Nana Cakies - Banana Cake Cookies



I had a few ripe bananas that I needed to find a use for. I'm banana-bread'ed out.. and I had recently made banana cake bars so I needed something new! Great recipe for banana cake cookies. Topped them with a simple no-fail cream cheese frosting recipe.



Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Cream shortening; add brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs and banana; beat well.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to creamed mixture; mix well. Stir in pecans.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto greased cookies sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting  (I halved the recipe this time)
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Pecan Florentines

Ingredients

3/4c. pecan halves, pulverized

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/3c. packed brown sugar

1/4c. light corn syrup

1/4c. butter or margarine

2 TBL milk

1/3c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350deg

Line cookie sheets with foil; lightly grease foil. Combine pecans and flour in a small bowl. Combine sugar, syrup, butter and milk in medium saucepan. Stir over medium hear until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in flour mixture. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls about 3in. apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12min. or until lacy and golden brown. (Cookies are soft when hot, but become crispy as they cool.) Cool completely on foil. Melt Chocolate and drizzle over cookies to decorate. I like to spread the underside of the cookies with chocolate as well.

Makes about 3doz. cookies

Tracy's Pizza Pan Cookies

YIELD Makes two 12-inch cookies



*Cream cheese adds flavor and a chewy texture to these pizza-sized cookies.*


Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2‑1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans


Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two 12-inch pizza pans.
2.Beat butter, sugars, cream cheese and vanilla in large bowl. Add eggs; beat until well blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Add to creamed mixture; blend well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Divide dough in half; press each half evenly into prepared pans.
3.Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool completely in pans on wire racks. To serve, cut into slim wedges or break into pieces

White Chocolate Biggies

*TO TRY*

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (10 ounces) large white chocolate chips
3/4 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F Lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Cream butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in large bowl until light.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; blend into creamed mixture until smooth.
Stir in white chocolate chips, pecans and raisins.
Scoop out about 1/3 cupful of dough for each cookie.
Place on prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 4 inches apart.
Press each cookie to flatten slightly.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until firm in center.
Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Packer Super Bowl Cookies

*I love this recipe because they do not spread in baking at all. Great for cut-outs. *

For this recipe, I used  Best Sugar Cookie Recipe, Poured Fondant for base color, and Royal Icing to decorate.

Best Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

•1 cup butter, softened
•1 cup powdered sugar
•1 egg, beaten
•1 ½ tsp. almond extract
•1 tsp. vanilla
•1 tsp. salt
•2 ½ cups sifted flour


Directions
1.Cream the butter and powdered sugar.
2.Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla extract, salt and flour.
3.Chill dough until firm.
4.Roll to ¼” thickness on a well-floured surface.
5.Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets, and bake at 375° for 8-10 min. The cookies should not brown.
6.Frost and decorate when cool.

                                                                                                                                                            

Poured Fondant

*I would suggest more water. I found the fondant to be a little too think for my liking*

Ingredients
6 cups confectioners' sugar (I often add 1-2 cups more sugar to make it a bit thicker, optional)

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract ,optional
1 teaspoon vanilla, optional


Directions
In a saucepan, combine confectioner's sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a temperature of 92 degrees F (33 degrees C.) Mixture should be thin enough to pour, but thick enough to coat cookie. Add food coloring to desired color and stir thoroughly.
                                                                                                                                                        


Royal Icing

Ingredients
•3 tablespoons meringue powder
•4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
•5-6 tablespoons water
•½ teaspoon almond extract


Directions
1.Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes, or until icing forms peaks.

Tips:


•Icing recipe can be doubled. I recommend doubling it if you double the cookie recipe and/or if you are using more than 2 colors of icing. It’s always better to have a little extra, than to run out.
•Keep icing covered with a wet kitchen towel (or wet paper towels) at all times, as icing can dry out quickly.

Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

*I'm currently visiting my boyfriend in Los Angeles, CA. He has so much style and taste when it comes to decorating his home but let me tell you...his kitchen is as bachelor as it gets! I made these cookies with a wire whisk (mixer... yeah right), a pot ( no mixing bowls), kitchen spoon (no rubber spatula), no oven mitts (used kitchen towels which is fine) and I didn't plan ahead so my butter wasn't at room temperature { this would be no biggie but.... he doesn't own a microwave because he thinks they are not healthy..c'mon! :) } BUT nonetheless they turned out great! I didn't mind the incomplete kitchen :) *

I found my GO-TO Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe! They are great... so soft and fluffy.

Top Secret Chocolate Cookies

*So chocolatey and soft*

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• White Sanding sugar, for garnish

Directions

In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and cream together with a hand mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and mix until combined. In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated.
Roll the dough into 2 logs that are about 2-inches high and 1-foot long. Wrap them in waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Once thoroughly chilled, slice the cookies into 1/2-inch thick rounds and cover with sanding sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

       

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Show: Paula's Home CookingEpisode: Paula Goes International

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
• 1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces
•  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.