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Forever Cookies

I named these cookies “Forever” because they are so darn good that you will wish you were eating them…like… forever! They also have ZERO junk in them…hopefully helping you look young forever too!  There are no refined flours, no refined sugars, contain all organic ingredients and taste so freakin’ good!  No one has them beat from a nutritional taste perspective.

Coconut oil is the star of these cookies. Coconut oil was deemed horrible for you and your heart years ago when scientists didn’t understand how this saturated fat worked in the body. Since then, they now understand that coconut oil is made up of “medium chain” fatty acids and contain lauric acid that actually prevent your body from absorbing the cholesterol from the fat and actually help improve cholesterol levels already in the body. These also play a huge role in improving your metabolism (i.e. weight loss!) by removing stress from the pancreas and promote better digestion by helping your gut fight bacteria and fungus.

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These little babies are a creation that I made up several months ago trying to figure out the recipe for a vegan Earth Fare cookie that is made out of whole wheat flour. This cookie always calls my name at the end of my shopping trip.  I think I have shopped there maybe twice without getting one. One of those times, they were out of them and the other was because I knew I had just baked these!

I’ve included the three different methods I like to enjoy Forever Cookies. My favorite is completely raw straight out of the freezer.  The taste reminds me of a decadent chocolate chip cookie dough ice-creamishy sandwich….AMAZING.

Food Babe's Forever Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 1 ripe banana cut into small pieces
  • 4 dates chopped
  • 4 prunes chopped
  • ¼ cup coconut oil melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ⅔ cups of nut meal (I like almonds and pecans – I smash them into meal by hand using my rolling pin)
  • ½ cup of unsweetened coconut flakes
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder (if baking)
  • 7 ounces good dark chocolate chopped into pieces or chips or dried unsweetended cherries
Instructions
  1. If Baking:
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  3. In a blender – Combine banana, dates, prunes, coconut oil and vanilla and blend until smooth
  4. In a large bowl combine all other ingredients and mix so all components are equally distributed
  5. Pour blender mixture into dry ingredients and stir until batter is moist and mixed well
  6. Place dough in fridge or freezer for at least 15 mins
  7. Scoop dough using an ice cream scooper onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
  8. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough for 30 mins to make it harder and easier to make uniform cookies
  9. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 12-15 mins
  10. Cool cookies on a rack for at least 5 mins before consuming – otherwise they will fall apart
  11. If Dehydrating:
  12. Follow steps 2-5 above
  13. Place cookies on dehydrator sheets
  14. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for approximately 12 hours
  15. If Eating Completely Raw:
  16. Follow steps above to make the dough
  17. Place dough in a large zip lock bag and press to form into a wide log – you may need two bags
  18. Place in freezer and enjoy slices of the cookie dough anytime!
Notes
Makes approximately 20 cookies or 36 small cookies (if using a small ice cream scooper) ***Please buy all organic ingredients if possible***
 
Blender full of non-refined natural sugars – bananas, dates, prunes are so sweet on their own – you don’t need an ounce of anything else!
 
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Whole ingredients make up the dry ingredients – No refined flours here.
 
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Once you mix wet & dry ingredients – you eat directly right out of the bowl. Seriously – this is the best cookie dough ever. Somehow the coconut in this combined with the dates and prunes mimic a “samoa” girl scout cookie.

 

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I made three batches – One with dried cherries, one with chocolate chips, and one batch dehydrated with chocolate chips. All of the versions turned out DELICIOUS. I kept trying to taste test the baked vs. dehydrated – For some reason the dehydrated ones tasted a little better – almost like they had more flavor… But it was SUPER subtle. The dehydrated ones were also crunchier than chewy like the baked versions. So this lead me to keep taste tasting until all the cookies were gone. True Story. I don’t think I can call a clear winner either.

These were the cherry batch – Can you see how huge the cherries were getting in the oven? – totally plumping up – YUM.
 
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Chocolate Chip Batch (my husband’s favorite!):

 

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Dehydrated Batch:
 
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Try to not be a cookie monster if you make these…and remember to share this recipe with friends and family, so they make you some! 

Be Forever Young,

Food Babe


P.S. Watch as I make these on Charlotte Today on WCNC – NBC News Channel 6.


A big thanks goes out to the Hosts Colleen Odegaard and Larry Sprinkle, Associate Producer Bob Carroll and Production Assistant Kellie Brown who all made the experience so much fun as usual.

