Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Cookies! That's what Jeff responded with when I asked him about this week's Wednesday Treat Day. So, cookies it was - but what kind?

After noticing the sad, but very sweet and ripe, banana sitting on the counter, we decided to put it to good use in these Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies.With a light and creamy base consisting of butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar (light or dark, your choice) and an egg, we infused a sweet fragrance into the dough by mixing in a couple splashes of vanilla - I'm partial to Madagascar bourbon. The banana, which I mashed fairly smooth, was then mixed in to combine.

All-purpose and whole-wheat flour, mixed with salt and baking soda, was incorporated in, followed by a scoop of old-fashioned rolled oats, chunky bits of bittersweet chocolate and coarsely chopped walnuts, which we of course toasted first (a must!). Using the mixer to blend the flours in is fine, but use a sturdy wooden spoon for the rest as to not overwork the dough. Since this was an all-butter dough, I thought about refrigerating it first to control spread, but I sent a couple test cookies in to see. They spread out just enough, but not near as much as I thought they would... so I was able to bake them off right away!

Baked until the cookies were golden and set, let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before sliding them off to finish cooling. Puffy and tender, these rounds were pretty thick with each being graced with plenty of chocolate and nuts. Since the majority of the flour is all-purpose, you don't have to worry about the whole-wheat weighing them down or making them dry - what it does is add an inviting wholesome quality. Because the banana brings a fair amount of moisture into play, the cookies won't be crispy - however, with the heartiness of the rolled oats tossed in, they had a nice chew to them.

While I wouldn't necessarily put them in the category of being muffin or cake-like, they are definitely a softer style of cookie with flavors reminiscent of banana bread spiked with chocolate. Cinnamon might haven been a complimentary spice to throw in for warmth - I did automatically grab the jar when I was gathering the ingredients and was going to add, but held back and waited to try one of the test cookies. I'm glad I waited as I thought this combination was dynamite as is and left well enough alone!

Recipes
Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies