Chewy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whenever the temperature outside starts to dip, signaling either a change in the seasons or an incoming storm, I get the itch to bake. I'm not sure if its the fact that I can actually be comfortable and not sweat absurd amounts while in the kitchen, or if my inner homemaker starts to peak through. 

Either way, I crank up the oven and try out a new recipe. This weeks winner was a Chewy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I've been dying to try. Something about the combination of chewy and chocolaty is always eye-catching to me. These were even more appealing because I have a soft spot for banana bread, so the combination of bananas and cookies was just too good to pass up.

I definitely recommend following these directions very carefully, because I almost didn't notice that I needed to refrigerate them before baking (shocking I know...) and I nearly ended up with one huge cookie due to settling!

They were absolutely delicious! I would recommend trying a smaller ball of dough when initially refrigerating, or you will end up with HUGE cookies like we did. While delicious, there just weren't as many cookies as I would have liked to have from one batch. Another way would be to separate as shown in the picture below before refrigerating, then cutting those mounds in half before cooking. 

Pre-refrigerated dough ready for the fridge

The other lovely thing about this recipe is it would be super easy to tweak and add almost anything you wanted to the cookie base before baking! Yum!!!

Finished products, DELISH!

Chewy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large egg
• 2 small/medium or 1 extra-large ripe bananas (about 1/2 heaping cup mashed banana)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats ***not instant or quick-cook because they act more like flour and aren't suitable here
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon, added to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of any other add-ins you want, I added Health Bar bits this time around 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the egg, bananas, sugars, butter, vanilla, in a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until well combined. The mixture won't be smooth, fluffy, or 'creamed' like traditional cookie dough and will have small chunks of bananas present and it's on the runnier side.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the chocolate chips and other add-ins you choose, and beat on low speed until just combined.
4. Using a large cookie scoop or a 1/4-cup measure, or your hands (I ended up just using my hands for this part), form approximately 14 equal-sized mounds of dough. 
5. Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. This is a wetter, looser dough and isn't suitable for baking until it's been chilled. DO NOT bake with un-chilled dough because cookies will be more prone to spreading while cooking. 
6. Preheat oven to 350F, spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart and bake for about 13 minutes (for very soft cookies, or longer for more well-done cookies), or until edges have set and tops are just set, don't over bake! Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. Let them cool on the baking sheet and don't use a rack or they will fall apart while cooling.
7. Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Makes about 14 large cookies. Use a smaller scoop for more, smaller cookies. Or separate the refrigerated cookies in half before baking.