Remember a while back when I lamented about my brown bananas? It never fails – no matter how many bananas I buy (whether it’s 3 or 10), I always end up with brown bananas. I’m not one to throw away good food, so I’m a big fan of banana bread. But after reading some tips from our faithful readers about putting bananas in the freezer until you’re ready to use them in baked goods or smoothies, I’ve really been stretching my food dollar by putting my bananas to work. Here are 2 recipes that I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Frosted Banana Cookies
(Makes 3-4 dozen cookies)

Cookies
½ cup butter
½ cup butter-flavored shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup buttermilk (or ½ cup milk + 1 tsp lemon juice)
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 ¼ cups flour

1. Cream the butter and shortening. Add the sugar, then the bananas. Mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Then add the buttermilk.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. (Do not over mix. This will be a sticky batter.)
3. Drop dough by tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.
2. Before you spread the frosting on the cookies, lay a paper bag or some paper towels underneath the cooling rack to make clean up easier.
3. Spread the frosting on the completely cooled cookies.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Makes 2 dozen cookies)

2/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 ½ cups flour
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla

1. Combine all of the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients. Mix well.

2. Spoon onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Photo credit: stock.xchng