Banana Nut Sandwich Cookies with Coconut Lime Buttercream

These are little cookie-versions of banana nut muffins. They’re sweet, spiced, and just a little salty. On their own they’ve got a pleasant, subtle taste. As sandwich cookies, they’re a warm, nutty compliment to the rich frosting.

Cookies:

⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup brown sugar
½ cup canola oil
½ cup non-dairy milk (almond works best with this recipe)
a little more than 1 ½ bananas (What a measurement, huh? We’re practically scientists)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour (we used whole wheat, take your pick)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup salted macadamia nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Mix the sugars and oil until well-combined, then incorporate the almond milk. Add the banana and, using a potato masher, mash the bananas until the mixture is smooth and relatively lump-free. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Add the dry mixture to the wet in two batches and mix well.

4. Put the macadamia nuts in a food processor and pulse 2 – 3 times until they’re roughly chopped. You’ll have some really varied sizes – that’s fine. Fold in the macadamia nuts.

5. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough (around 1 ½ tablespoons is what you’re looking for) on a lightly greased cookie sheet. These are cookies that want to be muffins – they’re going to really rise, so flatten them a little with a spoon or your fingers.

6. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until they’re brown on the bottom. Remember what I said about the muffin-ambitions? With the back of a fork, flatten the cookies down. It makes them nice and dense and puts those cool little ridges on top. After 3 – 5 minutes move them to a cooling rack to cool.

Frosting:

½ cup shortening
½ cup margarine
4 ½ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon coconut extract
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons limeade concentrate (or more to taste)
freeze-dried bananas (optional)

1. For sandwich cookie purposes this frosting looks and works better the fluffier it is, so we recommend using a mixer. Using said mixer, beat the shortening and margarine together.

2. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 minutes.

3. Add the coconut extract, coconut milk, and limeade concentrate and beat the heck out of it, 5 – 7 minutes, until it’s nice and fluffy.

Note: If it seems a little thick, or too wet, add up to a cup of additional powdered sugar and beat some more.

Sandwiches:

Pipe, spoon, spread, dip. It doesn’t matter. Adding freeze-dried bananas after you’ve frosted the cookies adds an extra little punch of banana flavor and a nice texture, too. We made a bit of a mess doing it (see picture below), but it was well worth it.