Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (or Bars)

The kids were asking for another pan of chocolate chip bar cookies, but usually when I make chocolate chip cookies I also make oatmeal raisin cookies, so I decided to make a half batch of each of them and try out my oatmeal raisin cookie recipe as bars, too.  They turned out so chewy and delicious!  We loved them cooked this way!
image courtesy From House to Home

Chocolate Chip Cookies (or Bars)

Nothing breakthrough here today. I’m sharing my chocolate chip cookie recipe, which is actually really Nestle Tollhouse’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, but over they years I have made some modifications to suit our family. 
image courtesy American Heritage Cooking

Last night, the kids felt like cookies but I didn’t feel like standing around scooping out and baking four pans full of perfectly portioned cookies.  Instead of making them the “normal” way, I decided to just press the dough into a cookie sheet and bake them as bars.  They turned out so delicious and moist, if a little bit thin, which reminded me that I used to do them this way back when and when I did I would double the dough for the same size pan.  I will try them this way next time for a bit thicker bar. 

Browned Butter Frosted Banana Bars

You know those three or four bananas that sit on the counter for a day or two longer than the rest and start to look up at you like forlorn little orphans?  They know they’re past their prime.  They know they’re not getting chosen to fulfill their lunchbox or afterschool snack destiny.  Nobody wants ‘em. 

Poor little neglected old maid bananas. 

Not anymore! This recipe is so good, I find myself buying extra bananas and hovering over them, just willing them to turn brown already. 
photo and recipe credit:  Life’s Simple Measures

(Confession:  I have been known to threaten my family, “If anybody touches these four bananas, they’re in big trouble!”)