I was lolling around the house this afternoon, trying to talk myself into productivity, when I realized it was time for a cookie. True, I call these gems “Breakfast Cookies” in the title of this post but what’s to keep me from eating them at all hours of the day? It’s not like I respect food-related social norms when it comes to regular breakfast (I like toast for lunch and pancakes for dinner).
I made these cookies yesterday and was disappointed in them as soon as I started mixing the batter…or rather dough. Truthfully, this started as a banana bread recipe. I’ve made the recipe before and remember it being on the bready side for my banana bread taste. It was good, though, and I like the recipe’s simplicity. It seemed like a good testing around for my roasted bananas.
Did I say bananas? I meant apple bananas. You can see from the picture that these short, stubby fruit don’t look like normal bananas. That’s because they came from a little grocery store down the street that sells Latin American products. I used to buy bananas like these when we were sailing in the Bahamas. Apparently they’re called apple bananas and their flavor can resemble that of apple or strawberries when they are very ripe, which they pretty much have to be to be sweet enough.
I thought some roasting might do these three some good and I was right! It was all I could do to keep from eating the hot, gooey banana goodness before baking the bread, er, I mean cookies.
Back to my disappointment upon mixing my ingredients. The intended bread batter was more like a dough – thick and threatening to dry out upon baking. I thought I struck out with yet another recipe (I’ve been doing that a lot lately) but I decided to shape the dough into giant cookies and bake it anyway. The smell while the cookies baked alone was worth it and the result was a huge surprise.
These babies stayed moist and soft after baking and the roasted banana flavor did not disappoint. Even with only a scant amount of honey these cookies, as I’ve become more and more comfortable calling them, are perfectly sweet. The nuts seem to have roasted as the cookies baked and taste better than any nut I’ve ever had in a cookie before.
Since yesterday I’ve staved off evening munchies with a cookie, refueled after a run with yet another cookie, and will probably quell my dessert cravings with another cookie tonight.
This recipe is adapted from the Banana Bread in The Yoga Cookbook
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe apple bananas or regular bananas
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup barley flour (or another flour of your choice)
- 1/2 cup oat bran
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/ teaspoon each nutmeg and cardamom
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted, or oil
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts and pecans)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with foil (this could get messy) and place bananas, peel on, onto the foil.
- Prick peels with a knife to avoid explosions.
- Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove bananas from oven and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, combine flours, oat bran, salt, baking soda, and spices in medium bowl.
- Place butter in a heatproof dish and put it in the oven to melt.
- When bananas are cool, peel them and mash them in a large bowl.
- Add honey and mash thoroughly to combine.
- Add dry ingredients and butter, mixing completely.
- Divide mixture into 8-12 equal pieces, depending on how large you would like your cookies to be.
- Arrange them on an oiled or otherwise nonstick baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown
