these soft cookies are sweetened naturally with medjool dates and banana, making them a good option for babies or toddlers alike, while still being appropriate for the adults in the family! perfect for breakfast or snacks.
It was only a matter of time before I dove into some baby led weaning recipes. One of the unfortunate side effects of baking mostly SCD recipes is that they pretty much all contain honey – which, of course, is not safe for babies until 1 years old. So Amara hasn’t been able to enjoy most of my SCD goodies. That being said I do have a waffle recipe that is honey-free, with no flour either, that I made with her (and me) in mind, so that we eat like, daily. However, I want to start exploring some cookie and/or muffin options for her too – and this is my first foray. It’s a soft and fluffy cookie that’s sweetened only by the one banana and cup of medjool dates in it. I wanted to make a cookie that I’d personally also eat (or anyone else on a refined sugar free/grain free diet), but would also make a nice treat for a baby or toddler – not expecting them to necessarily eat a whole cookie every time (maybe a toddler, but my baby probably not). Medjool dates are high in natural sugars but are still considered safe for baby led weaning, and my baby girl definitely enjoyed her first time ever having a “cookie” with these!
That being said, I am super happy with how they turned out! They’re easy to make and you can easily break them off into pieces or slice them with a knife to give your child an appropriate size piece of the cookie based on how far along they are in their baby led weaning journey. I made them large enough to allow for this – approx two tablespoons of batter per cookie. If you are not eating them as well, I definitely recommend storing them in the freezer and I’m sure they will last awhile.
The base of these cookies is the almond butter and banana, however I add a tablespoon of almond flour and coconut flour respectively, as well as an egg, to help the texture firm up — I haven’t experimented without the addition of the flours, although I think it’s an experiment worth doing! If you do try a variation, drop me a comment and let me know how it goes.
Beyond those ingredients, I also add a touch of vanilla extract as well as baking soda.
It’s worth noting my baby is 8 months old, and we’ve been doing baby led weaning from 6 months old. She’s tried most allergens already (she’s already tried every ingredient in the recipe below), so I knew it was a safe recipe to give her. However I do think this is more suitable to try once you’ve been doing BLW for a couple of months already – of course, you’ll need to have already introduced your allergens beforehand.
Find the full recipe below, and let me know if you try making these either for yourself or your child! Please leave a comment and let me know how it goes. Stay tuned for more baby and toddler friendly recipe creations that are also still grain and refined sugar free!
soft banana almond butter cookies: ingredients
- 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 7 medjool dates, softened (about 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp almond flour
- 1+1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
soft banana almond butter cookies: how to
- start by softening your dates – place them in a pot with water and bring to boil, allowing to bubble for 5-10 minutes until very soft. allow to cool slightly.
- while the dates soften, in a medium-sized bowl, mash your banana.
- once the dates are cool, you should be able to remove the skin easily (it should slip off), and then de-pit. place each date in your bowl with the banana.
- add the almond butter, and combine everything well, mashing up the dates as you go.
- add the egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing.
- finally, add the almond flour, coconut flour and baking soda – combine well.
- place bowl in the fridge to cool the batter a bit, which will make it easier to manipulate into cookies. i let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours. you can skip this step but it’ll be a bit trickier to form the cookies.
- line a baking sheet with parchment paper, remove the cookie batter from fridge, and use approx 2 tbsp of batter per cookie, placing each on the tray. wet your wrist/palm of hand to flatten each cookies (the batter will be sticky). repeat on each cookie.
- bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 10-12 minutes. allow to cool before removing tray as they will be quite soft. you can store in fridge or freezer. serve to baby in slices they can grasp – the cookies should be large enough to cut into slices as thick as two fingers.
soft banana almond butter cookies (grain free, refined sugar free, baby led weaning friendly)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup smooth almond butter
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 7 medjool dates, softened about 1 cup
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp almond flour
- 1+1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- start by softening your dates – place them in a pot with water and bring to boil, allowing to bubble for 5-10 minutes until very soft. allow to cool slightly.
- while the dates soften, in a medium-sized bowl, mash your banana.
- once the dates are cool, you should be able to remove the skin easily (it should slip off), and then de-pit. place each date in your bowl with the banana.
- add the almond butter, and combine everything well, mashing up the dates as you go.
- add the egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing.
- finally, add the almond flour, coconut flour and baking soda – combine well.
- place bowl in the fridge to cool the batter a bit, which will make it easier to manipulate into cookies. i let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours. you can skip this step but it'll be a bit trickier to form the cookies.
- line a baking sheet with parchment paper, remove the cookie batter from fridge, and use approx 2 tbsp of batter per cookie, placing each on the tray. wet your wrist/palm of hand to flatten each cookies (the batter will be sticky). repeat on each cookie.
- bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 10-12 minutes. allow to cool before removing tray as they will be quite soft. you can store in fridge or freezer. serve to baby in slices they can grasp – the cookies should be large enough to cut into slices as thick as two fingers.