With a few free hours this morning, I decided to make use of the bananas starting to brown on my counter. They are perfect for baking! But I was bored with the usual go-to banana bread, so I stumbled on this great recipe on the blog, Sweet Pea’s Kitchen.
To make these cookies healthier, I reduced the sugar by about 1/4 cup and used about half as many chocolate chips. The results were terrific so I thought I would share them. With bananas, walnuts, and old-fashioned oats, you can enjoy these treats guilt-free!
Here is the original recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
- Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets on wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Yields: 3 dozen
