Molten Choc Chip: Banana and Oatmeal Peanut Butter cookies (Butter free & Flourless!)

I just love old people.

I went to visit my Nana today before she leaves for her 3 month travel to Asia.

Here's how our greeting conversation went:

"Tasha! Why aren't you at school?"

"I'm at uni, Nana. We don't go back until next week".

"Oh. And do people come to eat at your restaurant?" (Where I waitress)

"Yes Nana. They do. Everyday".

Cool story bro (?!)

Then I told her about the gorgeous Molten chocolate chip, banana-y, oatmeal peanut butter cookies that I had encountered just earlier on in the day... 

You can probably tell from the title that there is not enough adjectives in the world to describe these beauties.

Speckled and sweet, ripe banana folded into thick and dreamy...and super whippy-like peanut butter...

It looked like Mr Whippy's handsome, peanut cousin...

Whole grain rolled oats

Moist, caramelized brown sugar

The humble egg, and few other bits n bobs. 

And finally...Ooey gooey, creamy melted belgian dark chocolate chips. O.k - Belgian...was that necessary??

It was...it just really, really was...

I woke up with a taste for peanut butter. Peanut butter.

Nothing out of the ordinary (for me at least). 

We had a bunch of bananas. And a whole box of cheap oats that don't make the best porridge. 

It appeared that I had some using up to do....SO I went ran out quickly to buy 2 humongous jars of smooth peanut butter (can't use natural for cookies - too runny) because it's totally better to be safe than sorry. Especially regarding peanut buttery matters. 

I could not for the life of me find an oaty banana peanut butter cookie recipe ANYWHERE which wasn't either: 

a) Vegan 

b) Paleo 

c) Only 2 ingredients - where's the fun in that?

 And nor could I find one which used an enticing photograph...(Looks like I've filled that void, eh?!)

I was hungry and kinda stuck, so made up a recipe based on about 10 others I'd jumbled up across about thousand tabs and 3 window. I just went for it, estimating pretty much everything by hand...but they came out absolutely p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

I hope you enjoy them just as much as me and my family did. The batch has been polished in less than 3 hours since school ended and the hungry horses came crashing in. Need I say anymore? 

Chocolate overload, and i'm lovin' it.

By the way...when I say molten...I mean molten. They were pure gooey, crumbly, chewy bliss. 

I used 3 bananas but you can probably get away with less.

The great thing about these is that there is nothing that is just too overpowering.

I've made peanut butter chocolate cookies before (no banana) - but there was always something in excess. I personally have a seriously challenging sweet tooth, but even I seemed to get a headache after those crazy dense cookies. These, however, are once again - a different dimension altogether. 

These are perfect. They are equilibrium cookies. Balanced, sweet, light, tasty, chewy, crumbly, oaty and nutty with a great texture and kinda filling - but not sickly heavy. 

You kind of had to be there...

The best you can go from here is trying them yourself and sinking into your own little bubble of bliss...

I was going to drizzle them in white chocolate in zig zags across the top because it seemed like a super cool, photogenic artistic-y thing to do...

But they got eaten too quick. 

Say no more. 

Recipe (Makes about 12-17 medium sized, chunky cookies depending on how you size them)

• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (use jar peanut butter, natural is too runny and will make unhappy cookies...)
• 3 small- medium, ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 large egg
• Dark/bittersweet chocolate chips. (I just blitzed a block of chocolate in the food processor)
• 1 cup rolled oats or more if desired. 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F or 175*C. 
2. Melt the peanut butter a bit so its runnier (Microwave for 20 seconds on high)
3. Mix in the sugars with the peanut butter, add the mashed banana, soda, vanilla and egg. 
4. Add the oats and stir. Be careful not to over mix. 
5. Chuck in the chocolate chippies and give the whole thing a quick stir (You may nibble, - they are too tempting)
6. Take a small bit of batter (prepare to get messy) and roll into a ball as best as you can (the banana makes it runnier and harder to do)
7. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and space out (darker paper gives you softer, chewier cookies)
8. Try not to make the 'balls' overly big because they can fall apart easily when they come out - just go for normal sized cookies so they all get cooked the same. 
9. Bake for about 8-12 minutes, until the edges are browned and they have lost the 'raw' look. 

Enjoy and drink with a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate...and off of your favorite plate of course.

 And, P.S: Try with them ICE CREAM when they are fresh and super gooey out of the oven! OH.MY.GOD. 

Let me know how it goes!

Tash xo