Having two very ripe bananas languishing on my counter and having recently talked with my sister who was baking banana bread, I needed to do something with these. I planned for banana bread but found this recipe in my King Arthur Flour cookbook. It only calls for one egg and less than a cup of sugar so I thought these would not be too sweet. I added mini chocolate chips and walnuts instead of the poppy seeds and golden raisins included in the original recipe.

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine; I used margarine! Hey, it was in my fridge’s freezer so…
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas; I used the two I had.
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour; I used whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Put this together the usual way: cream butter, sugar, and add the egg. Beat in banana and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and add, mixing just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. This is baked in a 10 x 14 inch greased pan at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

Thoughts: I was hoping for a banana brownie-like bar cookie but this is light and cake-like. It tastes a bit salty and I am wondering if I accidentally doubled the salt. Actually, thinking about it now, I think I used fine crystal sea salt and that may be saltier than ordinary kitchen salt. I wonder if baking it in a 9 x 13-inch pan would make a difference? Even though I was going to say “nothing to write home about” I do find myself nibbling on these when i want a “Little Something” as Pooh would say.

I have just learned that Hubby is getting me a baguette pan, so it’ll be baguettes at our house for awhile!