The Weekly Vegan: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

I had one of the most profound realizations of my life today. My grand epiphany shined light on the fact that The Weekly Vegan doesn't just have to be meals; it can also involve baking (perhaps I should have realized this given all the baking I did with my sister)! While suffering from a serious case of the baking DTs (It had been 4 whole days), I developed a craving for peanut butter, bananas and chocolate (Fortunately, I didn't also crave pickles, or I'd have to worry that I was pregnant).  The only cure for this would be to make some ridiculous cookies. Luckily, I found a recipe to get me started on a health site called Fat Secret (Google takes you to the darndest places). I knew it was the one based on the fact it had a 2 star rating due to it not being particularly diety.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
Modified heavily from FatSecret.com
Servings: 15 cookies
Time: 30 minutes (plus cooling)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2-3 bananas
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup chunky peanut butter
16 oz dark chocolate (better quality should be milk free)

Luckily I only had room for 12 cookies leaving plenty of amazing batter.

3 straight tries without seizing!

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
3. Mash the bananas then mix with the sugars and vanilla extract in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment .
4. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.
5. Add the peanut butter and mix well.
6. Drop tablespoon sized amounts of batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Let cool on wire racks.
9. Melt the dark chocolate using a double boiler or in the microwave on medium power in one minute bursts.
10. Dip half of each cookie into the melted chocolate then place on a new baking sheet lined with parchment paper in the fridge until the chocolate hardens.
11. Serve with lots of soy milk and enjoy.

Surely, I couldn't stop at just a normal dessert.

Let's start with the cookie itself. I'm always a little disappointed with the consistency of banana cookies because they turn out too muffiny (the mushy banana in the batter really changes things). I figured it would probably happen again this time, so I cut back on the flour to counteract this a little. This still gave me one muffin-like cookie, but it worked really well with the flavors. The crunch peanut butter gave a fabulous roasted peanut taste that was smoothly finished by the banana backend.

Waiting for the chocolate to harden might be the toughest part.

What really made this cookie special was the dark chocolate shell. The hard coating provided a beautiful contrast to the cookie, and we all know chocolate and peanut butter are among the world's greatest combinations (somehow giving jelly a run for its money). All together, the three key components of this super cookie provide for one uber satisfying triple layered experience.

It's like two desserts in one. But seriously, you'll probably want to dip the whole thing.

Make sure you have a healthy supply of soy milk to go with these cookies to complete the ultimate in vegany desserts. Now, I need to make sure I still focus on vegan meals for the weekly vegan and don't just feed my love of baking (since I do want to keep this segment somewhat on the healthy side).

The killer line-up