Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, the name is a mouthful... and so are these cookies!  They combine all of my favorite flavors.  The best part about the cookies is that each of the flavors is very strong, but nothing overpowers.  The flavors just blend into a small round of deliciousness.

( Note: I always say the full name, because the cookies look like chocolate chip... and I never knew so many people were allergic to bananas.  :/ )

ingredients:

• one medium-sized, really old banana (should be black and very soft for best flavor) 
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour (can use 1/2 C whole wheat and 3/4 C regular if you are so inclined) 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet.  or chunks.  whatever.) 

directions: 

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees (or a few degrees cooler).
2. in a large bowl, mash the banana.  you want it to be pretty smooth.  the older the banana, the easier this will be.
3. add the egg, peanut butter, and sugars, and beat until smooth.  (for the peanut butter, i just use a large spoon to scoop some out and compare that to a 1/2 C measure.  it's hard to transfer it between containers.)  (i use a fork to beat in this recipe, because then it's easy to stab out any banana or brown sugar chunks.) 
4. once smooth, add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  dough may become a little difficult to mix.
5. once everything is combined, add in the chocolate chips.  i use my hand at this step because the dough is really thick.
6. taste the dough.  savor the flavor.
7. roll into balls and place on cookie sheet (may want to grease your hands first so nothing sticks).  you can make them whatever size you want... just make sure they are all the same size so they bake evenly.
8. bake for about 10 minutes.  pull out and cool on a wire rack if you have one.  the cookies are pretty great warm though.
9. enjoy! 

old banana, mashed 

peanut butter mixture, with flour

dough

plus chocolate chips 

cookies, ready to bake (you can press them down to make them flatter if you want) 

one cookie, sweating a little :)

baked cookies

mmmmm!  these are round because i didn't press them down at all.

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Peanut Sauce Shrimp Pasta

Found this recipe on Yahoo!.

ingredients

• 1/2 a 14-oz. pkg. dried medium rice noodles (had to get these from an Asian grocery store)
  
• 1 Tbsp. cooking oil
• 12 oz. peeled, deveined medium uncooked shrimp
• 12 oz. fresh asparagus spears, trimmed, cut in 2-inch pieces (3 cups)
• 1 large red and/or yellow sweet pepper, cut in 3/4-inch pieces (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup bottled peanut sauce (I made my own -- recipe below)
  

peanut sauce

• 1/2 to 1 cup peanut butter (you'll be tasting it a lot, so you might want to start with too much)
• Ginger powder (also from Asian grocery store)
  
• Soy sauce
• Lime juice
• Cayenne pepper
• Garlic - minced or powdered
  
• Everything is to taste. Just start mixing and tasting. You'll also need some water to thin out the peanut butter. Thanks to my friend Grant for the sauce recipe!
  

directions

1. Cut up your asparagus and peppers. I used yellow and red peppers since the asparagus is green. You may want to cut your shrimp into 2 or 3 pieces each as well.
   
2. Place noodles in large bowl. Bring 4 cups water to boiling; pour boiling water over noodles in bowl. Let stand for 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp, asparagus, and sweet peppers. Cook and stir for 4 to 6 minutes, until shrimp are opaque. Add peanut sauce; heat through.
4. Drain noodles. Divide noodles among shallow serving bowls, using a fork to twist noodles into nest.
   
5. Top with shrimp, asparagus, and sweet pepper mixture. Serves 4.

I forgot to take a picture with the noodles, but here is how my shrimp and veggies looked:



The meal took some time, but I had a friend over who helped me cut the vegetables (thanks, Shawna!). Delicious, and definitely worth the time. Pin It Now!