Monday, January 5, 2009

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.

17 comments:

That Girl said...

They're like Elvis cookies!

gaga said...

That Girl - I love that! Definitely Elvis cookies. :)

Christo Gonzales said...

well it started off perfect..peanut butter and banana...I will go ahead and make way too many cookies...I might even throw some chocolate in there....hopefully that wont mess it up!

gaga said...

doggybloggy - Chocolate sounds like a wonderful addition!

Anonymous said...

I love peanut butter and banana together! What a great idea to put the 2 flavors in a cookie.

Patsyk said...

I love that flavor combination... nothing better than peanut butter and bananas! Yum!

Joie de vivre said...

I love cookie recipe's that feed crowds!

What's Cookin Chicago said...

I've always loved peanut butter and bananas together - yum!

Jo said...

Banana in a cookie - now this is a new one but it sure does look delicious! A definite "must try" since I do have left over bananas and peanut butter in the fridge. :)

pigpigscorner said...

omg peanut butter and banana sounds awesome! What's the texture like with bananas in cookies?

gaga said...

pigpig - the texture is more or less the same as any other cookie. I've made banana cookies in the past that were very mushy or cake-like, but these didn't have that problem.

test it comm said...

The great flavours of peanut butter and bananas rolled up into one cookie...mmm...

Anonymous said...

How funny -- I was just thinking/dreaming of peanut butter-banana cookies earlier this morning. Unfortunately, I didn't have any overripe bananas to work with, so they ended up being peanut butter oatmeal cookies -- delicious all the same!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great combo. I LOVE peanut butter and banana sandwiches, so I can just imagine how good these must be.

Anonymous said...

Who cares whether the recipe results in a ton of cookies because it will last only 5 minutes in this household anyway. Well done!

Unknown said...

Add a tbls of bacon fat and some bacon crumbles to make some real Elvis cookies great recipe gaga

Anonymous said...

Just gave these a try. Very good. Will make again. I baked them at 350 for 16 minutes and they came out nice and golden brown. I think perhaps 325 is too low.