Zucchini Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

Knowing Pathways and the recipes we tend to post, you can imagine these cookies are not your average cookie. We used minimal sugar, gluten-free oats, and filled them with real food ingredients such as zucchini, banana, egg, nut butter, good fats, etc. We wanted to make sure these were tasty without using processed or overly sweetened ingredients. Let’s be honest, anything with chocolate is tasty and here we used 88% Endangered Species dark chocolate. This brand has little amounts of added sugar for you to reap the benefits the cocoa has to offer. Instead we added ripened banana to help sweetened the end result without over-doing it. Have you ever tried to grow zucchini? If so, you’ll know how easily it seems to spread and how much you tend to yield over the course of the season. Though this recipe only calls for 3/4 cup of zucchini (which comes out to be about half of a zucchini), it’s still helpful in using up your harvest. Add this recipe to your collection for when those green and yellow squash really come to fruition. Like a cousin to the well-known banana and zucchini breads, these chewy, chocolatey “cookies” can be eaten any time of the day. The protein, fats, and whole grains makes these little morsels a satisfying delight for breakfast, dessert, or just snacking on throughout the day. Dip in your favorite milk or enjoy as is, but be warned, it is hard to eat just one.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Need:

• 3/4 c. zucchini, shredded and squeezed to remove liquid
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 egg
• 2 T nut butter
• 2 T coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c. oats (gluten-free if desired)
• 1/2 c. almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• dash sea salt
• dash cinnamon
• 1/3 c. chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips (with at least 70% cocoa)
• 1/4 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

What to Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a medium sized bowl combine zucchini, banana, egg, nut butter, coconut oil and vanilla. Mix well.
3. In a separate, smaller bowl combine oats, almond flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
4. Add the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and mix to incorporate.
5. Add dark chocolate and nuts if using and mix.
6. Spoon dollops of mixture onto a baking sheet. Press down slightly to flatten, and bake cookies in preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until the bottoms are brown and firm to touch.

optional alterations: *Try eliminating the banana and double amount of zucchini instead. Will be even less sweet, and uses up more vegetable!

Makes about 12 cookies