I remember feeding my two little brothers lots of banana baby food when they were little. No wonder kids like bananas. They are high in carbohydrates or sugar and are an excellent source of energy. Your average banana is around 105 calories, but there’s a lot of good stuff in it, too. It is high in vitamin C and B6, high in potassium, and high in dietary fiber. It is very low in sodium and saturated fat and has no cholesterol. It comes in its own convenient wrapper and is a great addition to smoothies. Best of all, it’s one of the least expensive fruits in your grocery store.
With this recipe you don’t have to wait for the banana to ripen. It’s better, in fact, if the banana isn’t too soft, as you’ll be folding it into slices at the end.
If you like banana cream pie, you will like this easy and tasty recipe. It calls for ¼ cup of whipped cream. Whipping cream has a fairly high amount of milk fat, usually between thirty and thirty-six percent. The light cream has between eighteen and thirty percent, depending on the company that makes it. I have used half and half to make these cookies, which is about ten to eighteen percent. It works well, but the flavor is not as rich and creamy. I’ve also noticed that the cookies dry faster when I use less milk fat, so use your own judgement. My husband even likes them half and half.
Beat one egg with 2/3 cup of brown sugar for 3-4 minutes. If you don’t have brown sugar, use white sugar and add 2 teaspoons of molasses. Now that I know that brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added, I never buy brown sugar. That way, I never have to worry about it going to be tough, just when I need it for a recipe. I vary the amount of molasses depending on whether a recipe calls for light or dark brown sugar. Estimate about 1 tablespoon of molasses per cup of white sugar for light and 2 for dark.
Add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and add ¼ cup of whipping cream (or half and half) and 1½ tablespoons of vegetable oil. Separately, mix 1¾ cup of flour with 1 teaspoon of baking powder. For those of you above 5000 feet, use ¾ teaspoon of baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the rest and chill the dough.
While it cools, turn the oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a banana and cut it lengthwise twice into 4 long strips. Then cut the strips into ¼-inch pieces. Gently fold the banana pieces into the batter. Drop in cookie scoops (about 1 tablespoon of batter) and bake for 16 to 18 minutes until cookies are light brown puffy balls. You can grease the cookie sheet, but parchment paper is better since it won’t add calories. These won’t spread, so you can put more on one sheet. The recipe makes 25 cookies. Each scoop-sized cookie is about 75 calories with whipped cream and no powdered sugar.
You can dust the cookies with powdered sugar after baking to make them more festive, but it’s not necessary. Besides, I’ve been told that brandy goes well with this biscuit. If you’re making them for adults, try using cognac instead of the vanilla extract. You can also add a pinch or two of nutmeg to the recipe for a more adult flavor. These are best fresh out of the oven, but I keep them in the fridge because of the cream and find that they seem to disappear.