Soft-baked Bacon & Banana Cookies

Perfect if you’re tired of making bread with your leftover bananas…and also if you like bacon. I made these to bring in to work last night and they are delicious! To be honest, they are pretty much tiny loaves of banana bread, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying them.

Bacon & Banana Cookies
{Found via Tastespotting, recipe from Red Shallot Kitchen}

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bananas, mashed (about 1 1/3 cups)
1/2 pound bacon, cooked crisp, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400^F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and salt.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together butter and 1 cup of sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at the time, until they are fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture, then stir in the mashed bananas, beating well after each addition. Fold in the bacon.
4. Stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the remaining cinnamon.
5. Drop the dough by the heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet 1 inch apart. Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon-sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Yield about 30 cookies.

I think we might have gotten our personal bacon ratio off because we cooked all of the bacon and then dividing it. Why? We got this under our door the last time we made bacon:

I wish I was joking, but I’m not. We thought it would be the path of least resistance if all the contraband was cooked at once.We cooked all the bacon in the oven with the windows open and the dampers closed. (450F for about 20 minutes, make sure you have something with a lip and foil because the grease will go everywhere).