Coconut Banana Cookies--Gluten-free, Dairy-free

 Addition: This recipe was chosen as the featured recipe for March 18's Delicious Dish Tuesday over on lovely Alesha's blog, Full Time Mama. Big, big thanks to her! You can see that post here.

When I started my special restrictive diet a few months ago, desserts pretty much went out the window. In my quest to find anything I could have, I would find recipes that were so close to meeting my requirements, and then egg would be listed (which I can't have.)

So I then discovered that sometimes you can substitute bananas for eggs, which I have found does not always work... But for these it did!

Behold: gluten-free, dairy-free, flour-free (almost everything free...) cookies! I found them through Pinterest, of course, from here. But I wanted to share my diet-friendly version.

And considering that when I made them yesterday, my dad, who is not on this diet, was waiting for them to be done, I'd say they're pretty good. ;)

Coconut Banana Cookies

(makes about 24 cookies)

You'll need:

3 cups shredded coconut

1 ripe banana (**correction: previously said 2 bananas**)

3/4 cup sugar (I use these coconut crystals)

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt (I use sea salt)

1) Mash the bananas until they look kind of like applesauce. Then use a mixer to combine the bananas, coconut, sugar, vanilla, and salt.

2) Place the mixing bowl in a large saucepan filled part-way with simmering water.

3) Stir the mixture for 2-3 minutes, in which time it will turn a gooey, yummy brown. Then set it aside for up to 30 minutes so that it can soak up any liquid.

4) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and then place about 1" balls of the mixture on the tray. You'll have to do some packing with your fingers since the dough contains no eggs or flour.

5) Bake for about 12 minutes or until the cookies are crispy on the edges. How "done" you want them is entirely up to you, as these cookies are certainly edible (and yummy) without being baked at all. :)

I also discovered these are pretty tasty with chocolate drizzled over them... I use the chocolate in this post.

Plus, this recipe is so handy, that it'll be making another appearance in a Make-It Monday in the near future! Enjoy!

Btw, I'm linking up this week with Delicious Dish Tuesday co-hosted by my friend Mary from over at Eat, Drink, and Be Mary! Join the fun here: