Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Cookies

Tags

baking, bananas, Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Cookies, Desserts, eggs, fruit, vanilla, Walnuts

I love bananas but never seem to eat them fast enough to not have to make something else out of them. I can’t imagine this is a problem that I alone have, especially in the summer when hot weather ripens them way too fast.

I love banana bread, but also never seem to be able to eat it all before I’m sick of it and Hart isn’t a huge fan of bananas, or in turn, banana bread, so he’s all but useless when it comes to helping eat the fruits of my labor so he ends up taking a loaf to work so they can eat it at the restaurant. They definitely don’t complain about that, but it still seems rather, well, boring.

BANANA COOKIES! These are similar to zucchini cookies in that they are cake-like and soft but they are loaded with walnuts & chocolate chips so they are more interesting than banana bread, more good stuff per square inch. I even went so far as to make a gob out of them with some leftover chocolate buttercream I found stashed in the fridge. Those were next level. And also so damn rich I could barely finish one, but I found a way :)

This recipe is possible to mix by hand, just mash the bananas up with a fork before hand, but I used my mixer because I am lazy and it really does like to do the work. It told me so. What? You don’t talk to your appliances? Pshaw.

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and loved them but I could also very easily see these being awesome with milk chocolate. I also added a hint of cinnamon, I loved that little background spice with the chocolate & nuts.

Like the zucchini cookies I wouldn’t omit the nuts with out replacing them with something else. They aren’t just there for flavor, in these they add a bunch to the texture of the cookie. Double up on the chocolate chips or swap out another nut (pecans or any kind of softer nut will work well) to make up the difference otherwise the cookies will be very flat. I scoop them w a purple handled scoop, a heaping Tablespoon, a dozen at a time onto parchment lined trays.

This is a big batch of cookies, but that really just makes them better for sharing!

Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Cookies yields around 60ish 2″ cookies

2 cups Light Brown Sugar
1 cup Butter, melted
3 each Eggs
2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
4 each Over-Ripe Bananas
4 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 cups Chocolate Chips
2 cups Walnut Pieces

Heat the oven to 375 & get your trays lined. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl & mix with a wire whisk. Melt the butter, one of the few things I use a microwave for.

In the bowl of the mixer beat the brown sugar & butter with the paddle until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add the vanilla and the whole, peeled bananas, mix until the bananas are mushed up completely.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until it is just combined. Add the chips & walnuts and mix in, I do this part by hand. Scoop onto prepared trays and bake for 11-12 minutes. The cookies need to be completely cooked through before you take them out or the middles will be gummy. They are done when the center looks dry.

Let cook on the trays for a few minutes to set then transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool. These last quite a while when stored layered between parchment in a sealed container.