Let’s just say that I did not inherit my moms baking skills. Every year I think my mom must bake 80 dozen cookies and several dozen different varieties of cookies! She’s amazing. That’s not me. At least not yet. 😉
That’s overwhelming to me now.
So I decided to start small.
This week we (my 2 year old, my 4 year old and I) made one recipe, three different times. We got really good at it. We experimented. We had fun. We had moments of stress for mommy. But the cookies were edible, and even looked good!
I found this recipe in Mennonite Country-Style Recipes. We made it exactly as the directions said, except for one thing. When we started making them, I realized I was out of eggs!!
This summer I made a Jiffy Cornbread box and remembered that the box said you can replace an egg with a banana. Hallelujah! We just bought a case of bananas—no kidding (they are very cheap in our area sometimes if you buy them by the case)!
So yes, we replaced the eggs in the recipe with bananas. When I replaced the eggs with one banana each the first time, it seemed a little too runny and sticky. So I added a little more flour slowly until I achieved a non-sticky consistency. I ended up adding about a cup more of flour.
In retrospect, I would have added just one banana. However if you do decide to add two bananas to the recipe, add your flour slowly because your bananas might not have been as large as mine were.
We thought the cookies tasted delicious – with an extra sweet taste of banana. I would have no problem serving them to guests.
I highly recommend this recipe if you are 1) a cookie baker novice (because it is very simple!) or 2) a mom with little kids (they can do this recipe with you without much stress for you, and they love putting the cherries on top!). Best of all, if you replace the eggs with bananas, it doesn’t matter if they lick their fingers!! No stress for you!!
Here’s the recipe. . .
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup soft margarine
- 2 eggs (or 1 banana)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 cup chopped dates
- 3-4 cups cornflake cereal
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease your baking sheets.
- Cream the margarine with the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, until fluffy.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk.
- Stir in the chopped dates. (You can add chopped pecans and/or chopped maraschino cherries if you so desire.)
- Fill a gallon size plastic bag with the cornflake cereal. Use a rolling pin to crush. This is a great step for your child to do!
- Use a cookie scoop to drop balls into the cornflake crumbs. Roll them into balls.
- Place on greased cookie sheets, press down half way, and then add the cherries on top. If you are feeling generous with your cherries, use 1/2 cherry, otherwise just use 1/3 or 1/4 of a cherry. They look and taste great either way!
- Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool on cooling racks or my mom always used clean dish towels.
- Enjoy!
