I had never heard of chunky monkey cookies before running into this recipe. Boy, am I ever glad that I found this cute little treat. Who would have thought that chocolate chip cookies with banana chips would be so stinkin good? My kids love these cookies and so does my husband. I often make a double batch of these cookies and freeze some for another time. These cookies freeze up really nicely in a ZipLoc bag.
I suggest you use the optional banana extract in this recipe because it really gives the cookies a kick of rich banana flavor. If you love bananas you will love what this extract does for you.
Ingredients
3/4 cup walnuts – optional
3/4 cup Domino granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) Kerrygold unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon McCormick vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon banana extract, optional for stronger banana flavor
1 teaspoon Morton salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 cup Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or 1 6.5-ounce chocolate bar, roughly chopped)
3/4 cup banana chips, roughly chopped
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375°F. Scatter the walnuts over a baking sheet and toast in the warming oven until fragrant, 10 to 15 minutes. Roughly chop the walnuts while they’re still warm and set aside.
Combine the granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spoon or spatula until thoroughly combined and no lumps of brown sugar remain. Add the softened butter to the bowl and work it into the sugar until you form a gritty, sugary paste. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until no more egg whites remain. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Whisk together the salt, baking soda, and flour in a small bowl. Add this to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl, and stir gently until you’ve formed a thick dough and you see no more dry flour. Add the chocolate chunks, banana chips, and chopped walnuts, and use a folding motion to incorporate them into the dough. It’s OK if some of the chunky pieces fall out.
Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon measure to portion ping pong ball-sized gobs of dough (roughly 2 tablespoons) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced an inch or so apart. If any chunky pieces fell out while you were making the dough, press them gently into the tops of the cookies (or just use some extra leftover pieces if you’d like a chunkier appearance!). Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies look puffed and the edges are turning a darker shade of toasty brown.
Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. As they cool, the cookies will collapse into craggy, cracked, chunky cookies. Continue baking the cookies in batches until all the dough has been used.
These cookies are best the day they are made, but will keep in an airtight container for about a week.
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Quick Tip: These cookies taste awesome when dunked in milk or coffee.