Joey and I were watching TV once, early in our marriage, and an advertisement for a brownie pan that would let you have all edges brownies came on.
I reacted to it by laughing.
“Who would want only edge brownies,” I said. “The middle brownies are the best ones.”
Joey looked at me like I was crazy.
“No, the crispy edges are better,” he told me.
And that’s when we decided to agree to disagree on not only brownies, but cookies, too.
Over the years, I have been majorly disappointed with a crispy cookie recipe, while Joey has rejoiced in how great they are.
So, when I tried this week’s recipe, I have to tell you that while Joey agreed they were tasty, these were definitely more my speed: cake-y, soft and amazing.
I got this recipe from the blog “Mom on Timeout.” You can find the original post at https://www.momontimeout.com/peanut-butter-banana-chocolate-chip-cookies/. I added extra vanilla and baking chips in my version.
Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas peeled and mashed
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10-12 ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
- 10-12 ounce bag peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Cream the butter, bananas and sugars together with a mixer. Beat in the vanilla until the mixture is smooth, and then beat in the flour, baking soda, corn starch and salt. Once everything is combined, fold in the chocolate and the peanut butter chips.
- Cover the bowl and leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven and prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- Using a one-inch scoop (or just eyeball that amount with a regular spoon), place dough onto the cookie sheets, about two inches apart.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top. Let them cool completely before transferring them from the parchment paper to an airtight container.
I will warn you that these really do need to set up before you pull them from the parchment. I pulled some early, and they were falling apart (of course, if you need to test one or two for…ahem…quality control, eating some that are warm and gooey is perfectly acceptable).
They stayed soft and moist in my plastic container, and when we were able to share some of these at an office meeting, the consensus were that they were awesome, and they disappeared quickly.
It seems like there are too many flavors going on in these, but really, both the peanut butter and chocolate chips take a backseat to the banana flavor, which is the real star.
Even though these were super soft cookies, I did notice that Joey didn’t complain too much about having to eat them. Of course, I don’t think I’ve ever turned down a crispy cookie or an edge brownie, either, for that matter.
We can certainly agree to disagree, but when it comes to sweets, we’re both willing to take one for the team.
This piece first appeared in print on May 28, 2020.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
