Giant Banana and Date cookies

I don't know about you but it really annoys me if I have food in my cupboards that I can't work out how to use. Lately it's a big bag of dates that has incurred my wrath. I used to snack on them but now that Weightwatchers say they are a whopping 2 Smartpoints each, I've had to stop that. So today I had a bit of a play around and came up with these cookies which were quite easy to make and very filling.

Banana and Date cookies

2 bananas

1 egg

3 tablespoons of oil

4 tablespoons of golden syrup

150g Wholemeal flour

100g dates

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1. Mash the two bananas thoroughly

2. Add the egg and mix well

3. Add the oil and golden syrup. Mix until completely blended.

4. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix until you have a sticky mixture.

5. Chop the dates into small chunks.

6. Fold the dates into the mixture and stir just enough to distribute the date pieces throughout the mixture.

7. Place a heaped tablespoon of the mixture onto a greased baking tray and then use your fingers to flatten it slightly into a cookie shape. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

8. Cook near the top of the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top at 175 degrees/gas mark 4. Allow the cookies to cool before removing from the tray.

I have calculated each cookie at 6 Smartpoints but you could reduce that by using less dates. I used 100g but 50g would be OK. You could also replace the oil with low fat cooking spread. Another idea would be to make more cookies from the recipe. I made 9 which turned out very large but making 12 smaller ones would reduce the Smartpoints to 5.

Let me know if you try making these! I'm off to sample one now with a cup of coffee. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx