Cookies for a weekend in Birmingham

This past weekend was one of those great weekends with two of my very favorite people!  It all started early Friday morning on a flight that was bound for Birmingham.  I knew there would be great times, with good food, lots of carbs and a long run in my future...oh and a lot of girl talk.

So, what do you do when you are heading down South to visit a friend?  Well, I guess really it is what did I do.  I threw together some test cookies.  AKA...browned butter banana chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with walnuts.  These cookies are chewy from the oats, with a slightly nutty flavor from the browned butter and just a hint of banana.  Oh and with just the right amount of chocolate chips, by which I mean a lot, and a bit of crunch from the walnuts, these cookies come out perfectly!  Oh and they don't have eggs and are sweetened with brown sugar and honey!  Not only was I sad to leave Birmingham; I was actually kind of sad to leave the leftovers behind on Sunday when I flew home.  I secretly wanted to eat all of them on the plane ride home.  Come on give a girl a break...I had just run 13.1 miles for the very first time ever that morning!

This was not actually mile 16, more around mile 3 for the half marathon.  But I was the girl running and trying to take a picture because I was running past the Alabama Theater.

the sweetness...brown sugar and honey

banana...walnuts...oats...sweet

The brown sugar, honey and vanilla.

I kind of wanted to just eat a spoonful of this, but I didn't...the actual cookies needed to be made.

Don't forget to push these down a little bit or they will just be cookie balls.

 There really is nothing like the smell of chocolate chip cookies.

Browned Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies: 
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted & browned
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium banana)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 walnuts, toasted

1.  Preheat oven to 35o degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper if you have it on hand. 

2.  In a small sauce pan, over medium low heat, melt the the butter, let it keep going until it starts to bubble up. If it is splattering, turn the heat down just a little bit.  Let it keep going until the butter turns brown and the bubbles go away.  You will smell it...the kitchen will start to smell slightly nutty.  Remove from heat and let cool 3-5 minutes.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, honey and butter until well combined.  Then whisk in  the vanilla and mashed banana.

4.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda and salt.

5.  Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet, just until combined.  Then, gently fold in the oats, chocolate chips and walnuts.

6.  Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet.  Cookies should be about 1 1/2 inches apart  Gently press down each cookie in the center (see picture above).  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  (I like my cookies on the softer side.)  Let cookies cool on sheet for 1-2 minutes and using a spatula move to cooling rack to finish cooling.  Enjoy!

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