Ok...it's been over a year...

Well, obviously I'm the world's worst blogger. The reality is I just don't sit still most days anymore because I am not paid to be at a desk. By the time I can sit still, it leads to falling asleep. But alas, I will give this another try due to requests for recipes. I did get somewhat excited about it after making dinner and some interesting cookies today. I'll try to keep that enthusiasm going...maybe once a week or something. I'll rely on the friends who requested this to pester me regularly about it. That should keep me moving....

First up is the cookie recipe. I modified a recipe someone else created, which was originally designed around peanut butter, cranberries and cashews.  We avoid peanuts and all tree nuts for my daughter (which may...cross all fingers and pray....actually not be allergic to all tree nuts. we'll find out in a couple of weeks...my mouth waters just thinking about eating almonds again) so I sort of just used the recipe for a base and modified the key ingredients. I must say I have greatly enjoyed the final result. It does produce a relatively cake-like cookie (as opposed to classic chocolate chip cookies that seem weighted down with butter-for the better of course), which may lead to eating more of them because they seem so light...yikes. With all of that unnecessary stuff said, here's what I came up with.

INGREDIENTS:
2 C all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon (I may have used less since I was changing the overall "taste")
1/2 t baking soda
1 C mashed banana (about 2 good sized bananas)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C vegan butter substitute softened but not at room temp (recommend Earth Balance buttery sticks)
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/4 C sunbutter (sunflower seed spread)-this is where you could use whatever nutbutter you can eat
1 T vanilla coconut milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
1 t vanilla
3/4 C non-dairy chocolate chips
1/2 C shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 4 ingredients (helpful to use a whisk to properly sift) and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine the banana, brown sugar, vegan butter, granulated sugar, and sunbutter until smooth (I detest electric mixers so I mixed it by hand, but you could easily use an electric mixer for optimal texture). Mix in the coconut by hand once it's smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and combine, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Do the usual cookie thing from here...drop onto baking sheets, etc. First round took about 14-15 minutes to bake well, second round closer to 13.
The recipe I was "inspired by" suggested storing the cookies in the fridge, so perhaps that would be smart. Mine are sitting on the counter in a Tupperware container as I type this..hm...might have to go eat one and relocate them.

Good luck!