don't want the bars to be greasy. You can also add a little more egg, or a bit more banana (in many cases it will depend on the size of the bananas you added whether there's enough to soak and bind all the ingredients or you'll need a bit more, but you'll see quickly when you make it and it's a recipe that works fine with a bit more or less. Make it without fear!
• If you want to make thin bites or cookies, you can fill the pan a little and do two bakes.

Notes