It seems like more kids have food allergies these days than ever before. It breaks my heart every time a mom tells me that her child can’t eat a certain type of food, be it dairy, gluten, nuts, eggs or more. As hard as it can be for kids with allergies to watch their friends enjoying foods that are of limits for them, it can be just as challenging for their concerned parents who are trying to come up with nutritious alternatives that their allergic kids actually want to eat.
Years ago I got turned onto Go Raw Cookies. With only four ingredients and packed with toasty coconut and super sweet dates, they’re free of many of the most common allergy-causing foods. They inspired me to make a (hopefully) allergy-defying cookie of my own which, while not raw, are cooked at a very low temperature making them chewy on the inside and a delectable treat for almost anyone to enjoy. Did I mention that they’re also super easy to make?
Once you taste these Cocodate Cookies I’ll bet you’ll wish that you double or even tripled the recipe because you’ll want to always have a bunch on hand in the cookie jar, your kid’s lunchbox, the car and in big bags in the freezer for everyone to enjoy!
Photo by Maren Caruso
Cocodate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 banana, chopped
- 5 medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275° F.
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth.
- Using a small ice cream scoop or 1 tablespoon measure, form the dough into balls on a baking sheet and then press down with the palm of your hand to form cookies.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden and serve.
[…] Cocodate Cookies Chicken on a Stick Baby Fritattas Pesto to mix into rice, quinoa or pasta […]
[…] a wonderful variety of flavors like carrot, chai, lemon and even chocolate. You can also evidently make your own, which I haven’t yet tried. They are a bit sweet, but so dense that you don’t really eat very many at a […]
Made these today! 14 month old loves them & so did I! Substituted almond flour for sesame seeds as we didn’t have any. Of course with the nuts we can’t send them to daycare, but we’ll make the next batch nut free… I may try cutting back on banana tho as I found them too sweet…
In recent year we have seen an increase in the susceptibility of allergies. Baby food allergies are of particular concern as the source may be difficult to detect. Baby food allergies are as common as adult food allergies. If your baby appears distressed for no apparent reason or has unexplained areas of itchiness to the skin, then perhaps he or she has a baby food allergy.
Yummy! I used 6 medjool dates and came up with 20 cookies. It will vary depending on the size of dates, bananas, how fine & how much you pack the coconut, etc. so if you need 20 cookies, go heavy on measurements. It’s not like baking a cake, it doesn’t need to be perfect proportions. Anyway, I made a batch per recipe. I baked half off and they were tasty. I added one tablespoon of cocoa powder to the second half and they were even more tasty! I made another batch subbing almond meal for sesame (bc I had it on hand) with cocoa powder and those were tasty as well. They don’t spread so push down and they will come out that size. I baked 20 then rotated top/bottom rack, then 20 more minutes. They were a little crispy on edges and soft & gooey inside. Very yummy! Thanks for the healthy cookie recipe that I am happy to serve to my baby girl!!
We rn’t suffering from allergies or gluten intolerance but I dont want my little one to miss out when every one is eating sweet treats so I thought this would be a great cookie for her (also easy to eat since she’s ten months and just cutting teeth). They r in the oven now!! Super easy to throw together!!
I’m super excited about making these. I’m on a quest to find yummy sweet treats, packed with nutrition. Thanks so much for this!
Pumpkin seeds are much larger than sesame seeds, so yes that would make a difference in volume. Pulse the pumpkin seeds in a food processor or blender a few times to get them to the size of sesame seeds, and then measure out 1/4 cup. Also, I do tend to use medium-large bananas. So if your bananas are small you should probably use 2. I use Medjool dates, which are on the larger side. So if your dates are small then use 7-10 instead of the 5 that I use! Hope this helps!
I have a batch baking now, and they look good. BUT, I barely managed 12 cookies by making my tablespoon scoops very scant (say 3/4 full). Is everyone using very large bananas? I used pumpkin seeds instead of sesame (my daughter’s school has a sesame ban), could that make such a big difference in volume?
I just made 1/2 the recipe for my 17 month old daughter. I left a piece on her table to try at her leisure and she gobbled it up! My husband and I avoid grains and dairy and while we don’t restrict these from our toddler, it is nice to be able to have a recipe that we all can enjoy! Thanks again!
I just made these cookies and they are so good!! I couldn’t get my shoddy food processor to make paste so my dates are more chunky but just as good. Finding a recipe for actual flourless/sugarless cookies is very hard because everyone wants to use sweeteners so thanks!
They come out a little crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center! They won’t get totally crunchy because of the ingredients, but you can bake them longer if you want a firmer texture!
Hi everyone,
Are you cookies supposed to crunchy or chewy? Mine turned out chewy and my boy didn’t like it. Please help!
These maybe? http://b12.ba4.myftpupload.com/2010/09/14/coconut-peanut-butter-oatmeal-balls-aka-snow-balls/
I remember you had a no bake similar recipe and now I can’t find it. do you have that recipe?
thanks!
My husband and I aren’t fans of coconut but I wanted to give these a try anyway.
They were delicious and we didn’t get too bothered by the coconuts! Probably not our favorite (only b/c of the coconuts), but definitely one that we’ll probably come back to every so often. =D
Thank you! I have another go-to snack for my gf/ef kid! =D YAY!