Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I have always thought that bananas were one of those fruits you either really liked or hated.  I think it is because they do have a strong distinctive taste. It seems that a lot of people will eat banana bread yet you will not find them eating a banana.  Recently, someone told me that a convenience store here in Texas makes more money on selling bananas than anything else.  I find that strange because I have yet to see any bananas at the local convenience stores.

Since bananas are a healthy fruit and are not acidic, I decided to bake with them.  The only issue was that I wanted to find something different from banana bread.  I have made banana cookies before but the particular recipe I landed on included oats in the ingredients.  The other unique thing was the banana chip on top.  Even though it gets baked on, it still remains crunchy and makes a good topper.

These cookies were shared yesterday. There was one eater in the group that declared they did not like bananas. However, just like bananas vs banana bread, this person kept asking where the cookie jar was.  These cookies are cake-like and have all the great flavor of banana bread. There are some additional add ins for variations, however, do not skip on the banana chips! This recipe makes about 24-30 cookies 

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Crazy About Cookies Cookbook

Ingredients
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
3/4 cup rolled oats (old fashioned, not instant)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup dried banana chips

For add ins and variations
3/4 cup melted chocolate chips or
3/4 cup chocolate chips or
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Grease or butter the inside of two cookie sheets and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Then stir in the oats.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together.  Once it has a fluffy consistency, beat in the egg, vanilla extract and banana. Fold in the dry oatmeal/flour blend.

At this time, you can mix in the chocolate chips or the pecans, if you decided to include.  Then drop tablespoons of batter onto prepared cookie sheets, placing about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 5 minutes then remove and press one banana chip lightly into the center of each cookie.  Put the pan back in the oven and bake until golden, about 5-6 minutes.

Let cookies cool on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

If you opted to drizzle chocolate, do so and let sit for about 30 minutes for chocolate to harden.

Tips and notes:
1. if I were to put chocolate chips in these cookies, I would use mini chips.  That way you do not have any chance of a big pocket of melted chocolate oozing over your banana chip.
2. if you are including the pecans, they will be better if toasted and cooled prior to mixing in the batter.
                          **LAST YEAR:Coconut Custard Bars***