Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't know if I've admitted this yet - but I'm addicted to sugar. My family knows it, my friends know it, my work knows it... okay, and I'm pretty sure all our readers know it too! I'm pretty much  known as the "sugar queen." And I realize this isn't the healthiest addiction - so I try my best to find sweet things that can pass for semi-healthy too.

Well, these banana chocolate chip cookies satisfy my sugar craving - but don't do me in on the sugar content. They are easy to make and super yummy - and only have 4.4 g of sugar per serving!! This is my kind of cookie people.

Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
30 SERVINGS 
PREP: 15 minutes           COOK: 15 minutes            READY IN: 30 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 2 1/3 cups quick oats (If using whole oats, put them in a food processor or blender for a few seconds to finely chop them up)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup honey or pure maple syrup
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

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1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. 
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix either with a spatula or hand mixer. Make sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined. It will be sticky.
3. On a greased cookie sheet, drop about 3 tablespoons worth of cookie dough for each cookie. The dough will not spread or rise, so flatten the cookies to your desired shape. 
4. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until slightly brown. You don't want to overcook the cookies because they will dry out. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1 cookie    99 calories   5.3 g fat   10.7 g carbs    3.2 g protein    4.4 g sugar   

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction

Mini Apple Pie Bites

November is here! Hard to believe, but it's really here! That means Thanksgiving and I tend to associate that with a growing waist band. I don't know about you, but I tend to indulge a lot more over the winter months, and get out of my exercise habits too. It's my mission to keep my pants buttoned up and looking good this season. Anyone with me?!

I have an incredible recipe, in my humble opinion, I'm sharing with you today. I think it's delicious, sweet, and cute. What more could you ask for in a dessert? It's bite-sized - so you can eat as much, or as little as you want. At under 50 calories a piece, I think you can have more than one with your Thanksgiving feast.

Apple Pie Bites
16 SERVINGS 
PREP: 25 minutes           COOK: 15 minutes            READY IN: 40 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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FOR THE CRUST:

• 1/2 cup almond meal (or almond flour works too)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup ice cold water

FOR THE FILLING:

• 1 cup diced skin-on apple (I used a granny smith apple, but any firm, sweet and tart apple would do) 
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

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FOR THE CRUST:

1. Preheat the oven to 375º.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together almond meal, flour, and cinnamon. Add the maple syrup, apple sauce and water. Stir until it forms a soft dough. Divide the dough into 16 even squares. Press the dough into the minimuffin pan (I used a large muffin pan, but only went about halfway up the sides). Use your fingers to press in the dough so that it lines the bottoms and sides of each well.

FOR THE FILLING:

1. In a another medium bowl, mix together the apples, applesauce, vanilla, maple syrup and cinnamon. Spoon this apple mixture evenly on top of the dough mixture already placed in the muffin pan. 
2. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edge of the tarts are lightly brown. Serve warm. Keep these in your refrigerator up to 3 days.

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1 apple pie bite    43 calories   1.5g fat   6.7g carbs    1.1g protein    3g sugar   

To dress these up a bit for Thanksgiving, feel free to add a dollop of cool whip and sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top. Enjoy!

Recipe from Eating by Elaine.

Recipe Refresh: Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Up until about a year ago, I hadn't bought a sweet potato in my life. I ate them at Thanksgiving, covered in marshmallows and brown sugar (yum!), but thought that was about all they were good for. Boy, was I wrong. Since their growing popularity on Pinterest, sweet potatoes have found a nice home on our kitchen shelves. I LOVE sweet potato fries and recently found this maple-roasted sweet potato recipe that also has the "yum" factor. This would make a great, healthified version of your average Thanksgiving sweet potato recipe - giving you more room to splurge on pie!

Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
10 SERVINGS 
PREP: 15 minutes           COOK: 45-50 minutes            READY IN: 1 hour 5 minutes

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (approximately 8 cups), peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

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1. Preheat oven to 400º F.
2. After cutting sweet potatoes, pour into large freezer bag.
3. Combine syrup, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Pour syrup mixture into bag, seal, and toss to coat.
4. Evenly spread sweet potatoes in 9x13 inch pan. Cover and bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. 

NUTRITION FACTS

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    1/2 cup serving    193 calories   3 g fat   40.5 g carbs    1.9 g protein    6.9 g sugar   

Original Recipe	Refresh Recipe
7 cups sweet potatoes 1 1/4 cup margarine 1 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 cups mini marshmallows Cinnamon (to taste) Nutmeg (to taste)	8 cups sweet potatoes 1/3 cup maple syrup 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt Pepper (to taste)
595 calories	193 calories
19.4 g fat	3 g fat
103.9 g carbs	40.5 g carbs
43.1 g sugar	6.9 g sugar

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Delish

Cinnamon Baked Pears

I go a little overboard with cinnamon once the weather gets a little bit cooler and I crave my house beaming with cinnamon scents from the oven while the windows are open to let that yummy smell circulate as much as possible. I had a bunch of pears in the fridge that were begging to be eaten so I figured cinnamon and pears would make a great match. I was right! These were so delicious and would be a perfect way to feed that sweet tooth, while not going overboard. Everyone in the family gave it two thumbs up, though some preferred it served with vanilla ice cream rather than yogurt. My children also loved these chilled the next day and cubed up- it tasted a lot like cinnamon apples you would order from a restaurant.

Cinnamon Baked Pears
12 SERVINGS 
PREP: 15 minutes           COOK: 45 minutes            READY IN: 1 hour

SIMPLE	HEALTHY	YUM

INGREDIENTS

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• 6 pears 
• 1/4 cup 100% maple syrup
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 lemon, squeezed (or use about 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS

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1. Preheat the oven to 350º (375º if your pears aren't quite ripe). 
2. Peel all the pears. Cut pears in half and core out the middle, as well as the stem. (I used a spoon for the center and a paring knife for the stem).
3. Lay all the pears flat side down in a 9"x13" glass dish. Place maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice, and water in the bottom of the dish. Tip the pan side to side to gently mix the ingredients.
4. Flip the pears over and divide the butter evenly between them. (I put the butter in the middle of the pear where I cored it).
5. Bake for 30 minutes, occasionally basting each pear with syrup mixture. Once 30 minutes are over, flip pears and cook for 15 more minutes, or until pears are tender and soft. Serve with yogurt or ice cream.

NUTRITION FACTS

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(calculated if served with 1/2 cup greek vanilla yogurt, as pictured)

    1 pear with yogurt    149 calories   2.1g fat   26.7g carbs    7g protein    17.9g sugar   

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen