Banana Oatmeal Gems

The other day I was looking for a new recipe to use up some of my old brown bananas. I was trying to stay clear of my usual, banana bread and banana crumb muffins. Here's a recipe for cookies that use ripened banana. While it only called for one banana, it was a welcomed change from my usual recipes.

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg 1 banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cups dates, chopped
3 cups quick oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar until light and airy. Beat in egg, banana and vanilla. Combine spices, salt, baking soda and flours. Add to butter mixture. Mix well and stir in dates and oats. Dropped by rounded teaspoons onto greased cookies sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes for a chewier cookie or 11-12 minutes for a crisper cookie. Cool on a wire rack. Store in a covered container.

Here are a few changes that I made to the recipe: I used about 1-1.5 cups of raisins instead of dates. I also added a package of instant banana pudding to the recipe. Jess and I have learned from experience that adding a pudding mix to cookies makes them super soft and chewy...just what a cookie should be. Well, this was just another perfect example of that. They had that slightly crispy outer layer and were chewy and soft on the inside. Perfection. I didn't have enough quick oats for the recipe and so I ended up using a combination of quick cooking and old fashioned oats which worked out just fine. I found no need to grease my cookie sheet. I had no problems with the dough sticking to the pan.

When my husband tried them he said: bananas+oatmeal+raisins=a winning combination. I just loved that you could almost pass this off as a breakfast food. Bananas and oatmeal. Come on. Perfect breakfast on the go. :)

Source: Banana Oatmeal Gems

Bake on!
Michele