Last week I received a small package in the mail from a friend containing a very entertaining zine she had created. The agreement was that I would send her cookies in exchange for this lovely package. I searched through numerous recipes until I came across two that struck my fancy - Smitten Kitchen's peanut butter cookies and a recipe for espresso chocolate chip cookies that I can't seem to find at the moment.
The exciting news is that halfway through making the espresso cookies I realized I didn't have enough eggs to make both types of cookies like I had planned. No problem; I decided to invent my own cookie instead! No egg? I substituted half a banana. Not feeling the espresso? I just omitted it. Instead I threw in a teaspoon of honey, some chopped walnuts and sliced almonds, and chopped semi-sweet chocolate. The result? I call these my vegetarian banana choco-chunk cookies, and they make me so proud; this is the first recipe I've ever come up with on my own.


Here's a shot of the peanut butter cookies I made as well; I used crunchy peanut butter, which gave them an even more interesting texture, although next time I'd like to use a higher quality peanut butter for a better taste - they developed a particularly odd taste after sitting in an airtight container for a few days:


The friend I sent these out to loved them, especially the vegan cookies - I helped make her day a little better; that is exactly why I love baking! So, without further ado:

Vegetarian Banana Choco-Chunk Cookies

1/2 cup softened margarine
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon wildflower honey
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
half of a mashed banana
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
approximately 1 cup combined: finely chopped walnuts, sliced almonds, and chopped semi-sweet chocolate

Combine the margarine and sugar, add the mashed banana and honey. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Throw in your nuts and chopped chocolate.
Here's the fun part: take a piece of parchment paper and spoon the batter out onto the center of it, roll it up in the parchment paper until your cookie dough log is about an inch and a half in diameter, wrap it in cellophane and refrigerate for two hours.
Start preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Cut the cookie dough log into 1/2 inch thick slices and place a few inches apart on your cookie sheet (I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper first). Bake for about ten minutes, or until they look done. Let cool, and enjoy!

Labels: almonds, banana, cookies, peanut butter, walnuts