Long-time cooks know that the first rule of baking with banana is ‘Think Ahead’. The unavoidable fact is that it takes a couple of weeks for bananas to ripen enough (think near-black, not yellow, skins) to imbue heady banana flavor into quick breads, banana cakes, banana pancakes and here, the best oatmeal cookies, bar none, I’ve ever made – or eaten.
The freezer helps. Just wash the bananas, then let ripen naturally on the counter or in a paper bag. Once the skins turn dark, tuck the bananas into a freezer bag, right in their black jackets, and freeze. When you’re ready to bake, just thaw as many as needed in a container for an hour before using.
BANANA MANGO SMOOTHIE For a quick after-school snack, toss a frozen banana (skin removed, silly!) and frozen mangoes into a blender with a couple of ice cubes and skim milk. Delicious – and refreshing!
QUICK BANANA DESSERT Slice a banana lengthwise. Spread each flat side with sour cream or Greek yogurt, then sprinkle with brown sugar. Eat as is or place under the broiler for a couple of minutes.
The cookie dough is sticky, you may want to shape it with your hands.
BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Makes about 30 cookies, easily doubled
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 very very ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1-1/2 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick, not instant)
- 1 cup coconut, preferably unsweetened
Preheat oven to 350F.
Melt butter in a small dish in microwave, 10 seconds at a time. Transfer to mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, thoroughly mix in sugars, banana, egg and vanilla.
(Caution: Incoming unorthodox shortcut. See ALANNA’s TIPS.) Scoop the flour, baking power, baking soda and salt onto the butter mixture without mixing in. With a fork, lightly combine the dry ingredients on top, still without mixing in. Now use the mixer to combine the flour mixture and the butter mixture. Stir in oatmeal and coconut.
Drop dough by tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 11 – 14 minutes until set and golden. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tray but do remove or will stick.
When Is a Banana Ripe Enough for Baking?
More Great Banana Recipes
More Cookie Recipes
And if you love to bake, be sure to visit Nic from Baking Bites, who inspired these great banana oatmeal cookies.
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Your Comments:
The banana ripening lesson is great. I have to admit, though, that I let mine get slightly more ripe than you do. We're actually talking mushy and black with possible spots of mold on the skin. Scary, yes, but they make the most incredible banana cake!
I think the brown paper bag thing Ali asked about might be the same as what they say about ripening avocados and tomatoes in bags. In very non-scientific speak: something (gas?) in the bag seeps out and then somehow helps the fruit ripen. I think. I've never actually tried it.
I am so loving the new look of Kitchen Parade, Alanna! You did such a beautiful job with the remodeling--everything is so well laid out and easy on the eyes. The triple photo layouts are fantastic. You manage to pack in so much great info (including all those yummy links) without it feeling packed at all! : )
I love your new layout,Alanna, especially the photos.
If I could jump in about the bag...there is a gas called ethylene (thank my husband for that)and when other fruit comes in contact with it, they ripen. Putting them in a paper bag traps the gas within, helping to speed the process along. Trust me, it works; I do it all the time, and it works for other fruit such as peaches or nectarines too.
Susan ~ Thanks to you AND your husband. I must try that to really shorten the timing. (And thanks for the compliments, too. The new site is still feeling good to me, too. No regrets!)
Sunny ~ I've got no experience with coconut oil so must say, I just don't know.
These cookies, for example, with just two more calories would yes be 2 points but with 98 points, they're 1 point.
And it would be easy to bump to 100 calories per cookie, by making just one or two fewer cookies, by natural variations in the relative ripeness (sweetness) of bananas, the use of a lower-fiber flour, etc.
THAT is why Weight Watchers points should always be considered -- why I always call them -- an estimate, not some exact-exact-exact measure.
Hope this helps: rest assured, I take the calculations of points VERY seriously although of course human errors are, of course, possible.
Just a suggestion: start leaving comments on all the magazine websites asking for nutrition information. FEW GO TO THE EFFORT, a real disservice.
I hope you'll come back often - bring your slide if you like, or rely on the stated points and be grateful they're available at all.
Alanna
Thanks for the great recipe!