Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I continue to do my best to feed my family good food that isn't filled with preservatives, treats have been difficult. We love sweet things. This cookie recipe has become a favorite. It's a soft cookie, almost cake-like in its consistency. And delicious! My family can't get enough. At only 66 calories each I don't feel bad having two myself.

This is a great "cooking with kids" recipe. Mine enjoy mashing the bananas and carefully adding the dry ingredients.

While my girls really like the cookies plain it is a real treat when we make them into "banana split ice cream sandwiches" by sandwiching a bit of ice cream in between two cookies.

The recipe is from Taste of Home.

Ingredients

* 1/3 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

* In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, banana and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
* Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 3 dozen.

This recipe can also be found in the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook (affiliate link):

Pillsbury simply... The Peanut Butter Version

A couple weeks ago I share my thoughts on the new Pillsbury® simply chocolate chip cookies. Last week we decided to try the peanut butter ones.

Like the chocolate chip, they are all natural ingredients:* wheat flour * brown sugar * water * eggs * baking powder * salt * pure vanilla extract * all natural semisweet chocolate chips * peanut butter * sugar * skim milk and contain no trans fats, no high fructose corn syrup and not artificial colors or preservatives. In other words, they are just what you would make if you were making cookies.

We all worked hard...

I rolled the dough into balls.

Caelan rolled the balls in sugar.











Brenna did the "signature" criss-cross












And after a short baking time we had hot, fresh peanut butter cookies.

I liked them more than the chocolate chip ones!

Want to try new Pillsbury® simply... cookies? I have one coupon left. First comment gets it! If you're not the lucky first comment you can visit the Pillsbury simply... website for a $1 coupon instantly!

Pillsbury simply... Just Like Homemade

I'm not really a cookie baker. I know, it's kind of sad. But I've never been able to make what I consider a really good cookie. But I'm not a big fan of packaged cookie dough, either, as it has so many ingredients that just don't belong in cookies.

So, as you can imagine, cookies, being rare, are kind of a big deal at my house. Last week I received a coupon from General Mills to try their new simply... cookies. The cookies are available in both chocolate chip and peanut butter and are made from the same ingredients you would use if you were baking from scratch: * wheat flour * brown sugar * water * eggs * baking powder * salt * pure vanilla extract * all natural semisweet chocolate chips * peanut butter * sugar * skim milk.

Since my girls love to help in the kitchen and my cousin was watching them last week I thought it would be a great activity for a rainy afternoon.

The package has 12 cookies which didn't need to be patted flat, but it was fun and the girls enjoyed it.

My cousin enjoyed the no clean-up part.





And though, in my opinion,
she over-baked the cookies just a bit they were still quite good and disappeared in just over 24 hours.

Pillsbury also sent me coupons to share. I have 5 coupons for $1.25 off a package of simply... Just leave me a comment and I'll send one to you.

If you aren;t one of the first 5 to comment you can print your own coupon for $1 here.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Filled Wafers

OK, I really wasn't sure what to call these cookies as they are something I saw once upon a time and decided to make with my daughters. We had a great time and Brenna was very proud of herself for "making cookies". Plus they are yummy! Kind of like those chocolate covered peanut butter cookies the Girl Scouts sell once a year.

The recipe is in video format so I'll tell you what you need:

A box of vanilla wafer cookies

Peanut butter

Semi-sweet chocolate



You can make as few as 6. (That would be 12 cookies, about 1/2 c peanut butter and 1 oz chocolate)

Aunt Maggie's Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I have a very difficult time keeping Brenna from helping me when I bake. She is very interested in helping; from measuring ingredients to licking the beaters- and everything in between. Soon I'll have to take all the recipes she helps with and print her own cookbook.

A couple of weeks ago we made

Aunt Maggie's Jam Thumbprint Cookies

These were great fun as they involved poking...

The recipe came from Everyday Food.

Here's what you'll need:

24 T (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c sugar

1 egg

3 1/4 c all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

3/4 c jam (any type)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and beat until completely combined.

With mixer on low, add flour, and mix until just incorporated.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls (about 2T each). Place on baking sheet at least 3" apart.

Moisten thumb with water and gently press the center of each ball, making an indentation about 1/2 inch wide and 1/4 inch deep. In microwave or on stove heat jam until liquified; spoon about 1/2 t into each indentation.

Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. If storing place into an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

This will make about 54 cookies so the recipe is terrific for gatherings. I sent a bunch to work with Doug. He is teaching a class on Fridays and shared them with his "students". I got rave reviews... And requests for more treats.