Jodi's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think I mentioned a few days ago that this house goes through loads of bananas, and for some reason we actually had some get pretty ripe......slightly strange, but that's good for me! I love these cookies because they have the wonderful smell and taste of banana bread, but in cookie form and with chocolate chips. Now, how can you beat that?

My older sister actually introduced me to these because her mother-in-law bakes them and the family loves them! Of course, my sister was kind enough to share the wonderfulness and got the rest of us hooked. :) I will warn you though, these cookies don't last very long once they come out of the oven, so you might need to stash a few of your own if you want any.

2/3 (two-thirds) Cup Shortening

1 Cup Sugar.
2-4 mashed bananas (the mushier the better)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla
2.5 (two and a half) Cups Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 (half) tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 (half) tsp. Salt.

6 oz. chocolate chips

Cream together the shortening and sugar. I will tell you that I prefer to use butter because of the flavor and it produces a better golden brown color, but shortening works just as well if that's what you have.

Add the smashed bananas and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. While mixing, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add slowly to wet ingredients. You batter won't be very stiff like normal cookie dough, it'll actually be very soft. Because of this I like to use an ice cream scooper to dispense the dough.

Make sure to grease your baking sheet before loading on the cookie dough otherwise the cookies will stick.

Bake at 350 10-12 minutes. You'll know the cookies are finished when they bounce back when you press lightly on them, or until they're a nice golden brown.

These are very cakey cookies, more like a muffin top than a chocolate chip cookies. However, they are absolutely delicious! Be careful....it's an addiction. :)