What do you do with overripe bananas? Make banana bread, right? It’s practically an automatic response. As a result, we’ve all had plenty of banana bread in our lifetimes. Like, a lot of banana bread.
If you’re ready to break out of the banana bread rut, heads up: This recipe for banana oatmeal cookies from Allrecipes might send your trusty loaf pan to the back of the cupboard — at least temporarily.
The recipe writer notes that, like, banana bread, these treats can travel. They stay moist and delicious while they’re on the road and for days afterward.
Not that you need to worry about storage. According to the recipe author, who goes by username blairbunny, “This is usually the first cookie to disappear at my house.” Intriguing! Here we go!
While you preheat the oven, sift together the basics — flour, baking soda, salt — with nutmeg and cinnamon for a zip of spice.
In a separate bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. (The recipe doesn’t specify which shortening to use, so just use your favorite; Crisco leaps to mind.) Bust out the hand mixer and beat the mixture until light and fluffy.
Next up: the bananas! Add in mashed bananas, egg, quick-cooking oatmeal and your choice of nuts for a little crunch. Mix well with the shortening and sugar.
Finally, add in the dry ingredients. I like to do this in a few smaller dumps, mixing between each one. It keeps the dough from going all lumpy and dry. When everything is well combined, drop the dough by teaspoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies’ edges turn lightly brown. Take that last bit to heart — in the recipe’s reviews, some commenters said that 15 minutes was too long or that the temperature recommended was too high, resulting in burnt cookies. You may have to experiment a bit and keep an eye on them to make sure they turn out perfectly!
Once the cookies have cooled on a wire rack, it’s open season. Click here to read the full recipe!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
