Banana Bread Bear Paws |Cooking With Amanda

I have a healthy cookie for you today! Basically it's banana bread in the form of a super soft, almost cake-like cookie. And shaped like a bear paw. 'Cus why not.

And because my kids incessantly ask for those things every. single. time. we see them at the store. And I get sick of saying no. So I made them some bear paws.

It's not like I never buy snacks at the store. Let's be honest, it's awfully convenient and easy, and some of that stuff is just plain tasty. But cookies? I hate to buy cookies.

I make so many of them anyways, and I LIKE doing it, so why buy them? And they're rarely better than homemade anyways. Except Oreos. I will always make an exception for Oreos. Some things just can't be duplicated exactly. It's true. I've tried. Homemade Oreos are good, but they're not the same.

Anyways - bear paws. Now I'll be honest, I've never actually had a bear paw cookie. Cake-like cookies just aren't my thing. But the kiddos like them, and have had them, and they told me these were pretty close. In fact, when I made them a second time so I could get some pictures, my 7 year old ran over and hugged me he was so happy. Either that means they're amazing, or I don't make things more than once often enough. I'm going with the former!

At any rate, I think I can say that these are close to the banana bread bear paws you get at the store. They're soft, cake-y, banana bread cookies that are definitely healthier than the store-bought ones. Now they're still cookies, so there is butter and sugar in them, but there's a whole lot less than a regular cookie has, so I'm calling these healthy! And there's whole wheat flour and oatmeal too, so they're whole grain. Definitely healthy!

They are quite large, I used a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to make giant bear paws, and then scooped about half a tablespoon of dough to make mini bear paws. You could certainly play with the amounts of dough used to make them the size you would like, just watch the baking time. We added a few chocolate chips, 'cus everything is better with chocolate, but you could certainly leave them out if you want them to be healthier.

These were a great snack for the kids, and the perfect addition to their lunch boxes. And, even though my "bear paw" shaping wasn't amazing, they were just happy that they got the banana bread bear paws they'd been wanting for so long! I'm going to have to work on the other flavours now!

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Banana Bread Bear Paws Recipe

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Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 bananas, about 1 cup
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Cream together the butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and cream until light and fluffy. Mix in the mashed banana.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill the dough for one hour.
To make large bear paws, scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet using a large cookie or ice cream scoop, mine was 3 tablespoons.
With damp hands, flatten the dough into and oval shape, about 1/2 inch thick. Use a knife to mark the "claws". Bake for 12-13 minutes until lightly browned and set.
For mini bear paws, scoop out about 1/2 tablespoon sized scoops, flatten into small ovals, and mark claws. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.
Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven re-mark the "claws" with a knife so they're visible.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Cookies will stay soft and cake-like. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.

Notes

Using a 3 tablespoon sized scoop for the large bear paws makes very large cookies, so feel free to make them smaller (1-2 tablespoons) if you prefer, just watch the baking time.