Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

April 24, 2012

There is only one thing worse than you having to stare through the screen at these cookies.

And that’s listening to me talk about how incredible they taste.

Or… I guess it COULD be worse – I could remind you for the 3700th time that the only way the peanut butter + chocolate combo (aka life itself) gets better is by adding banana, but whatever. I wouldn’t want to bore you.

But obviously, these cookies do contain three of my favorite things in the universe. I baked them in the morning, which meant that I ate cookies for a very balanced lunch and dinner. Oh, and three snacks.

… or four.

I tried my traditional sneak: leaving them on the counter for when my husband got home from work, in the hopes that he – the man who doesn’t love banana baked goods because he only eats bright GREEN bananas (dubyu tee eff?) – would pick one up and take a big bite. But my wife sense failed me and even though I lied when he asked “what’s in those cookies?” (“um, nothing. just chocolate chips. YOUR FAVORITE.”), I eventually caved because he just wasn’t taking the bait. Which meant he never took a bite. Which meant we had cookies for days. Which meant by late Saturday night I threw the last two in the trash (ziplock bag intact) then found myself fishing one out Sunday afternoon.

Hallllllp me.

There is one big major giant deal to note: these cookies are not cakey. Many moons ago I made some traditional banana chocolate chip cookies, and more often than not, cookies with banana come out fairly cake-like. No sir, not these. They are soft, but still have some chew. They stay soft for eons, or at least for the 16 hours they remain in your house before complete and total domination.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

[adapted from giant rainbow cookies]

makes about 18-20 cookies

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and cooled

6 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter, melted and cooled

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together cooled peanut butter and butter with both sugars until combined. Whisk in egg yolk and vanilla extract until smooth. Add in the mashed banana and mix until combined – mixture will not be smooth. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, mixing with a large spoon until a dough forms – I even use my hands to bring it together sometimes. Fold in chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into the size of a golfball (or size of your choice) and place on a nonstick baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middles are puffy – do not overbake! Let cool completely then dig in. I suggest letting these cool completely before storing them in a sealed container or bag, and they will stay very soft because of the banana.