I’m off! I’ll be hopping on a plane to Texas tomorrow, with my whole family in tow. To those of you who are feeling a twinge of envy right now, let me remind you that this entails a 10 hour flight from London to Austin, whilst wrangling a one-year-old monkey and a very dramatic three-year-old. You can envy me after I recover from the flight… if I recover from the flight.
I know I’ll need a secret weapon on the plane, to intercept an impeding tantrum, or as a quick pick-me-up for myself when energy and patience runs thin… and that’s where these cookies come in. The perfect union between a slice of banana bread and a chocolate chip cookie; soft, chewy and downright delicious, these puppies are going to magically resolve all my travel ills… or at least assure me a sweeter voyage.
Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies
- 1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 (60 g) cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup (170 g or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 large ripe banana, mashed with a fork
- 1 cup (100 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 8 ounces (225 g) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 2 ounces or 55 g)
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter, sugar and maple syrup or honey into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days.
