By Jane Esselstyn
This recipe is from Rip Esselstyn’s new book My Beef With Meat. It is a #1 New York Times bestseller and was released May 14, 2013.
I love bananas, I love oats, and I love peanut butter. So does my sister Jane’s 13-year-old daughter, Crile, who ate seven of these in one sitting. Teenage approval: That says a lot about how good these cookies are.
Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup natural chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups old fashioned oats
½ cup whole wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ cup nondairy chocolate chips or raisins
*to make gluten-free, eliminate whole wheat flour
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter, and maple syrup into a creamy consistency in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, and salt (if using).
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined–the batter should be slightly sticky.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips or raisins.
7. Place rounded, heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the batter onto an lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 15-18 minutes and gobble up while they are still warm!
Rip Esselstyn is a mission-driven man. As a swimmer at the University of Texas at Austin, he was a three time All-American. As a professional athlete, he was one of the premier triathletes in the world for more than a decade. As a firefighter for the Austin (TX) Fire Department, he helped people and saved lives. As a friend to other firefighters, he transformed the way Austin’s Engine 2 ate to save firefighters’ health. Now, as the author of The Engine 2 Diet, he is teaching people the irrefutable connection between what they put in their mouths and their ability to reach their ideal weight and their ideal health. Recently, he has teamed up with Whole Foods Market as a Healthy Eating Partner to raise awareness for Whole Foods Market team members, customers, and all of America about the benefits of eating a Plant Strong diet composed of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Rip comes from a family steeped in medicine. His great-grandfather, George Crile, co-founded the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, where his father, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., was chief of the breast cancer task force and completed one of the most extensive studies ever conducted on the relationship between the heart and diet–proving that a plant-based diet can stop, prevent, and even reverse heart disease.
Rip serves on the Board of Directors for The Wellness Foundation, EarthSave’s Meals For Health Program, and the AllergyKids Foundation.
