Banana Oatmeal Cookies

       Wow it's been a busy summer! Clearly, since we haven't posted in a while . . . again. C'est la vie, though, isn't it? It's not that my sister and I haven't been making things-- on the contrary we've been cooking and baking a lot! The problem has been getting pictures of the things we make. =) But no fear, I have finally taken a picture of deliciousness. Today, in fact. Above you see a picture of one of the non-banana-bread recipes I enjoy when using up extra overripe bananas. Although it's no secret I love banana bread, I also love cookies. So this combination works well for me, see?
       These cookies taste just like banana bread but are jam-packed with nuts, unlike the banana bread I usually eat is. The only reason I added in the almond slivers is because there was a little baggie of them floating around in my cupboard that I wanted to use up. I decided I liked the uniqueness of the walnut/almond combination so much though that I should keep the almonds in the recipe, so I did. I may add more than a half cup in the future, but for now I liked it that way. Also something I did that I normally don't was chopping up chocolate bars and sticking them in the batter instead of chocolate chips which I was fresh out of. And you know what? I loved the chunkiness of them! The randomness of the chocolate sizes make for fun eating. Another FYI: the cookies are relatively moist when first baked, but I believe they become even more moist after being stored. Hope you like them too!




Banana Oatmeal Cookies
recipe slightly adapted from tasteofhome


Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 3)

1-3/4 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup chocolate chips or chunks

1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions
--Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

--In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

--Stir in the softened butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

--Mix in the egg and mashed bananas, then add the oats. Mix until thoroughly combined.

--Add the chocolate chips/chunks, walnuts, and almonds and stir until everything is evenly distributed.

--Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookie dough on the parchment lined cookie sheets about 1-1/2 inches apart.

--Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

--Cool them on a wire rack, eat a few, and store the rest in a Tupperware container =)




Happy Baking!
--H