Banana Bread Cookies

Banana Bread Cookies with Chocolate and Toffee Chips ~ Banana bread bites-almost, well close enough, minus the dense texture. And yes, it tastes just like banana bread, but in a cookie form and kicked up with a few add-ins.

Matt loves banana bread and can’t seem to understand why I’ve only made it a handful times in the course of our five year relationship. Truth be told, I like it, but after two slices it gets to my gag reflex. I definitely don’t like dry banana bread, but moist banana bread starts to get too gummy in texture for me.

With that idea I decided to try to hit the lighter side of making banana bread by making banana bread cookies. I started by browning the butter, a method I picked up from Cooks Illustrated, and have adapted for almost every cookie since it imparts a caramel and nutty like flavor. Then I knew I wanted to add sour cream to keep the cookies soft and tender, so that a cake-like rather than a chewy texture would come through the cookie. And since I was also dropping in ¾ cup of mashed bananas, I knew I could cut the butter down.

The end result: LOVE. Yes, cookie love and huge loves from Matt. He flipped for these cookies. This is a rare occasion, since he is not really a sweet eater.  Although I’ve now come to the conclusion that outside of peanut butter and salted caramel flavorings, his sweet spot lies in a cookie crumb.

Can I just comment on this, “Seriously, husband, couldn’t it be cake?”

A few notes:

• You can mash the bananas with a fork so that the mixture has more body or you can puree the bananas. (I like it better with more body).
• Cookies can be stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed container with parchment or wax paper between each cookie layer.
• You can skip the add-ins, but when I make banana bread those add-in are a staple, so they had to be transferred into these banana bread cookies.
• Variations: Add ½ cup chopped nuts in addition or instead of the listed add-ins.

Banana Bread Cookies

Preparations: Line bake sheet with parchment paper

Makes 4 ½ dozen 2 inch cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 ¼ cup bread flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cups mashed bananas (approximately 1 ½ banana)
• ½ cup sour cream
• 8 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add-ins:

• ½ cup mini chocolate chips
• ½ cup toffee bits

Instructions:

1. Add bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine; set aside. Mash bananas and mix into sour cream and combine; set aside.

2. Brown the butter by placing it into a small skillet and heat the butter until it turns brown and starts to smell nutty. Remove from heat and whisk in the granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Let it sit for five minutes to absorb the brown butter flavoring. Add egg and vanilla whisk to combine. Add in banana and sour cream and whisk to combine. Now gently fold in flour mixture to combine. Fold in add-ins.

3. Refrigerate Banana Bread Cookie mixture for at least 30 minutes. Using a 1 inch ice cream scoop, drop cookie dough on parchment lined bake sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10-13 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.