My initial attempt at sugar/fat/egg free baking was surprisingly successful and I can confirm that the carrot muffins responded well to freezing. Time to try something else.
Mr Jane Makes has a penchant for peanut butter and, although there is now a ban on eating it straight from the jar, nuts are a good source of protein and can form part of the new ‘in moderation’ diet. Faced with some bananas that were deteriorating rapidly in the hot weather, I decided to combine the two in some cookies. The rest of the bananas have been frozen in chunks to go into smoothies.
Peanut & Banana Cookies (makes 16 smallish cookies)
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 cups porridge oats
- 1 cup dates, chopped
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 18 degrees (fan oven). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment (very important).
I’d read somewhere about turning porridge oats into flour so I experimented with one cup of the above amount using the grinding blade of my Nutribullet. It produced a lovely smooth result in seconds so I’ll be incorporating the flour into future makes.
Mix together all the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. It was quite a stiff mixture and if I’d had any fruit juice to hand I might have been tempted to add it but it really didn’t need it.
Use a dessertspoon to measure spoonfuls of the mixture onto the lined baking sheet. I experimented with one cookie to see what happened and the mixture really needs to be pressed down to squash each cookie flat before cooking because the mixture doesn’t spread in the oven.
Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack – the cookies lifted off the sheet very easily with a palette knife.


I wouldn’t want to mislead anyone by suggesting that these are a replacement for a sweet chocolate chip cookie but after a few weeks with little or no sugar they are pretty satisfying! There will be variations on this theme.
No weigh in this week but the diet is being strictly adhered to by Mr J-M and it is definitely working! A shirt which was previously refused permission for wearing in public is now a perfect fit.
Our meals and snacks are looking very much like this at the moment.

