Chunky Monkey has two popular definitions. In American slang, the phrase refers to an overweight person, but for Ben and Jerry’s, it is their 9th longest-serving ice cream flavor. This recipe uses the latter’s description for Chunky Monkey. It is a combination of bananas, nuts and chocolate fudge or in short, a monkey’s dream.
Sometime in the past few days, I was browsing the cookie section of my mom’s cookbook library, and I happened upon a pocket-sized dusty recipe collection for cookies. Similar to all cookie cookbooks, the classic chocolate chip cookie is featured on its first page. Right beside it is the author’s generational banana walnut cookie recipe. Because of this coincidence, an ingenious idea came over me. What if I combine these recipes and turn the infamous ice cream flavor initially produced by Ben and Jerry’s into a cookie? After some trial, I was able to bake perfectly soft and nutty Chunky Monkey cookies! So if you have just had enough of your basic chocolate chip and walnut cookies or need a more inventive way than making banana bread to utilize ripe bananas, this is the recipe for you.
Recipe
Yields 40 cookies
~ Ingredients ~
200 grams unsalted butter
1 cup or 200 grams brown sugar
½ cup or 110 grams sugar
1 large egg
¾ cup or 170 grams mashed banana
1 teaspoon banana extract
2 ⅔ cup or 430 grams all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups or 350 grams chocolate chips
1 cup or 50 grams chopped walnuts
1 banana, sliced
4 tablespoons or 80 grams peanut butter
~ Procedure ~
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a bowl, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar together until light.
Mix in the egg, mashed bananas and banana extract.
Add the flour, salt and baking soda into the mixture and mix until uniform.
Combine the chocolate and walnuts into the dough.
Use an ice cream scooper to make uniform balls of cookie dough.
*Optional: Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour after scooping, so it will not spread out as much when baked.
Top with a banana slice at the center of each cookie.
Place them evenly apart on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Drizzle with peanut butter and enjoy!
Comments