Caramelized Bananas

There were 4 very overripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter when I finally had time to take a breath and spend some time at home this weekend. At first, I was going to make banana bread out of them, but having just made zucchini bread, I kind of wanted something different. H suggested caramelized bananas, so I thought, why not? It's easy to make, delicious, and I had vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Perfect! Of course, being the only one home at the moment, meant I couldn't make all 4 of the bananas into caramelized bananas...just half of one :( The rest got chopped into large bite-sized pieces to be made into chocolate covered banana discs later :D



Caramelized Bananas

Bananas
Sugar
Butter
Cinnamon

1. Cut bananas into 1/4 inch discs

2. Coat bananas in sugar

3. Melt a pat of butter in a pan, enough to cover the bottom

4. Place bananas in pan with one side down, in one layer. Fry for 3-5 minutes over medium heat, until the bottoms are golden brown.

5. Flip bananas over and let the other side brown for about one minute.

6. Turn heat off and sprinkle cinnamon over bananas and mix slightly to distribute the cinnamon.

7. Serve over ice cream and enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmm more cookies! I had two very ripe bananas and it wasn't enough to make my go to banana bread and I was also looking to try out more recipes from the Field Guide to Cookies (I also did not want to do my final papers, but let's not go there), so this was an obvious choice! These turned out quite well. I'd say they taste like chocolate chip banana bread + oats. I like how the oats add to the texture of the cookie. Otherwise they'd be very light and airy. These are great with a glass of milk and fresh from the oven :D I think next time I'll add a little more banana to up the banana flavor, but that's my personal preference lol. I will definitely be making these again :)



Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Field Guide to Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups rolled old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2. Mix the flour, oats, baking soda,cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

4. Mix in half the flour mixture until just combined. Then add the bananas and mix to combine. Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop tablespoon sized balls of dough on to cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Cool sheets on wire racks for a few minutes before transferring cookies directly to wire racks using a spatula.