Chocolate Banana Bread Cookies

Ingredients You Will Need

Banana Bread Cookies

• Butter unsalted
• Light brown sugar
• Sugar white
• Egg
• Vanilla extract
• Bananas
• Sour cream
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Kosher salt
• Chopped walnuts

Chocolate Icing

• Powdered sugar
• Butter unsalted 
• Vanilla extract
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Milk

How Ripe Should My Bananas Be

People ask me how ripe the bananas should be for making banana nut bread or cookies. So, I thought I would give a visual guideline.

When I try to mash a too-yellow banana, you can tell it is more solid and harder to smash. But the other side of the coin is I do not use totally brown bananas. They tend to be too mushy and can affect the texture of the cookies. The picture above is about the last day I would use that banana on the left for my cookies.

The ripeness also affects the sweetness level of the banana; I find for my cookies that if I use bananas that are all yellow, they are not as sweet as the riper version.

You also want to cut off any bruised or really mushy parts. So, I usually have three bananas on hand if the recipe calls for two. I hate starting a recipe only to find out I don't have enough of one ingredient.

If you buy a few mostly yellow bananas, I leave them on the counter until they are about half light brown or, at the most two, thirds light brown and one-third yellow. These few tips will help you choose the right bananas for this cookie.

Browning the Butter

Brown butter adds flavor to these cookies, giving them a step above just regular banana cookies. The pairing of flavors between the brown butter and the walnuts you add to the cookies complement each other well.

Measure or weigh the white and light brown sugars into a dish and set it aside.

Start by adding the butter to a small saucepan. Turn on the stove to a medium to a medium-high heat. You do not want a full boil, so adjust your heat so you only have small bubbles.

You will start to notice that there is a white film on the top. This shows you that the butter is starting to separate and boiling the water out. This should take anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Stir frequently!

Next, as you are stirring, the white starts to clear, which is when you want to stir continuously. The milk solids are beginning to drop to the bottom of the pan. This can take 3- 5 minutes to get to the final stage.

The final stage is seeing brown specks in the bottom of the pan, and you smell a nuttiness when leaning over the pan. Take it off the heat.

The last part is adding the sugars to the brown butter and letting it cool for about 10 minutes.

Moist Banana Cookie Dough

Weigh or measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Run a whisk through to blend.

Mash the bananas in a small bowl and set it aside.

Add the cooled brown butter and sugar mixture to your mixer bowl. Turn the mixer onto a medium-low setting.

Add the vanilla extract, mashed bananas, egg, and sour cream, and blend together. This will create a thin liquid batter, but no fear; this will make your cookies moist.

Slowly add the flour mixture, do not over-mix. Scrape down the bowl sides and add the walnuts. Mix for about 15 seconds.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and across the bottom to ensure all the flour is evenly distributed. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

Scoop and Bake the Banana Cookies

Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. Also, grab a small bowl with some water in it and a dry paper towel.

Using a small cookie scooper add 12 scoops to a sheet pan. Dip your second and third fingers into the water, flick off most water, and press down on each cookie mound. The dough is soft, so be gentle.

If you skip pressing down the cookies, they will really puff up and make it harder to make sandwich cookies. Take the end of the paper towel and gently dab the tops of the cookies to absorb any water that might be on the tops.

Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 8-10 minutes. Move them to a cooling rack once they are out of the oven. The bottoms should be a light brown. Let them cool completely before starting the chocolate icing.

Creamy Chocolate Icing

Just for reference, this is a double batch of chocolate icing. I needed extra, just be aware yours will be half this amount in your mixer bowl.

Add the butter to a mixer bowl and beat it for a minute or two so it is creamy.

Next, add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and milk right on top of the creamy butter and turn the mixer onto a low speed until they are mixed. Now increase the speed to a medium-high setting for 3 to 4 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then turn the mixer back to a medium-high setting for another 4 minutes. It should have fairly stiff peaks and not fall off the beater when you lift the beater up and out of the icing. If it still seems too soft, you can continue to mix for another couple of minutes.

Take a knife and spread the icing layer onto the bottom of one of the cookies.

Match up the size and shape of another cookie and press it onto the icing. The tops of the cookies should be on the outside, creating a cute dome effect. Now you have a sandwich cookie!

FAQ's