Chocolate, banana, and M&M cookies!

The hubs had a night out to go and watch DCI {aka professional marching band minus the woodwinds} and I am only slightly jealous that I didn't tag along. However, the upside to not going was that the bug and I decided to bake some cookies, go out to dinner, and play hard. Cooking/baking is one of our favorite things to do together and a great time filler for when daddy is busy or away.

Earlier today we had two extremely ripe bananas clinging for life to their hanger. I knew it was time to bake up or lose 'em, so Adam and I talked about different things this afternoon that we might be craving/wanting. The usual suspects turned up- banana bread, banana muffins, etc...but there is just something about banana and chocolate. {Kind of like the genius combo of peanut butter and chocolate --although the family I married into would disagree.}Anyway- I have made a chocolate banana cake and chocolate banana cookies with white chocolate chips in the past, so that is where my brain headed and my love agreed with me. After seeing what I had to bake with in my fridge/pantry- this is what we got:

Chocolate, banana, and M&M cookies. Yum.

 {Definitely not Paleo, but hey, we do indulge every now and again.}

If you are feeling the urge to indulge in some chocolatey banana goodness- here's the recipe:

1/4 c butter, softened

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar 

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 over ripe bananas

2 c all-purpose flour {I used unbleached}

2/3 c cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

M&M's or white chocolate chips to your liking

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, bananas, and vanilla until throughly mixed. {You will still have some small chunks of bananas} Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the M&M's or chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. {I used a plastic spoon about the size of a tablespoon}

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets and then transfer onto wire racks to finish cooling.

Enjoy your delicious cake like cookies!
{This yields quite a bit - probably a double dozen. Eat within a day or two as the bananas don't allow them to keep for long}