Overripe bananas are a dime a dozen in our household but not so much when it comes to blueberries. The reason for that is because I absolutely LOVE berries and will demolish them long before they reach that stage. However, I found myself in the unusual position of having overripe, near-spoiling stage blueberries thanks to mum picking up a bunch of $1 punnets from Springvale… or was it 50 cents? I can’t remember now but regardless, they were super cheap! So with some overripe bananas AND blueberries on hand, I decided to bake some blueberry and banana oat cookies for breakfast or snacks during the work week. Muffins too are also a good option but I suppose I was in the mood for cookies.

BLUEBERRY & BANANA OAT COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed

• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup plain wholemeal flour, sifted

• 1/2 cup rolled oats

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 125g punnet blueberries (fresh or frozen)

METHODS

1. Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan forced. Prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, vegetable/canola oil, honey, peanut butter and vanilla extract before stirring through all the remaining ingredients except for the blueberries.

3. Divide the batter into 12 cookie portions, transfer to the baking paper and press down to form a cookie shape. Divide the blueberries between the cookies, pressing them into the cookie batter.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack; set aside to cool.

Enjoy!

The cookies will last for at least a week in an airtight container at room temperature or refrigerated… if they even last that long!