PB Banana S'More Cookies

One of the most exciting parts of baking is exploring new recipes! The longer you spend in the kitchen, the more you are able to anticipate how your bakes will come out. It is also important to remember that baking is highly subjective. If you like gooey cookies, or flat cookies, or hard cookies, your recipe will shift.

Typically, I like my cookies very gooey with a crisp cronchy edge. For the cookies in this recipe, I wanted to explore what it would be like to mash a banana bread into a cookie. Therefore, the goal was a more rich, cakey center, and if I could maintain a crispy edge- that would be ideal.

I think I am close! There is a very subtle banana flavor with a rich chocolate chip cookie base, and the mix-ins makes this cookie something to be tried.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of very soft salted butter

• 1 egg

• 1 cup of brown sugar

• 1 tbsp of vanilla

• 2 very ripe bananas

• 2 cups of flour

• 1/4 tsp of baking soda

• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

• 1/3 cup of peanut butter ( I opted for crunchy)

• 1/4 cup of marshmallow fluff

• 3/4 cup of dark chocolate (60-70%)

• 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips

I opted for brown sugar because I wanted it to accentuate the nuttiness of the peanut butter, and tame the sweetness. If you want a sweeter cookie, switch half of the sugar for white sugar. It is by no means necessary, and has a lot of sweetness from the banana, but to each their own!

Instructions

1. Mash two very ripe bananas into a large bowl. It is your choice if you want banana chunks, I opted for less chunks in this recipe.

2. Add in your 1 cup of very soft butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. The butter should not be melted, but very malleable. Mix in with butter until incorporated.

3. Add one egg and 1 tbsp of vanilla. Mix until light and fluffy.

4. Next add in baking powder and baking soda and mix well. This will allow you to make sure it is well distributed without over-mixing your flour.

5. Slowly dump your 2 cups of flower and fold into your wet batter. DO NOT OVER MIX. There should be streaks of flour in the dough at this point. This dough will be very wet, that is how it should be.

6. Lastly you are going to add in your mix-ins. I used spatulas and spread it across the top of my dough. When you scoop it, it will naturally incorporate into the dough. If you choose to mix it before scooping just remember not to do more than 5-8 folds.

7. Once everything is added, cover the bowl and let it sit in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. This is the perfect time to clean up the kitchen and grab a snack before you pop them in the oven.

8. When you are ready to bake, use an ice cream scoop to scoop about 5 cookies to a sheet. Bake on 350 for about 12-14 minutes at a time. Make sure to turn your cookie sheets half way though. It is essential that you let the baked cookies rest on the oven for about 15-20 minutes without touching them. Once they are cooled, you can transfer them to an air tight container for up to five days. Eat within 3 days for best flavor!

Let me know how you enjoy these and if you add any additional mix-ins!