Banana Split

I just made these yesterday, but since I'm behind on posting other recipes, I was going to wait to share these with you.  But I have a friend who is pregnant and craving banana splits.  So in her honor, I give you these delicious cookies. 

When I was in high school, I worked at an ice cream shop. I would often bring home my "mistakes," usually a banana split for my dad.  These cookies are exactly what a banana split should be: a banana topped with vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream, topped with pineapple, strawberries, and chocolate syrup, respectively. This recipe even has the cherry on top!  They really do taste banana splitty, minus the melty ice cream.  Although, I suppose you could take two of these and put some Neapolitan ice cream in the middle and call it a day.

I found this recipe on mixingbowl.com, posted by BigCookieDude who came up with the recipe.  BigCookieDude suggests making these bigger, using a 2 ounce scoop, but of course I wanted them smaller.  That's the only change I made. The bigger version would probably be better for the ice cream sandwich.  Finding the dried strawberries was tough, but keep looking until you find them. I found them at Target.  And if you like nuts on your sundaes, you could probably add a 1/2 cup of chopped or ground walnuts and get a nice, rounded flavor.  Dave said he couldn't distinguish all the flavors (I could), but he said, "It's a big mess of yum and I like it."


Banana Split

Ingredients:

2 1/14 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 package (3.4 ounces) banana flavored instant pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dried strawberries, chopped
1 cup dried pineapple, chopped
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
42 maraschino cherries, cut in half (less if making bigger cookies)

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth, then add sugars and cream thoroughly until light and fluffy.  Add instant pudding mix and mix well.  Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until well blended and scraping sides of bowl as necessary.  Slowly add flour and mix until combined.  Stir in strawberries, pineapple, and chocolate chips.

Cut cherries in half.  I like to do them in batches as I fill the cookie sheets, so I'll only cut 6 or 12 at a time (no sense cutting the whole jar is I'm only going to use half of them). 

My little egg cutting board looks sad--perhaps he doesn't like the cherry massacre on his face?

On a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, drop by spoonfuls (I use a small cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart. Top each spoonful with 1/2 a maraschino cherry.  Try to push them into the cookie a bit--they'll slide off the top. It'll still be tasty, just not as pretty.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Turn baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through. If using more than one sheet at a time, rotate positions in the oven for more even baking.

For a larger cookie, use a 2 ounce scoop and bake for 16-18 minutes.

Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then move to complete cooling on rack.

Makes 7 dozen (small).

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess