peanut butter banana chocolate chip cookies

odin loves baking, and he's been asking to make cookies for a few days now.  so, we invited his best buddy josie over to help today.  i was looking for a good recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, when i stumbled upon some recipes that took my breath away with delicious ideas.  here now, three of my favorite flavors! banana! penut butter! chocolate!  i took ideas from several recipes, and came up with something well-suited to the way i like to bake cookies.

peanut butter banana chocolate chip cookies:

1 c sugar (i used mostly brown and a little granulated)

9 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c natural creamy peanut butter (with salt)

1/2 c mashed super-ripe banana

1 egg

2 Tbsp vanilla (we like to pour right from the bottle in this house)

2 c white whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 bag semisweet chocolate chips (again, pouring right from the bag here as measuring chocolate chips has always seemed silly to me)

cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  add peanut butter, banana, egg, and vanilla and mix on medium until well combined.  turn mixer to low and add flour and soda, then chocolate chips.  i used a scoop for medium-large cookies.  bake at 350 on middle rack for about 14 minutes.

 odin and josie helped quite a bit to make that delicious batter.  however, two three-year-olds in the kitchen meant i spent all my energy making sure no one got hurt and that no one (ODIN) hurt anyone else or spit into the dough.  but, the kids were brilliant and enthusiastic and we got some beautiful cookies out of the deal!

 and, damn, if they aren't just the cutest tasters i've ever seen:

these two gave no detailed notes, but another valued taster noted a good balance among the flavors, and declared them delicious enough to eat two before lunch.