It’s so random what I remember from my childhood–while I don’t remember some bigger things hardly at all (like the first time I was asked to play the organ in church or my first day of kindergarten), I do remember odd snippets here and there about memories seemingly unconnected to anything important, like wheeling the wagon down to pick up snacks from the school cafeteria for my class one day as the teacher’s special helper, or my favorite Pound Puppy stuffed animal getting dirty while playing outside in the mud.

Sometimes, memories flit in when spurred on by a smell or an object, and I can’t believe I’d seemingly forgotten about it until that moment.

That’s kind of how it felt when, about two months ago, I realized I’d never made these banana chocolate drop cookies as an adult. I mean, these cookies were a STAPLE in my house growing up, it felt like! Rather than use our mushy brown bananas for the typical bread-or-muffins fare, we usually used them in these cookies, a fact I had apparently forgotten as I’d been going the typical bread-or-muffin route myself with my browned bananas for years now.

Now that I remember these cookies, however, I’m determined that from this time forth, at least half of all browned bananas in this house should go towards these cookies because they’re easily more delicious than most banana breads and even rival my favorite banana chocolate chip muffin recipe (and, if I were to compare them side by side, I might even say that these cookies come out on top, actually).

The fluffy, lightweight texture (almost cake-like) of these cookies combined with the subtle hit of both banana + chocolate (always a winning combination, in my book) ensures that these cookies won’t be forgotten again by me anytime soon.

Banana Chocolate Drop Cookies

Yield: About 4 dozen

Ingredients

2/3 c shortening
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c. mashed ripe banana (about 2-3 bananas)
2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c chocolate chips (let’s be honest–I about double this)

1. Cream sugar and shortening together until fluffy.

2. Add eggs and beat until smooth; add mashed bananas and vanilla and mix well.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix. Add chocolate chips last and stir in.

4. Drop spoonfuls (I use my trusty cookie scoop) onto a greased baking sheet three or four inches apart. Note: This cookie dough is rather runny and resembles muffin batter in its consistency, so don’t let that freak you out!

5. Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.