Tag: Bananas

Banana Surplus

Sadie3 Comments

Here’s what my banana situation looked like last week:

Bananas

I knew I had to do something about it, because I couldn’t eat all those ripe bananas before they just turned to mush.

So I debated my options.

First, I thought I could make the banana peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I made in the fall because they’re delicious, and maybe bring them to work. But I’m actually on the verge of baking a few batches of cookies for a co-worker’s birthday next week, so more cookies just seemed excessive (did you notice that leaf that turned over in that sentence that I just wrote).  Then, I thought to myself, I could make banana bread and mail it to my grandparents (otherwise I would eat the whole loaf myself in one day). But I just sent them Valentines chocolate, so I don’t want them to get used to a care package every week. That’s a hard pace to keep up.

But then I remembered a post I saw either on Pinterest or a link from another blog about two ingredient cookies, just bananas and oats. It caught my eye, and I was curious to try it out. I love bananas, I love oats, what could go wrong? (By the way, even though I said I wasn’t going to make more cookies, these hardly count as full blown cookies.)

not the most photogenic

So anyway, I ran to the store to pick up some oats, and a couple mix-ins: walnuts, mini chocolate chips, and almond butter. I figured I needed to punch up the recipe a little because just bananas and oats could be a little bland.

The recipe is the easiest thing ever, and the results were solid but nothing revolutionary I must say. The cookies remind me of banana bread batter. Not bad, but not crave-worthy. None the less, a good, healthy snack to have on hand, and a nice use for those ripe bananas!

Here’s my adaptation of the recipe (I doubled it and added stuff):

Two Ingredient Cookies (sort of)

Adapted from: Foodlets, yields about 2 dozen small cookies (give or take, depending on how much batter you eat)

Ingredients

  • 4 ripe bananas
  • 2 scant cups of oats
  • 1/4 cup almond butter
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mash up the bananas with a fork. Add the almond butter and combine. Add oats and other mix-ins and stir until combined.

3. Make one and a half inch balls of dough and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Press the balls down with a fork like you would with peanut butter cookies. They will not expand in the oven.

ready for the oven4. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely. And enjoy!

out of the oven!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sadie3 Comments

Let’s be honest, what is there not to like about the title of this post? This past weekend I needed to bring some food to a cookout, and since I haven’t done much baking this summer, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to put my new kitchen to work. This is officially the inaugural batch of cookies in my new apartment.

As you may or may not know, I eat bananas quite regularly, and I’m always worried about keeping a ripe supply at all times for my morning smoothies. Last week, however, I got a little overzealous and I ended up with some extras that got ripe real fast. And thus: cookies with bananas.

I quickly searched some of my favorite food blogs and ended up with this great recipe from How Sweet It Is. I love that blog!  Let me tell you something. These are the best cookies I’ve made in a while. They are a great chewy texture that make them soft but not too light and cakey. Plus, I feel like the peanut butter and banana add some healthy components to a typical chocolate chip cookie, without making it a full on granola bar.

BTW, These get even healthier when they are transported in an organic spinach container.
BTW, These get even healthier when they are transported in an organic spinach container.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from How Sweet It Is, yields 18-20 cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups plus 2 Tbs AP Flour
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 8 Tbs Butter, melted and cooled
  • 6 Tbs Peanut, Butter melted and cooled
  • 1 egg yolk, room temp
  • 1 cup brown sugar loosely packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 medium ripe bananas mashed
  • 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 (How Sweet It Is recommends 325, but my oven needed to be hotter).
  2. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl: flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

    stuff
    I decided to play the game: use every bowl and every utensil in the kitchen. It makes cleanup a breeze!
  3. Combine melted and cooled butter and peanut butter in a different bowl. Wisk it together with the sugars and egg yolk. Then wisk in the mashed banana and vanilla extract. The mixture will not be smooth. DSCN1856
  4. Slowly add the dry to the wet and use a wooden spoon to mix it (no hand mixer needed). And finally fold in the chocolate chips.ummmm chocolate
  5. Portion out the cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheets and bake 10-15 minutes at 350 (again, my oven was way off from what the original recipe suggested so use your judgement). Cookies should be a light golden brown.scoop it outout of the oven
  6. Allow to cool, and enjoy!