Rhubarb, banana, coconut cookies

Rhubarb, coconut, banana sandwich cookies

Mother's Day weekend I picked a bouquet of rhubarb for my sister.  I also made a rhubarb upside-down cake for Dale.  But I wanted some rhubarb for me.  After tasting how sweet the banana coconut cookies were, I decided to try adding rhubarb to them.  (As I mixed the ingredients together, I kept thinking of additional twists.)  Here is the ingredient list that you will need.

1 1/3 cup finely chopped rhubarb
1/3 cup water
24 drops French Vanilla Stevia (split)
2/3 cup coconut flakes
10 Chocolate nibs finely chopped (Lily's Dark chocolate 55% - sugar free)
2/3 cup coconut flour
2 bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
4 oz cream cheese
2 TBSP butter
1 tsp vanilla


Do you notice the 1/3 and 2/3 cup units?  Sorry, but my 1/2 cup measuring cup was dirty in the dishwasher.  So I thought that I'd have fun and cook in thirds for a change. 


I started out taking the chopped rhubarb, water and 16 drops of stevia together on the stovetop.  I brought it to a boil then reduced the heat and let it to reduce.


2/3 cup finely chopped rhubarb (times 2)

With the rhubarb cooling, I mashed the two bananas, added coconut flakes and chocolate.  Then I added the rhubarb.  When I saw everything in the bowl I thought to myself "cinnamon!"  After all, everything is better with cinnamon.  MIX it together.  After taste testing I wished that I would have prepared more rhubarb.

Bananas, rhubarb, coconut flakes, chocolate, cinnamon

I almost forgot about the coconut flour.  I was thinking with the extra moisture of rhubarb that I might not need the eggs.  But I could barely get all the coconut flour mixed it because it was so dry.


Coconut flour

Eggs are always a good binder when baking cookies.  For people that want a vegan recipe, the eggs are not really needed.

2 eggs

Roll into a ball, place it on a cookie sheet, and form a hole in the top of the ball for filling later.  I baked at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes on my stone baking sheet.

Prepare the cookies with holes to fill

While the cookies were baking, I mixed up the cream cheese filling.  I actually made two batches on two separate days.  The first one I used cream cheese, butter, vanilla and stevia.  The second batch, I used cream cheese, milk, and vanilla flavored stevia.  (That was better for spreading.)

Cream cheese, butter, vanilla and stevia

I chopped up some walnuts to add to the cream cheese filling for some extra flavor and texture.  That was a good choice.  (I am thinking that I could sit down and eat the filling without the cookies.)

Finely chopped walnuts

I didn't plan large cookies.  The purpose of making healthy cookies is to make them a size that will provide a sweet treat and don't give you too many calories.

Cooling and smelling good!

I gave each cookie a large amount of cream cheese filling.  But even with that, I used only one batch of filling.  When I made the sandwich cookies, I had to double the filling recipe to make it to the end of the cookies.  I also used my small pampered chef scoop instead of the large one so that it made more cookies.

Rhubarb, banana, coconut, chocolate chip cookie

Oh, this is a recipe that is a keeper!  Whether you choose to punch a whole that should be filled with cream cheese or flatten them down to make a sandwich cookie it tastes great.  Many years ago, I traveled to Japan.  When I returned home, I realized that sweets made in America are much sweeter than those made overseas.  I think that I'm adapting back to a less sweet treat.

Cookies made for sandwich style