Cheat of the Week: Banana-Almond Butter "Cake Cookies"

Let's be real, friends! We can't be perfect eaters every single day...like I say, life is for living! So, I'm going to do my best to post one "not perfectly healthy" recipe a week to the blog and it will be the "Cheat of the Week"... fun, right? I guess this also means I have to put in a few more minutes of exercise on these days! But, I'm of the belief that a good cheat food is usually worth the extra 30 minutes of cardio! Some cheats will be sweet, others may be savory, but all will be delicious!

Banana-Almond Butter "Cake Cookies"

Ok, so this isn't the worst cheat ever (I've got plenty of those in my back pocket), but it's got butter....and sugar.....and so, you know, those two ingredients alone equate to deliciousness! I was really hankering for a cookie the other day and wanting to try something new, so I modified this recipe from +Ethan Adeland  to create these yummy "cake cookies."  I'm calling them "cake cookies" because the interior of the cookie has the consistency of cake but the outside edges are crunchy...like a good muffin top! But don't forget the extra cardio so you don't actually acquire the dreaded muffin top (ugh)!!

Now, for the recipe:

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Makes about 24 cookies

Banana-Almond Butter "Cake Cookies"

Ingredients

• ½ cup of sugar
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• ½ cup of butter (room temperature)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• ½ cup of almond butter (you can use peanut butter if you prefer)
• 1 banana (mashed)
• 1½ cups of all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (if you don't like cinnamon, you don't have to add it in)
• ¼ teaspoon of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Mix in the almond (or peanut) butter and mashed banana until well combined.
5. Add in the cinnamon (if you want cinnamon; if not, omit this step)
6. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
7. Add flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and blend in.
8. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edge of the cookies begin to brown.

Other fun things you could add into this recipe: Nuts, coconut flakes, chocolate chips!

Happy Baking...ENJOY!