Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

You may remember my professed love for Starbucks' Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake. No? Well, let me remind you. I LOOOOOOOVE it. I love it so much that when I stopped in Starbucks a couple weeks ago on my drive home from Columbia, I was simply giddy to find there was one slice left. And then I was instantly paranoid that the woman in front of me would order it. She did not and so I smiled with glee about my success. Anyway, since trying the coffee cake while visiting Tulsa I've been slightly obsessed with the combination of banana and chocolate chips. I made a couple breads and found one I liked pretty well. So, when I had bananas that REALLY needed to be used I planned on making banana chocolate chip bread. Then, the idea of banana chocolate chip cookies came to mind. I found a recipe online which comes from the Miraval Spa. I have no clue where that spa is located, but I can tell you that they know their banana chocolate chip cookies. Ridiculous. These cookies were gooooood. Make them today. Or in a couple days when your bananas are really ripe. Hey, it counts as fruit in your diet....right?

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup raw cane sugar (Turbinado aka Sugar in the Raw)
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups quick-cooking oats (I only had old-fashioned oats which worked fine.)
1 cup chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and applesauce and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar, bananas, eggs and vanilla.



Beat until smooth. Gradually add the flour and baking soda. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips until incorporated. Drop the dough by teaspoons onto the baking sheets. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.


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