Do your bananas ever look like this?  Surprisingly, it happens in our house quite often.  I have a hard time understanding it, though.  My daughter likes them almost totally green.  The little ones like them just barely yellow and I like them just before they turn brown.  How is it that some of them get to the point of being over-ripe?

I definitely don’t have the answer to how they get to that point, but I do have several ideas of what to do with them when they do.  I buy lots of bananas, because each of the six of us eats one almost every day.  So sometimes, one or two slip through and are past the fresh eating stage.  Try some of these ideas.

Make Banana Bread.  Make Banana Pancakes, all you have to do is mash the bananas and add to your regular pancake mix or recipe.  Or you could make Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Cookies!  My daughter found this recipe and these cookies are delicious!

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mashed bananas

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh grated if possible)

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in the egg.  In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and mix with the soda.  Let sit for two minutes.  The soda will be activated and this will produce light cookies.  Add the banana mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.  Stir in the spices and salt.  Add in the flour and mix until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a non-stick baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 11 – 13 minutes or until nicely golden brown.  Makes about 30 cookies.

What if you only have one over-ripe banana?  My mom taught me this trick.  Peel the banana and drop into a large freezer bag and freeze.  The next time you have one or two over ripe bananas, peel and add them to the bag.  Soon you will have enough for a recipe and nothing will go to waste!

I have started my holiday baking. Mmmm, mmmm, do I love cookies? Yes, I do. We’ve been baking off and on for several days in between Christmas concert performances and Christmas parties with our family and friends. Here are a few more great Christmas cookies recipes with pictures.

CRANBERRY ALMOND BISCOTTI yield 24 cookies

In a microwave safe bowl add all ingredients except walnuts. Working at 30 second intervals, heat the mix then stir. Repeat heating and stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Add in walnuts and spread in a 9 x 9 inch pan. Cool completely and cut into 1 inch squares. You can also try mixing different types of chips (peanut butter, milk chocolate, mint) and different nuts (almonds, cashews or peanuts) to create various types of fudge.

If you are giving cookies and candies as gifts, a fun and easy to way to present them is to get a new gift box. Line the box with either foil or parchment papers and then add your cookies. Tie off with a big bow and your gift is ready to go.

I don’t know how I forgot to start my favorite and most important list. The holidays just wouldn’t be the same for me without our favorite Christmas cookies. Some make an appearance every year. Others are special editions. Some cookies I only make at Christmas.

My most favorite cookie of all times is the Italian Chocolate/Pepper cookie! Yum, yum, yum. This is my Grandma Mary’s recipe and as far as I know, she only makes it at Christmas. I only make it at Christmas because I love this cookie so much, if I made it year long, I would eat nothing else. They are also my Dad and oldest son’s favorite cookie, so we make lots of them. I know the recipe sounds “different”, but try it once and you will be hooked!

Cookie Ingredients:

Mix butter, sugar, milk and eggs together thoroughly. Add dry ingredients slowly. Mix completely. (If you want, taste the dough. I like mine really spicy. Sometimes I need to add more pepper or other spices.) Take a piece of dough enough to form into a 1 inch ball. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400°F until set to the touch, but not browned. Cool on parchment or wax paper.

To make the glaze, start with adding 3 tablespoons of the milk to the powdered sugar. You want the glaze to be the consistency of pancake batter. Add more milk if needed. When cookies are cool you can either dip them into the glaze or paint on the glaze with a pastry brush. Top with a pinch of candy sprinkles. This step is a must because that is how Grandma always did it! The glaze will harden and then you can store them.

Another cookie that shows up every year is my Mom’s favorite – Mexican Nut Kisses. These cookies have many names including wedding cakes and butter kisses. But, no matter what you call them – they are tasty!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter softened

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar (plus extra for rolling cookies)

3 teaspoons vanilla (clear Mexican vanilla if available)

2-1/4 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup walnut pieces

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla together thoroughly. Add dry ingredients slowly. Mix completely. Take a piece of walnut (approximately 1/4 of nut) and a piece of dough (about a 1 inch ball) and form the dough into a ball around the walnut. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400°F until set to the touch, but not browned. Cool on parchment or wax paper. Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar until covered.

I will be sharing more of our favorite Christmas cookies and desserts in the next few weeks. As soon as I get some pictures of the cookies, I will post them so you can see how pretty they are. I really hope that you find something you like.