MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - SOFT BANANA COOKIES - MAKES 36 COOKIES AND CAN BE FROZEN

As I had a few overripe bananas, and wanting a change from banana bread, I found this recipe at Savory Experiments hosted by Jessica. You will find the original recipe at this link. I would encourage taking a look at her photos, and also read all the great tips. Mine turned out a bit darker but they were excellent. Gregg felt he was eating a mini banana bread. I had added cinnamon following the ingredients list.  They were a delicious addition and not overpowering!

Easy Banana Cookie Recipe

Preparation time:  10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Chilling time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 20 minutes 

Servings: 36 cookies 

Cookie Dough Recipe:

3-3/4 cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup ripe banana, mashed (approximately 2 to 3 bananas)

1 large egg, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sugar Cookie Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and light brown sugar. When blended until light and creamy, add the egg, vanilla and mashed banana.

Gradually add the flour/baking powder mixture into to the egg/banana mixture and combine well.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.

After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.

With clean hands, roll the dough into 1-1/2 inch balls. Dough might be sticky and not roll well. This is okay.  Once rolled, coat thoroughly into the cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or use a silicone mat cookie sheet and place uncooked cookies 2 inches apart.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookie tops start to crack. Do not wait until cookies brown, they will be overdone.

Allow the cookies to cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack using a spatula.

What did we think?

Excellent! I ending up cooking only 4 cookies in 1 batch, two each as we didn’t want to overdo it.  The other already rolled cookies I flash froze (before baking) placed them in a sealed container.  They are in the freezer.  

I used regular butter instead of the unsalted, and kosher salt instead of the fine sea salt.

I meant to cook these after the two hours, but with one thing and another taking up my time, I left them in the fridge until the next day, and they were fine.

While they were still frozen I heated the oven to 405 degrees F., placing them on the cookie sheet and set the timer for 20 minutes. My oven always runs on the cooler side for most recipes, that's why I turned it up higher, plus the fact the cookies were frozen. You will have to be the judge for your own oven as these temperatures and timing are just a guide. It's a bit of an experiment and it might take me a couple of tries to get it to the way I think it should be. It is so nice only taking a few out at a time whenever you feel like a sweet treat. Also great for unexpected company.

If you prefer, you can thaw overnight in the fridge, and follow Jessica's instructions, maybe adding a few minutes to the cooking time if needed. I think she gives some tips on freezing.

If you prefer to copy and paste rather than use the link above, here is the full address.

https://www.savoryexperiments.com/banana-cookies/