Chiquita Banana

Larry showed me a recipe he saw on the internet today that said banana oatmeal cookies are better than banana bread.  I said I have a recipe for banana oatmeal cookies that was my mother's in a Chiquita Banana cookbook but when I went to find it, I couldn't.  I can't believe I would have thrown it out.   But then I looked online and not only did I find where someone was selling one for $24.99 - I'm sure they were given away by Chiquita back in the 1950s but then I also found the recipe on pinterest.  Mommy used to make these all the time.  Maybe I'll have to do a comparison test.  I can still taste them when I think about them.

This is the recipe from delish.com 

INGREDIENTS

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 c. granulated sugar 

1/4 c. packed brown sugar  

1 large egg 

1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract 

3/4 c. mashed bananas (from about 2 bananas

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon 

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt 

3 c. old-fashioned oats

2 c. chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined, then stir in mashed banana.
• In another large bowl whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Add mixture to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in oats and most chocolate chips. 
• Scoop dough onto baking sheets about 2” apart. Press remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake until set, about 12 minutes.

Jan 10, 2019

I made the recipe from delish to see how it came out because I just have to think of my old recipe and I could taste it.  Instead of 2 cups of chocolate chips I used 1/2 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup raisins and 1 cup chocolate chips which was more than enough stuff in the cookies. 

These have less banana and more oatmeal than the original.  I like the texture and flavor better.   The original has a much more banana flavor.  Larry liked them too and that's what counts since he's the one who eats them.  I generally eat the batter when I'm making them - I know, that's a no-no, and then I have one, or broken pieces before I put them away and that's it for the whole batch.

I dropped them by tablespoonful and got 4 dozen.