Cinnamon Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Are there foods that you like in one form but not another?  Do you like the flavor of almonds but dislike almond extract and or prefer almond extract to whole nuts?  I  raised 2 children who adore ketchup and salsa but have an extreme dislike of fresh tomatoes.  🤷🏻‍♀️ It defies logic but sometimes there's no rational explanation for why we like the foods that we like.  

As for me, I love the flavor of bananas but I don't like to eat them plain. 🍌I crave banana bread, banana muffins, banana ice cream, frozen bananas, banana pancakes, banana smoothies, banana oatmeal and banana cookies but I don't ever eat plain bananas.  There's no good reason why the brilliant yellow fruit doesn't appeal to me. (pun intended)  It's a potassium rich food that's naturally protected from germs and it doesn't crunch - it should be my favorite fruit!  😂  

I will never stop buying fresh bananas even though I don't like to eat them plain.  I actually enjoy watching them ripen to perfection in the fruit basket on the counter.  They're the perfect natural sweetener for my baked treats and they give everything a nice soft consistency.  

These Cinnamon Banana Oatmeal Cookies are one of my new favorite ways to use those perfectly ripe bananas.  The combination of bananas and cinnamon chips is absolutely amazing.  I could go on and on but I'd rather have you just try them for yourself. 

Cinnamon Banana Oatmeal Cookies
​1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup mashed banana
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups quick oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  

Mash banana with a fork.

Cream butter and sugar. 

Add banana and vanilla. 

Mix in dry ingredients. 

Stir in cinnamon chips.

Scoop dough onto silpat lined baking sheets.  

Bake 16 minutes at 375.  

I would like to tell you how long these cookies stay nice and fresh but they didn't last past day two in our house.  They really are delicious and a great way to use up that extra banana that's sitting in your fruit basket getting dark spots.  Remember, the darker the banana - the sweeter it is.  

Ciao!

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