Sunday, February 14, 2021

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

 

Banana Cookies

Happy St. Valentine's Day!  Hope your day was filled with love!

My daughter tried out a recipe she found online to make a so-called healthy cookie using ripe mashed bananas, 1/3 cup maple syrup, and flour, plus optional ground cinnamon and nutmeg; no eggs.  Except, she substituted 1/3 cup brown sugar (and a little milk) for the maple syrup and used a half and half mixture of whole wheat flour and white flour.  The resulting cookie was soft, with an intense banana flavor (to me; she didn't find it that intense) and not very sweet.  It was alright, but, not quite what she had hoped for!

It was a sunny, but, windy day, today.  I watered the newly planted Asian pear tree with something that is supposed to help reduce the shock of being transplanted, which M had mixed up and left for me.  The strong gusts of wind had knocked a few oranges off the tree, so I picked them up, too.  

I spent a relaxed day.  Neighbor T called for our weekly chat, I practiced the piano, and I called friend R to check on her.  I also finally finished reading a book I had started reading some time ago, then,stopped reading.  I pulled it out to declutter on June 1, 2019, but, decided to hold onto until I finished reading it:

Finally Read!

It was a good book and I like the author's style of writing.  What made it difficult to read was how angry I would get at the people and events described in the book!  I could read it only in small doses!  But, it is not a book I will re-read, so, it will now be given away!

Brunch had been a slice of the bread my daughter had made, yesterday, with butter and some of my feijoa (pineapple guava) jam.  Dinner was rice, chicken curry, green beans, and peach chutney.  I had a couple of the banana cookies for dessert.  

Today, I am grateful for:
- Windfall oranges
- "Healthy" cookies
- Chats with neighbor and friend
- No damage to the house or garden from the strong winds
- Books to read

Today's joyful activities included reading and eating cookies!  LOL!

Have you ever tried making banana cookies?  

22 comments:

  1. Never made banana cookies. I have been enjoying little heart shaped Valentine's Day cookies made for us by granddaughter. Carefully cut out - then haphazardly covered with sprinkles!

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  2. I haven't made banana cookies & I think I've only made banana bread once. While I really enjoy peanut butter & banana sandwiches, I am not big on bananas in baking. It's like that for me with tomatoes, I like toasted tomato sandwiches but don't like tomatoes in a salad. Weird I know. Fingers crossed your Asian pear tree grows strong & bears fruit.

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    1. I think I prefer banana bread to banana cookies! I prefer cooked tomatoes to raw! Thank you; I hope the Asian pear tree does well. It has four different varieties of Asian pear grafted onto the root stock to help with cross pollination and I am looking forward to the fruit!

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  3. I'm wondering if the maple syrup would have balanced the banana flavor in the cookies more than the brown sugar since it is more strongly flavored?

    We still have sweets left from Christmas, so there's not been much backing going on around here.

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    1. It might have, although daughter would have preferred a more intense banana flavor. I think the recipe called for maple syrup as it is considered a healthier alternative to sugar. We, too, have leftover Christmas treats, but, my daughter enjoys baking and wanted to try a new recipe. :)

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  4. Good food, cookies and reading sounds like a perfect Valentine's Day to me! :)

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  5. We are looking for recipes requiring ripe bananas around here,
    So thanks for the suggestion.

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    1. You are welcome, Akasha. I read on the news today that several people in Texas were without power - hope you are not affected by the power outage.

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    2. I’m not, but my mother is.

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    3. Sorry to hear that. Hope power will be restored, soon!

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  6. I'd probably like the cookies if they weren't very sweet - I find my tastes changing as I get older and find that most cookies/biscuits are too sweet for me now.

    And snap ... I'm having chicken curry, rice, green beans as well tonight but I have pear and apple chutney with mine. Great minds think alike!

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    1. Maybe you can try the cookies the next time you have some extra bananas. :)

      Oh, that's funny about you having the same meal, just a different chutney! Pear and apple chutney sounds delicious!

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  7. Hi Bless, I haven't made banana cookies, but I have made banana cake and banana bread. Both were delicious! I rarely bake these days because it causes me to ache if I eat eggs, milk, or white flour. I used to be quite the baker, though. I may put together an apple crisp today, though. It has less of the flare foods and will make the cabin smell divine!

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    1. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that certain foods make you ache. Could you substitute oat flour instead? An apple crisp sounds great! :)

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  8. I'm also rooting for your Asian pear tree! (Are these nashi or something similar?)
    Never heard of banana cookies but I wouldn't hesitate to try one! :o)

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    1. Thank you, Lady Ella. Yes, it is nashi; they are known as Asian pears, here. I'm glad you'd be willing to try the banana cookies. My daughter is adventurous when it comes to food, willing to try anything. I'm the fussy eater in the family! :D

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    2. I have never seen them here, but I love them! Straight from the fridge on a hot day ... cold, crisp and juicy!

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  9. I can understand why you never finished the book before if you found it so disturbing this time. I haven't read that one and I probably wouldn't like it either.
    I'm currently reading a novel by an indigenous Canadian writer, Thomas King, who is an award winning author with a quirky sense of humour.

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    1. There were times when I wanted to reach through the book and shake the people in the book! LOL! Sounds like you are enjoying reading your current novel. :)

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