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May 30, 2012

A fantastic 1940s recipe to use up extra bananas

Bananas are a fantastic fruit. Not only do they contain various important vitamins and nutrients (potassium, magnesium, B6, vitamin C, etc) and boast an universally appealing sweet taste, but they can be put to use in a myriad of different recipes.

Sometimes however - especially if, like at our house, you routinely find yourself with several bananas that are threatening to turn overly mushy at any moment - you may find yourself wanting to take a break from the standard banana bread, muffin, smoothie, and cream pie repertoire. When such a mood strikes, one of my favourite ways to use up an abundance of this delicious yellow fruit is to make banana cookies.

A hit with crowds of all ages, banana cookies are (generally) soft, flavourful, and a snap to toss together. They freeze (and defrost) well, in my experience, and can also be a great alternative to chocolate and nut based cookies, if you're cooking for someone with food allergies to such ingredients.

Today's vintage Banana Drop Cookie recipe hails 1941 and employees a handful of fridge and store cupboard staples that most of us have at the ready (much like bananas themselves) all the time. Not only is the recipe itself terrific, but the charmingly adorable illustrations make this page one to print out and smile over time and time again.

 

Vintage banana drop cookie recipe
{Tasty, speedy, and economical, this vintage banana cookie recipe is fun classic that will never go out of style. Image via curly-wurly on Flickr.}



These drop cookies are terrific as is, however you can also jazz them up further by including ingredients such as coconut (which with the banana backdrop instantly gives them a terrific tropical vibe), dried cranberries, blueberries, cherries, mango, or raisins; chocolate chips, banana chips (double banana cookies!), crushed pretzels, or butterscotch chips. You could also drizzle a little vanilla frosting, melted chocolate, or caramel over them once they've cooked and cooled.

So the next time you're wondering what to do with those soon-to-expire bananas and want a change of pace, take a page from the 1940s and whip up a batch of these thoroughly yummy drop cookies.


12 comments:

  1. Look delicious! Will try them out this weekend, adding cranberries since my husband loves them and butter instead of shortening! Thanks for posting!

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  2. yum!! I'm going to make these tomorrow!! My son occasionally gets some banana cookies for teething babies. They are so yummy, I could eat a whloe box myself :P Thanks so much for the recipe, my kids will love these! x

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  3. I haven't had banana cookies in ages! I don't know why I never think to make them, especially since I'm pretty sure I even have a copy of the cookbook this was printed in! :)

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  4. Thank you, Jessica, for sharing this! I love bananas and am definitely going to try this!

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  5. i always love the recipes you find deary!! :) they are always so classic and yummy :) and thank you for your sweet comments on my pictures! :)

    wishing you a lovely day,
    TheRitzyFlapper (Alicia)

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  6. I am kinda obsessed with smoothies right now, so I never have any bananas lying around- they all get used! But once my affair with smoothies is over I will be sure to try these cookies.

    Thanks doll,
    The Glamorous Housewife

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  7. Love this recipe Jessica! I have used bananas for baking before and it always turned out tasting woderful, usually in breads and cakes...I've never tried it in cookies before so this is one that I will try for sure!

    Also I was wondering if I could ask you a big favor? I don't want to plug my own blog, but I was wondering if you could follow me please? I love your posts and would like to hear some of your thoughts on my blog entries. Plus it's nice to post for people not just ones self ;) But please bare with me! I don't have a lot posted yet since I am just moving to Texas.

    I would love you forever if you could do this for me!

    Have a lovely night,

    Jessie Lou

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  8. I make vegan banana bread all the time in my house, but I must definitely give these try. Would be a great success in my son's school lunch :)

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  9. Oh these sound positively divine!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! :D

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  10. Ooh! This recipe sounds awesome! I will absolutely try this soon. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. These sound good so I've printed the recipe page out. Where did it come from? It looks like the sort of recipe book that has a menu for every day and I love those sort of books. I have a couple of 1940s American cook books that do this and would be happy to have another.

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  12. They sound fabulous! I want to try them with butter instead of shortening, too. Wish I could find out whether Trixie had tried it...
    Thank you for sharing the recipe (page) with us!

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