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123 responses to “Forever Cookies

  1. Just took these cookies out of the oven. They smell so good and my 7 year-old helped me make them!!

  2. WOW! I just made these amazing cookies! I didn’t have any coconut, so I omitted it. I used a quarter cup of peanut butter to help everything stick together a little better. I also used Unreal brand “m&m’s” instead of chopped chocolate. Next time I’ll throw in some chia seeds for good measure. I have a funny feeling “next time” might be in a few days! SOOOOOO tasty!

    1. My son has a peanut allergy. We have used Flax seed meal and Hemp meal. The omega-3 benefits of the Flax seed is nice. The hemp is a great protein source.

  3. Do you really need baking powder if baking these? I don’t do well with baking powder and it doesn’t seem like these cookies would need baking powder.

    1. Having just made these today, I will omit the baking powder in future recipes, there’s nothing in the recipe for it to leaven, as indicated by no change in shape after I baked them.

  4. Just made these last night. Turned them into breakfast granola bars. No chocolate chips, I used 1/2 cherries, and golden raisins (total 7 oz). I added 1/4 cup brown rice syrup to hold them together and pressed 2 1/2 cups into the bottom of a parchment lined 7″ “granola press”, then the 12 hrs in the dehydrator. PERFECT and DELICIOUS. (I also added some ground flax seed and wheat germ). Made 2 trays of 8 bars .

  5. Thank you! My husband always has a little sweet craving in the evening, so I am going to make these up for him. 🙂

    I wanted to say thank you too, for the AMAZING salad dressing recipe (the one made with raw tahini). I made a batch the other night and it was so so soooo good. My husband and I both loved it and it’s become a new favorite.

    Cheers!

  6. Do you have the nutritional breakdown? Calories, Fiber, Fats and so on? Thank you in advance!

  7. Food Babe-have you got a nutritional analysis on these? I am doing the low carb high protein diet. Thanks!

  8. I have been following your site for a year now and amazed at the work you are doing. I just got “Disconnect” on my computer and 27 companies are trying to get info from me while I’m on your site. Can you enlightened us way?

  9. Sadly, I am allergic to bananas. 🙁 I am also severely gluten intolerant.
    Bananas are in so many recipes I want to make.
    Is there a good substitute?

    1. bananas usually work as a binder & sweetener. You can try using pumpkin puree instead of bananas. It’s not as sweet though so you might want to add a bit of maple syrup, honey or stevia – or sweetener of your choice. Powdered psyllium seed husks also work as a great binder & hold in moisture. Flax & chia are also good

  10. I made these today and they are so good, I love how healthy they are, and gave me a boost of energy, and am trying to not just eat the whole batch. Next time I make them I may turn them into a take on a no-bake cookie. Trying to squish them together into cookie form for baking was a bit challenging even after I froze the mixture. But if you melted the chocolate, swapped 1/4 cup of the almond meal for organic almond butter into the chocolate, and then combined it all together, dropped spoonfuls, and put in the fridge, it would work as a better binder. Nearly identical ingredients, equal health benefits, but a bit faster and less crumbly. Regardless, these are yummy cookies.

  11. I would love to make the cookies, but we have peanut/tree nut/sesame allergies in my family. Any good substitutes for the nut meal?

    Thanks!

  12. I tried making these cookies as the recipe instructs. I did refrigerate them for 1/2 hour but I found them very crumbly and could not get them to stick together to bake them. The whole thing turned out looking more like granola than a cookie….all be it..good granola… 🙂 I am wondering if the dates and prunes should have been soaked prior to blending them. Any thoughts?

  13. Am I missing something? I followed the recipe exactly and double-checked (and triple-checked) the ingredients and measurements. My “batter” is really dry and crumbly…I see others are having the same problem. Any help?

    1. Dear Abbey,

      Yes, the batter was really dry and crumbly. I never had such a problem with other cookie recipes. Like others, I added a little more coconut oil. Then, I thought of something to be able to bake them…

      I placed a round 2 3/4 to 3 inch cookie cutter on the parchment paper. With a spoon, I pressed the dough inside, and lifted the cookie cutter; I repeated for the rest of the batter. I had 20 or so perfectly round cookies which were delicious. Once they are baked, they don’t crumble.

