Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

Warning, this recipe makes a TON of cookies. But the good news is that they're yummy, so it probably won't be a problem.

I don't bake often because I'm not very good at it, especially when it comes to cookies, plus we don't really eat sweets in this house anyway. So what inspired the making of these cookies? Well, I had been craving peanut butter cookies for a while and I had 3 bananas that were going to go bad soon. Peanut butter and banana is always a great combo, so I googled away and found this! And because I really only wanted one or two cookies, not an entire batch, I decided to serve them at Thanksgiving!

I baked them a few days ahead of time with the help of my husband and brother-in-law, and I have them to thank for them turning out so well. The first batch that I did on my own were not so wonderful (I told you I can't bake). Even though the recipe says to bake them for 13-16 minutes and that they should not be brown on the edges and will set up as they cool, they never set up and were quite mushy. With the help of the hubz and his brother, we found that they had to be baked for ~20 minutes and have slightly browned edges for best results.

And look, I put them on a nice serving tray decorated with fall leaves and some fragrant rosemary for a pretty presentation =)

Adapted from Foodgeeks

• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1-1/4 cups peanut butter
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 md. overripe bananas
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder

Directions:

• Preheat Oven to 325°F.
  
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
  
• Peal the bananas and drop into the mixture; mix well (some small banana chunks are okay).
  
• Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
  
• Combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder; stir into the peanut butter mixture.
  
• Use a cookie scoop or drop by the spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 13 to 16 minutes - they will not be golden brown when removed from oven. As they set they will turn slightly firm.
  
• Allow to cool on cookie sheet for two to three minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.*

*Gaga's note: Like I mentioned above, I found that they actually needed closer to 20 minutes in the oven and needed to have slightly browned edges before being removed from the oven in order to set up properly. You may have to experiment a bit to see how your oven behaves.