Banana Spice Cookies Recipe

I often make banana bread with old bananas, but sometimes that gets, well old. A few weeks ago, I searched through my cookbook and found this recipe – Banana Spice Cookies. They taste similar to banana bread, just a little sweeter and with a touch more spice. And they’re very tasty.

I now make these frequently for my kids as a snack.  The kids love them because they are getting cookies and I love that there’s only 1 cup of brown sugar in the whole recipe! They’re super easy to make too.

(scroll to the bottom for the full printable recipe)

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 bananas
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• dash nutmeg
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins

In a large bowl, cream the shortening (check out my kitchen tip for how to measure shortening easily!) and brown sugar

The original recipe says it’s supposed to be light & fluffy. Um, not gonna happen. I’m not sure how the cookbook thinks you can get light and fluffy from shortening and brown sugar. So just mix it.

Add the eggs and bananas. I break the bananas into pieces and drop them in just like that.

Mix it up really well.

Now set the banana mixture aside.
Get a medium-sized bowl and add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cloves, and nutmeg.

Stir it up. Then add it to the banana mixture.

Mix everything up really well.

Add the raisins and walnuts.
Just a note – I don’t always do a full 1/2 cup of walnuts – nuts are expensive and my kids don’t really care. Now raisins are another story!

Stir.

Now cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour, preferably 2. You could probably chill them overnight too.
The dough will be really soft and you won’t be able to form cookies if you try to bake them without chilling first.

Once chilled, preheat your oven to 350°.

Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

This recipe will make 2-3 dozen, depending on how big you make them.
I think they’d taste best if you eat them within a couple days, but as I’ve never had any last longer than that, I can’t say for sure.

Enjoy!

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Banana Spice Cookies #Recipe – a healthy & delicious way to use up old bananas! #AfternoonSnackForKids bit.ly/IFNPjp via @erika105

— Erika Bragdon (@Erika105) May 3, 2012

*Note: recipe credit goes to Taste of Home