      Good luck,

      Nicole, from Calgary, Alberta

      p.s. I hope my explanation makes sense, as English is not my first language (I’m French speaking),

      1. Great idea! I just doubled the amount of coconut oil and made little balls and baked them. Delicious but I think I will try your way next time. Thanks for the suggestion and your English is beautiful!

  14. Very tasty, but i have a question. I used the 1/4 cup coconut oil as directed. Once melted it didn’t seem enough. Is it supposed to be 1/4 cup MELTED (so you have to start w/ more?). Like some of the other suggestions from the other commentors.

    ps – husband liked these!

    thanks food babe

  15. These are delicious. I added more coconut oil than recipe called for since 1/4 cup didn’t seeem enough for the dry ingredients to become moist. My husband saw the ingredients as I was making the cookies and he was making fun of them saying they’ll be fed to the squirrels! He just tried one and loved it!

  16. these are wonderful! just made them yesterday but too, had difficulty keeping them together somewhat but overall just totally fabulous! next time will omit the baking powder & perhaps add chia seeds, flax seeds etc. merci beaucoup!!!

  17. I am a lil concerned about using baking powder as the ingredients are questionable , sodium acid pyrophosphate? Sodium bicarbonate? And I just bought bobs aluminum free baking powder thinking it was completely safe…. Please advice as I love the food babes web site but have questions here and there on certain ingredients that are recommended.

  18. My 9 year daughter and I just made these, yumm! We added a little honey and omitted the prunes.

  19. Thank you so much for providing something sweet and yet good for me!! I can’t wait to make these for the Mr. too!! I have been appreciate all your amazing recipes and monthly meal plans!! Thank you for sharing great health!!

  20. Help! Am not finding unsweetened cherries anywhere. Anyone know where to buy? And any suggestions on chocolate besidez buying two $5 bars of Black and Green brand?
    4yr old and 15mo old love these cookies! They r not really sweet as I expected bjt I am still new to healthy food and still have a splenda tainted sweet tooth. And I should have used much smaller chunks of then u sweet chocolate so I could taste the rest. Kids didnt seem to care and wanted more.

  21. The way my kids enthusiastically eat these you would think they were candy. The only downside with these is how difficult it is not to eat the whole batch in one day.

  22. I notice in your photos the cookie dough has whole almonds in it but it’s not listed in the recipe. Do you put whole almonds in it too and if so how much? Thank you!
    Vangie

  23. What can I use in place of Banana (allergic to them)? Also, can this be made without the chocolate as it is really hard to find Soy free Chocolate and when you find it is really expensive. Thank you! Roseann

  24. Food Babe, great recipe! I have a dehydrator but haven’t been able to use it to it’s potential yet… So have a bit of a silly question perhaps. If I dehydrate can I eat them that way or do they need more prep after (like baking etc before eating)?

  25. I haven’t read the many comments above, but here is my question … What would be the acceptable substitute for the nut meal? With a severe allergy to ALL nuts and sesame, it is often difficult to find healthy recipes of this type without those ingredients.
    Thank you.

  26. These look amazing, but I’m allergic to bananas. So many recipes rely on them for sweetness. Any ideas of what I can substitute? I’m also allergic to all melons, avocados and walnuts. Help!

  27. These are yummy! Just made a batch to go in the freezer. Even my husband liked the raw batter. I used dried cranberries instead of cherries and pumpkin spice almonds for the nut meal.

  28. Just made these today…. OMG the flavor is amazing!! Love the combo of healthy, whole food ingredients that come together and end up tasting incredible… I used dark chocolate, added some chopped dried cranberries and per other’s suggestions doubled the coconut oil… I coudnt get the batter to stick together well (even after freezing for 1/2 hr) so I pressed them into a pan and baked them for 40 min to make bars instead of cookies. They were still very crumbly so I’m wondering if I missed something or like others suggested they may need the addition of a better binder but they still tasted amazing! Me, hubby, 2yr old son and neighbor all loved them;)

  29. I made these with few modifications. I didn’t have any nuts on hand so instead of 2/3c nut meal I used 1/3c flax meal and 1/3c organic peanut butter. Also no prunes so I used 6 dates. Delicious!

  30. Incredible flavors! I did have a problem getting them into round balls, but then ate them straight from the freezer. 🙂 Hard to eat just 3 of them. So good.

  31. I made these today and they are so delicious. My 7 year old likes them so much he tried to sneak a few! Thank you so much for an amazing guilt free cookie!

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