Healthy Dried Fruit Energy Cookies with Nuts

This dried fruit energy cookies recipe is amazing for not only 1, 2, 3 or even 4, but for 5 reasons. 1 – it doesn’t contain a single gram of sugar; 2 – it doesn’t contain any flour at all; 3 – only 3 of those biscuits satiate the hunger completely and if you don’t have time in the morning, they can substitute your breakfast; 4 – they give you energy for a couple of hours, and 5 – they’re super quick and easy to make – only 15 minutes (and that’s if you’re not using a food processor) + 15 minutes to bake.

If you are one of those people that prefer their desserts a bit more sweet, do not give up on this healthy recipe – just add 1-2 tablespoons honey more.

Ingredients for about 40 dried fruit energy cookies:

• 250 g oats
• 50 g dried apricots
• 50 g dates
• 50 g almonds
• 50 g cashew nuts
• 2 large bananas (or 3 small ones)
• 2 tbsp flaxseed
• 2 tbsp honey
• ½ lemon
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Dried Fruit Energy Cookies Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºС. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Chop finely the dried apricots and dates.
3. Crush the almonds and cashew nuts. You can use a food processor but for a very short spurt, you wouldn’t want to crush the nuts too finely because you wouldn’t be able to taste the difference later on.
4. Squeeze the lemon juice.
5. In a bowl, press the bananas with a fork and puree them.
6. Using a spatula or a fork, stir in all remaining ingredients. Use your hands if need be to make sure everything is mixed well.
7. Shape small balls with the size of a nut. Place them onto the baking tray and leave enough space in-between them. Press them with a fork, until 1 cm thick. If they crack or loose their round shape, you can use your hands to make small amendments but it is not necessary.
8. Put them in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until they start obtaining a caramel colour around the edges. Leave aside to cool down for about 5 minutes, then transfer them from the baking tray onto a cooling rack.

Bon appetit!