Thursday, March 01, 2012

Banana Peanut Butter Cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Today is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day!  Peanut butter is one of the things I love, so I’m in!

Banana PB Cookies 3-1-12

These Banana Peanut Butter Cookies are the cookies I made to celebrate.  I’ve made them before a number of times.  They are one of my favorite cookies!  One of the things I love most about this is they are made with whole wheat flour and have no butter—that cancels out the sugar and the candy, right?  Hello?  It cancels it out enough that I consider them a once-in-a-while treat and a great way to use up those overripe bananas on the counter.  Today I didn’t just throw in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I also added some Reese’s Peanut Butter Easter Eggs that I bought recently.  Talk about kicking up the fun and flavor of these cookies!

Reese's Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

I got this recipe a number of years ago from Jenny at Picky Palate and I actually take no credit for these myself.  They were all her own doing and I really haven’t changed the recipe much.  Check out her post!  These cookies are easy to make and the banana and peanut butter go great together!  Throw a little chocolate in there and you have a perfect trio!  Since these cookies are made with healthy whole wheat flour and have no butter and you’d like to try to keep them even more healthy, try adding some chopped dark chocolate instead of peanut butter cups or candy!  That sounds like a plan to me!

Banana Peanut Butter Cookies

Banana Peanut Butter Cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Peanut Butter Easter Egg Candies, by Katrina—adapted from Jenny at Picky Palate

1 cup mashed overripe banana

1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (110 grams)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural) (128 grams)

1  1/2 cups whole wheat flour (252 grams)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 regular-sized Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped (they are easier to cut when frozen for even 15 minutes or so first)

1 cup Reese’s peanut butter Easter Eggs, chopped (6 oz.) *optional  Reese’s Pieces work, too

additional sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the bananas and sugars.  Add the vanilla, egg and peanut butter and beat to combine.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir until combined.  Stir in the chopped peanut butter cups and candy.  Scoop balls of the cookie dough into the sugar and roll to coat evenly.  The dough is quite sticky and this helps it roll into round balls.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for a couple minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Inside a Banana Peanut Butter Candy Cookie

6 comments:

sue @ cakeballs, cookies and more said...

they sound great, and totally healthy, no butter means practically no calories!

Wendy (pinkstripes) said...

They look yum and I would gobble them up in a heartbeat.

Unknown said...

Ummmm yes please!!! These look and sound so good. Thanks so much for sharing. :D

abercrombie said...

Hi dear. The picture on the food looks delicious.

Baking Ribbons said...

Bananas, WW flour, peanut butter. They for sure cancel out the candy. You get fruit, protein, and fiber! Plus, they look festive! Still don't know where you get the time to do all this baking!!! I have 2 cats and 1 husband and I don't have the time...Ok. Well, maybe I need some time management help!

Leslie said...

I can totally see why these are one of your favorite cookies!!!