Heart Shaped Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with a Chocolate Surprise

We hope you have a wonderful day full of love! In our house, we’re appreciating friends, family, and good food today!

Yes, I anticipate there will be chocolate involved.

To make these gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies, we dressed up this fabulous healthy cookie recipe (pin) (containing no gluten, processed sugar, butter or egg) with dark chocolate chips and baked it in a heart shaped silicone pan.

We doubled the amount of almond flour (by grinding whole almonds in 15 second increments in our Vitamix blender) to add a bit more protein to offset the added sugar in the chocolate chips.

Indulgent, but not too indulgent…

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup of almond meal
1 cup dried fruit (we used 3/4 cup raisins and 1/4 cup dried cranberries)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice

3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are using a baking sheet, line it with parchment paper; otherwise, grab your silicone baking mold and place it within an easy reach.

In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, and almond meal. Add salt, cinnamon, and allspice and stir until evenly mixed. Add dried fruit and stir until well combined, checking to ensure that the dried fruit does not stick together in big clumps.

In another bowl, mash bananas with the back of a fork, then add canola oil and vanilla extract; thoroughly mix. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then add the chocolate chips and thoroughly combine.

Press the batter into the silicone mold or place spoonfuls of batter on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool and then enjoy!

Have any left over? Save them for the next morning. We really like eating these cookies for breakfast! They taste better and are more healthy than grabbing a granola bar on your way out the door.

Happy Valentine’s Day!