hazel and company: Banana Bread Cookies

Monday, September 9, 2013

Banana Bread Cookies

Yep. That's right. Banana Bread Cookies.

They are absolutely fantastic.

I grew up on these cookies. There were many afternoons, after school, that I got to come home to these yummy bits of yumminess. My mom is an incredible cook and she was always making us tasty treats for us.

I know. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

I made these cookies the other day with Emmett after he got home from school. He gets home an hour before Sam and Zoe. At that time Rory and Molly are usually napping. And Weston is busy with cross country. So, I get to have some one on one time with him. It's great!

And since he adores these cookies, he was more than willing to give me a hand.

He was put in charge of mashing the bananas....

Which he really really enjoyed. (You might be thinking that is a lot of bananas...I doubled the recipe. There are a lot of mouths in this house. Plus my writing group was coming over that night. I love double-duty cooking!)

Emmett had the irrepressible need to make the lovely squished bananas into a volcano.

I love it when I get to spend some alone time with one of my kids. It's so nice to hear about their days, what they learned, who they sat by at lunch and the funny things they saw or heard. Cooking with them is a great time to chat and laugh together.

Banana Bread Cookies

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teasoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

Ok. Now this is a tricky recipe. Are you ready?

Throw all the ingredients into a bowl, mix together really good, drop by tablespoonfuls onto a pan making sure to not put too close (the batter is runny and thin and it spreads quite a bit) and bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges.

See? So. Hard.

Now, I feel the need to repeat one thing. The batter or dough is much thinner than regular cookie dough. I once gave this recipe to a good friend. When I asked her how she liked the cookies she said, "Well, the batter was really thin so I added more flour. So, they were kind of bland."

I thought that was pretty funny.

So, don't add more flour. They're supposed to be a flat pancake-like cookie. They're yummy and fantastic and an excellent way to use up those ripe bananas.