Banana Nut Cookies

Last week, Meg and I participated in another round of Operation Baking GALS. This time, we didn't know a team leader, so we picked one connected to our previous team leader.

Here's part of our soldier's bio:

John is a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. He is currently serving Iraq - about 35 miles west of Bagdad. John graduated from Beech Grove High School in 1995. He graduated from Ball State University in 2000 with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education. John taught 6th grade in Indianapolis Public Schools for one year, and then enlisted in the Marine Corps in March of 2003.

John has been married five years. He has two boys - Maddox (aka MAD DOG), who is 3 and Brock (aka DANGER), who is 1. John left for Iraq in February and will probably be there until about February 2010.

(Meg and I are planning to lead a team in the next round or two, so if you a) have a soldier you'd like to nominate to receive Baking Gals' packages and b) want to participate and be on our team, please let us know! The only commitment you make by joining our team is to bake and ship something to a soldier within a 10-day time period. The instructions are easy to follow, and the shipping rate is $11.95 (we're instructed to use Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate boxes). So for less than $12+the cost of baking, you're doing a good deed and spreading your baking cheer.)

I baked the butterscotch chip cookies for John, but I also wanted to try something different ... so I went with banana nut cookies. Only I didn't use nuts. The cookies were EXTREMELY moist, which I hope bodes well for how they arrive when John gets them. I don't know how banana-y they were, though. I used spice cake mix, and I wonder if the banana would have come through more with the white or yellow. I also wonder if a banana-flavored pudding mix might not be a good addition to the cookies, but I guess it depends on how much banana you really want!

Ingredients:
1 white, yellow or spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup applesauce
1 large banana, mashed
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a spoon, mix cake mix, eggs, butter and applesauce together. Stir in banana and nuts.


Drop dough balls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 9-12 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove cookies and place on nonstick rack to cool.

Source: 101 More Things To Do With A Cake Mix by Stephanie Ashcraft