Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you ever get stuck when it comes to those over-ripe bananas? I feel like I always make banana bread when the bananas in the house have gone into that too squishy and too brown zone. I really wanted to make something different and I really wanted to make this banana creme brulee recipe I've had marked off for months, but I didn't have the necessary ingredients and I wasn't about to make a late night trip to Publix. So instead I decided to make these cookies I had seen on Annie's Eats. These cookies smell and look fantastic but they were hit or miss in my household. Some people liked them while others could do without them. I think the best way to describe them would be to say they are like mini bites of banana bread with chocolate chips. I guess there was more of a banana flavor to these cookies and that threw people off when I said they were a type of chocolate chip cookies. Who knows...

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Annie's Eats (here)
Makes approx. 30 cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 ½ large bananas)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

pinch of salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. ground cloves

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until well incorporated.

In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which will in turn give the cookies their lift and rise.

Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture until just combined.

Fold chocolate chips into the batter. Drop into dollops on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

These cookies were more puffy and fluffy than chewy or crispy.