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

Rum-Coconut Banana Bread

       

       I don't understand the way so many people seem to be getting tired of banana bread. I mean, why mess with perfection? But I can understand wanting to get creative in the kitchen--that's why I've tried other sorts of banana recipes myself. Yet, no matter how many different things I try I always wind up disappointed, wishing I would have made banana bread instead. Well, in the spirit of continuing culinary creativity, I decided to give this recipe a chance. No matter what I knew I wanted to make banana bread with my overripe bananas, but after I saw this recipe I decided a little rum couldn't hurt. ;) The original recipe only had 3 tablespoons of rum and I thought that was a ridiculously small amount for an entire loaf. I couldn't even taste it in the batter! So I increased the it to an entire half cup, also increasing the amount of flour to make up for the extra liquid. Although I'd like to say this made all the difference, it really didn't. I STILL couldn't taste the rum. The banana flavor was still dominant. Maybe to get a stronger rum flavor standard ripe bananas would be best rather than overripe ones. This way their potency wouldn't overpower the rum. It's just a theory, though. Ultimately, however, despite my desire to taste more rum, the final product was still a delicious and moist banana bread.

Rum-Coconut Banana Bread

slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup spiced rum
• 5 medium overripe bananas, mashed (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup flaked coconut

Directions
--Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

--Grease and lightly flour a 9x5 (or close to it) loaf pan.

--In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and the salt.

--In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together until completely combined and fluffy. Then add in the eggs, vanilla, rum, and bananas, stirring until thoroughly combined. Finally, gently stir in the coconut.

--Pour the batter into the previously greased/floured loaf pan; bake for 65-75 minutes. (Mine took 73, but it's good to check earlier just in case.) A toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf will come out clean when it's done.

--If you floured the loaf pan then you won't need to wait to flip it out onto a wire rack. If you didn't flour the pan, wait at least 10 minutes before you flip it out.

--Enjoy warm or cooled =)

--Once completely cooled, wrap the loaf in plasic wrap, then again in tin foil to keep it fresh.




Happy Baking!
--H