I had a few ripe bananas in the freezer, so I decided to make something yummy out of them. I found a recipe for banana cookies here: http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/1894/Recipe.cfm. I altered the recipe a bit. Honestly, it is hard to give amounts because I kind of just add things here and there by sight.
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
6 T butter
2 small ripe bananas, mashed
5 T Neufchatel cheese (2 in cookies, 3 in frosting)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Combine brown sugar and butter. Add bananas, cheese, and vanilla. Mix. Then add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well mixed. I baked them at 350 degrees for around 8 minutes on a cookie sheet. Let stand on cookie sheet for a few minutes until they can easily be lifted off. Frost, and devour!
Frosting:
Brown around 4-5 T butter on the stovetop. In a bowl combine 3 T Neufchatel Cheese with 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Slowly add brown butter and stir until combined. Continue to add powdered sugar to taste.
The dough was soooo yummy, and the frosted cookies even better! Absolutely DELICIOUS!
Also, I knew that Neufchatel Cheese was pretty much the same thing as cream cheese but I was curious as to what the specific differences between the two were, so I looked it up. Apparently Neufchatel was originally created in France. The American version is pretty much the same thing as cream cheese, it just contains less calories/fat. It is also more moist (http://www.tasteofhome.com/Cooking-Tips/Ask-the-Test-Kitchen/Neufchatel-Cheese)! Good to know. :)
