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So the other day I had a few ripe bananas sitting around my kitchen that I didn’t know what to do with and didn’t feel like eating. I decided to search the internet to come up with something new to make. I came across a suggestion on using banana as a substitute for butter. The more I thought about it that the idea of peanut butter banana cookies came to me.  I started with a recipe from America’s test kitchen peanut butter cookies.  I tweaked a couple of things to make it healthier with the bananas and surprisingly it was a huge hit.

Aha Moments:

Banana substitutes for butter and using a ice cream scooper to get out peanut butter.

RECIPE

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 4 dozen cookies

• 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup dry-roasted salted peanuts, ground up
• 2 ripe bananas
• 4 tablespoons ground flax seed (optional)
• ¾ cup mini chocolate chips
• Sea salt (optional)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Start with combining the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Sift the ingredients into a bowl. I started using a sifter but it decided not to cooperate so I had to switch to a strainer-sifter. As you can see it makes a huge difference to sift the dry ingredients so there are no clumps. Once sifted mix in the flax seed and set aside. (I use the flax seed to add some fiber content to the cookies. You can’t really tell it’s in there. This recipe contains 32 grams of fiber).
   

   Clumps are bad

2. In a large mixing bowl combine banana with butter and mix well.
   

   Banana and butter become one

   At this point I add the peanut butter to get a better mix. (During this time I had an aha moment because it can be a messy pain measuring peanut butter. I took a large ice cream scooper which measures exactly ¼ cup and took 4 full scoops of peanut butter and placed it directly into the bowl. No mess! Be sure you take a dry ¼ cup filled with water and pour it into the ice cream scooper to ensure the measurement is correct).

   

   Quick measuring and no mess!

   Mix until peanut butter is fully incorporated.

   

   mix well

3. Add both sugars to the butter mixture. Beat in vanilla extract. (You want to be sure you are using pure vanilla extract and not the imitation kind). Followed by the eggs one at a time.
4. Slowly using ½ cup portions of the flour mixture add it to the wet mixture. Make sure flour mixture is well combined but do not over mix.
5. Stir in ground peanut and chocolate chips
   

   Ground peanuts and chocolate chips

6. Take 2 cookie sheet pans and line it with parchment paper. Using a cookie dough scooper/small ice cream scooper, portion out 12 cookies per pan 2 inches apart. At this time I sprinkled on a little bit of sea salt to each cookie to give it a salty sweet combo.
   

   sprinkle with sea salt

7. Bake for 11-13 minutes rotating the pans halfway through.
   

   Ta Da!!!

8. Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.

And now it’s peanut butter banana time! Enjoy!