These little cookies are a cross between a cookie and a small muffin, hence their name: Banana Muffin Cookies. The cookies are sweet, but not cloyingly so. The banana flavor really comes through in the cookies as well as the taste of sweet spices and a hint of maple. White whole-wheat flour in the dough adds a little texture and nuttiness to the cookies. You can ice them or not, but the icing--more of a drizzle, really--is good and makes the cookies more of a treat. Although I don't include nuts in the recipe, I think the cookies are great with about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts added to the dough. Nonetheless, if you're sharing the cookies and aren't sure of nut allergies, be assured that the cookies are great if you leave the nuts out. I sent a batch of the nut-free cookies to work with my husband, and he reported that his students (all adults) were quite happy to have the cookies with their morning coffee. The cookies also make a great after-school snack with milk for kids.
Banana Muffin Cookies -- Makes about 36
1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 small-medium bananas)
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of butter flavoring
1/2 teaspoon of maple extract
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups of white whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or coat them with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl combine the banans, oil, vanilla, butter flavoring, maple extract, sugars, and eggs and beat everything well. Stir together the flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and add them to the wet mixture. Stir until all the white streaks are incorporated. For each cookie, drop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the dough (it will be a wet, sticky dough) on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing the dough mounds about 2 inches apart. Flatten the dough just a bit with damp fingers or leave it "as is" for puffier cookies. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes or until set and barely brown. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before removing them to cool completely. If you'd like, drizzle the glaze over the cookies after they've cooled a few minutes.
Glaze
1 cup of confectioners' sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of butter
1/2 teaspoon of maple extract
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients in a microwave-safe cup and microwave the mixture for 1-2 minutes on high, stirring it every 30 seconds. Stir the mixture well until it forms a smooth, uniform glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the slightly warm cookies or paint the cookies with the glaze with the back of a spoon. If the glaze hardens up, put it back in the microwave for 10-20 seconds, stir it again, and drizzle on the remaining glaze quickly.
