Recipe Swap: Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't let the simple exterior fool you.  There's more than meets the eye in this updated chocolate chip cookie classic.  Simply stated, This. Cookie. Is. Awesome!

I was excited to get this cookie from the Recipe Swap hostess herself, Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking.  I knew from the get-go that any dessert would make for a happy husband but once I saw this particular one was stuffed with peanut butter I knew it would be a winner.  What's also interesting is the fact that just days earlier, a former co-worker of mine had asked whether I'd ever made banana cookies before (yep, Tracy, that's you!).  It's interesting how things happen like that sometimes.

I loved that on the outside, it looked like your Plain Jane Chocolate Chip cookie but once you bite inside, it exploded with peanut butter and banana goodness.  So decadent!  I could totally see other variations like a peanut butter cookie dough with molten chocolate and banana center instead.  Yum!

This week I submitted the most popular recipe on my site, Chinese Bakery-Style Cake.  And, as usual, find the rest of the Recipe Swap Roundup posted on A Taste of Home Cooking's website.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Yields: 15 large cookies

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate peanut butter swirls because that's what I had on hand) 
• 1 banana, sliced
• 15 teaspoons peanut butter (give or take) (I used peanut butter chips because that's what I had on hand)

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes, up to one hour. This is a very important step, so don't skip it. The butter in the dough needs to firm up again or your cookies will spread in the oven. (Note: I actually did do this step and my cookies still spread.  I think because after handling the dough and my kitchen being very hot they got melty again.  An extra chill after the dough balls are fully formed may have been beneficial or expect flatter cookies like mine!)
3. Near the end of the chilling period, preheat oven to 350ºF.
4. After the dough has chilled, use a small cookie scoop to make mounds of dough on the cookie sheet. Using the back of the scoop, make a dent in the top for the banana slice. Place a slice of banana, then place about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter (or in my case, roughly 7-8 peanut butter chips) on top of the banana slice. Scoop another dough ball, flatten and mound on top. You should have a big dough ball now.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes approximately 15 giant cookies. 

Source: As submitted by A Taste of Home Cooking by way of modification by Cathy's Kitchen Journey from Clumsy Cookie