Ok, to say that I am not a baker is an understatement. A few years ago I have sort of mastered banana bread, but that’s as far as my baking abilities go. Thing is, I don’t want to learn too much because I’m afraid to start baking up a storm and eat the products of my bakiness. I know myself!

I recently replaced cow milk with almond milk, which I make myself out of unpasteurized raw almonds. I love the taste, I haven’t had any tummy troubles since, and it’s very easy to do. My only problem with it is that I end up with almost 2 cups of left over pulp that I don’t know what to do with. I froze the first batch and never did anything with it, so I have been throwing away the following ones. My freezer is tiny so… It bothers me though, so many people are hungry, and it’s so wasteful to just throw away food like that, I had to find some way to use it. Roaming the web, I came across a few blogs and websites that explained that you could dry it out and use it as almond flour. Meh! What a great idea!

So I spread the pulp on a cookie sheet, turned the oven on at the lowest setting (140 F) and put the sheet in leaving the door slightly open so that the moisture could escape. It was in there for several hours (about 3-4). Before I went in the shower to go to work my evening meeting, it was almost dry, but not quite, so I closed the oven door, bumped the heat to 170 F and went in the shower. After my shower, I turned off the oven, left the stuff in there and went to work. When I came back, it was perfect! I sifted the almond flour in a strainer, and used my mortar and pestle to break up the stubborn clumps. Et voila! Almond flour! Between that and the milk, I’m saving a fortune!!

I hear ya! Shut up Martha Stewart, we want to know about the cookies! Well, I figured that a good way to use some of my newly found flour, was to make my very first Oatmeal cookies. So I did! I love oatmeal cookies, but they tend to be very fatty, and huge. I’ve been meaning to figure out a more belly friendly recipe for ages. I had old bananas to use, so I started from a recipe I found on Sparkpeople.com: Banana Oatmeal Cookies. I think I modified it enough to be able to call it mine, but I wanted to still give some credit to my “start point”.

These are the first two cookies made by me, myself and I that we have ever eaten! So proud!

I built this recipe with what I had on hand. For example I had no butter, so I didn’t put in any.  Here’s what I ended up doing, feel free to modify to your own tastiness. I like chewy cookies, so I make mine fairly thick. If you like drier, crispier cookies, flatten them more (step 4) before you put them in the oven.

Note: They were quite sweet, I will cut down on sugar and sweetener next time I put in crystallized ginger.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
14 cookies,

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant)
2 TBSP raisins
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1 TBSP crystallized ginger, minced
1 large egg white
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sweetener (like Splenda)
1 1/2 old banana, smallish
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of clove

Directions

1. Set baking racks in top and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 400 F (depending on your oven next time I’ll put it lower). Coat 2 baking pans or cookie sheets with cooking spray.

2. Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl (from almond flour to allspice). Add oats, dried fruits and crystallized ginger. Set aside.

3. Blend egg white, a piece of banana (about 2 TBSP worth), splenda and sugar until smooth (I did it by hand). Add remaining bananas and vanilla extract and blend until smooth. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

4. Form little golf ball sized ball of dough and drop on the cookie sheet keeping space between them. Push down slightly to form a cookie using a wet thumb or spoon.

5. Bake 8 minutes and then turn the pans around and put back in for 6 to 9 minutes or until the cookies are browned lightly and feel mostly firm when pressed with your finger.Transfer cookies to a baking rack and cool. Store in an air tight container.

Source: Adapted, greatly, from a Sparkpeople.com recipe.

Nutrition value: TBD

So there you have it, my very first ever cookies! They were delicious (really) and as easy as can be! Now, to not eat them all today… WOAH!