Got a bunch of bananas lying around the house? Use them to pull double duty for a healthy snack and a mini science lesson.

Bananas have high amounts of ethylene gas, which cause the normally yellow-skinned fruit to turn brown in a process called "enzymatic browning," which also makes them taste sweeter. Like a fine wine, bananas only get better with age, but you can easily speed up the process yourself.

To show your kids how it works, separate a bunch of bananas and put half inside a brown paper bag. This will trap the ethylene gas inside the bag; after a few days, you'll have browned, ripened bananas to either use right away or store in the freezer.

With those deliciously overly ripened bananas, we decided to make a fun and delicious breakfast cookie that requires only one blender (thus creating less mess), packs in a lot of healthy flavors and is great for an on-the-go snack. This cookie is pretty healthy as a whole, so I added some chocolate chips because I knew I would need some extra sweetness to get my kiddo to it.

Make a batch of these breakfast cookies at the beginning of the week and you'll have breakfast ready to devour without you even lifting a finger. Now that's a work-from-home win.

Healthy Breakfast Blender Cookies

  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • ⅓  cup sweetened nut butter (peanut butter, cookie butter or almond butter will all work)
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • 2 ripened (brown) bananas, cut into chunks
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • Chocolate chips (optional)
  • Raisins (optional)
  • Chopped nuts (optional)

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a blender, add all of your dry ingredients (except for the toppings). Blend until a nice grainy texture forms (about 5 to 6 pulses or 5 seconds of blending). Add ripened banana chunks, egg, extract and oil and blend until just mixed together.

Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop dough onto lined baking sheet and top with desired toppings.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool before eating.