My husband, Derek, was away on business this past week, and just returned home yesterday. I wanted to plan a special evening to welcome him back. Derek was feeling a little weary of dining out after traveling and living on fast food all week, and Emma has two new teeth coming in and is consequently rather fussy, so I decided that a special "night in" would be preferable to a fancy night out.
We enjoyed a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs together. Then, after Emma went to bed, Derek and I had a peanut butter and chocolate FEAST and watched E.T. We drank hot chocolate and ate Reese's Pieces, of course! I also made some delicious Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. Original recipe found here.
Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl mash the bananas with the peanut butter, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the oats, coconut, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips and stir until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for 12-14 minutes, until just set. The result is about 2 dozen balls of ooey-gooey goodness!
My 3 good things for the day are:
What creative "night-in" dates have you done?
We enjoyed a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs together. Then, after Emma went to bed, Derek and I had a peanut butter and chocolate FEAST and watched E.T. We drank hot chocolate and ate Reese's Pieces, of course! I also made some delicious Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. Original recipe found here.
Peanut Butter & Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl mash the bananas with the peanut butter, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the oats, coconut, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips and stir until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for 12-14 minutes, until just set. The result is about 2 dozen balls of ooey-gooey goodness!
My 3 good things for the day are:
- It had been a really, really long time since either of us had seen E.T. (I'm guessing mid-90's?) So it was almost like watching it for the first time! It was a lot of fun, if you can't tell from the dorky pictures!
- I found a great new cookie recipe without any flour or sugar - and a great way to use up ripe bananas before they go bad.
- Derek is home! (Which is pretty much the best thing ever. Just sayin'.)
What creative "night-in" dates have you done?
Yum! Those cookies sound good!
ReplyDeleteI was actually pleasantly surprised. I really enjoy trying new recipes, but they don't always turn out. These cookies were excellent!
DeleteDude, thanks a lot, now I'm craving Reese's Pieces! :P
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure: I am in no way being compensated by Reese's Pieces for shamelessly promoting their product, but if someone from the corporation is reading this, I would gladly receive a year's supply and will continue to eat them and talk about how delicious they are!!
Delete