Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookie boasts one of my favorite combinations: banana, chocolate, oats, and walnuts! These cookies have a chewy, cake-like texture with a great banana flavour. They are also a healthier cookie due to the addition of the whole wheat flour and oats.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour - Feel free to substitute this cup of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour if you want! I used all whole wheat flour in my cookies and they turned out great.

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

8 oz. semisweet or milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Evenly spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until toasted and fragrant (about 8-10 minutes). Be sure to keep a close eye on the walnuts so they don't burn.

In a bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and baking soda until combined.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed of mixer to low and add the egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in the mashed banana.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and toasted walnuts.

Drop large spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 2" apart. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through the baking time. These cookies will spread and brown quite a bit, but make sure you don't take them out too early because they will fall apart on you.

Once removed from the oven, let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Then, transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container and they will stay soft and chewy.

*Recipe from Martha Stewart