Chunky Monkey Cookies

I've spent the last month snooping around inside the blog Baking and Creating with Avril, that being my assigned blog for Secret Recipe Club this month.  As the title of her blog might suggest, Avril likes to bake, so there was no shortage of sweet treats here to tempt my taste buds, along with a healthy serving of family friendly savoury dishes as well.  In the end, since I still had some chocolate and (now very ripe) Fair Trade bananas on hand from this hamper I told you about a couple of weeks ago, it was Avril's Chunky Monkey Oatmeal Cookies that won me over.

There are a few things I learned from making these cookies, most of which in fact has nothing to do with cookies.  Firstly, I really should not get out of bed before 10.00 am on a Sunday morning.  Secondly, if I must be so foolish as to rise before midday, I should not operate heavy and potentially dangerous machinery before I've at least had breakfast!!

Long story cut short ... we were headed out for lunch today, so I decided to get up earlier than usual and make these cookies before going out;  I also decided, somewhat foolishly, to skip breakfast.  In the interests of haste, because I am not one of those women who can get dressed and ready and out the door in half an hour flat, I decided to shortcut things a little and use the food processor to cream the butter and sugar for the cookies.  "Nek minnit" as we say in New Zealand, two inch gash across the palm of my hand and me hollering for the medic as if I was a contestant on Masterchef.

Anyway, hoping that I haven't completely skeeved you out by now, back to the cookies.

I made very few changes to Avril's recipe, which she in turn adapted from a Martha Stewart Recipe.  When I think Chunky Monkey, I think bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter, so I swapped out pecans for some roasted, unsalted peanuts.  I also cut the oats back a bit - by the time I had mixed the dough together it was feeling as though the full measure of one cup of oats would make it too stiff, so I cut it back to about one-third.  There's still enough oats in here, in my opinion, to kid yourself that this is health food, or excuse yourself for having them from breakfast!

The cookies smelled wonderful as they baked, and they certainly didn't disappoint.  We couldn't wait for them to cool completely, and enjoyed a couple of warm ones for a mid-morning treat before heading out to lunch.  These were everything a good cookie should be - crispy on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside, and loaded with goodies.

Chunky Monkey Cookies Recipe
Adapted only slightly from recipe from
Baking & Creating with Avril
Made 19 large cookies
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

170g (6 oz) butter
1/2 cup Fair Trade organic cane sugar
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1x free range egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1x medium-sized, All-Good Fair Trade ripe banana, mashed
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
250g (9 oz) semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
(I used Whittaker's Fair Trade Creamy Milk Chocolate)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F).

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla and mashed banana.  Mix well.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, then add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and mix until only just combined.

Add the chocolate, oats and peanuts, and mix to combine.

Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, and place spoonfuls of cookie dough on the tray, spacing them 5cm (2 inches) apart.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-13 minutes until golden.  Cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I did, and visit the links below to check out all the other great dishes my Secret Recipe Club friends made.

This post will also be shared at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam, and at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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