What do you do with icky bananas? Banana Bread Bites!

It never fails that I buy some really nice bananas. I put these really nice bananas in C#1 and C#2's lunches and then they don't eat them. Have you ever seen a banana that has been left in a lunch pail all day long and sitting on an ice pack?

Um... Yeah.

The really icky one made it's way to the garbage. It had some questionable slits on the skin and looked hazardous to our health.

Anyway, I had to figure out what to do with these hideous things and try not to bake on a 90+ degree day. What to do? What to do?!?!? Then I thought what about a something muffin-ey and use the donut holes maker (one of my first blogs was about this maker thingy. http://beckysbiscuits.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-guess-i-will-start-with-cooking-but.html )

Look at all the pretty things you can make!! FYI - Mine never look that good. 

I grabbed my trusty Mr. Food's Favorite Cookies --> looked in the index and found "Banana Bread Bites" on page 48.

• 1 cup sugar I added about 1/4 cup more for a sweeter donut.
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR MORE!
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts I didn't add these, since the fam has an aversion to walnuts.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. I preheated the donut maker (see very old blog about that.)

2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat thoroughly. Beat in the mashed bananas and vanilla until well combined. Gradually blend in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.

3. Drop the mixture by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. I used a medium sized cookie scoop to fill the donut holes in the maker.  It took about 8-9 minutes for them to cook through.  Which means I had to babysit it. *sigh*

I then made the frosting that would taste good on sh*t (see the "Last Weekend's Baking Extravaganza" May 24, 2013 blog for that recipe. http://beckysbiscuits.blogspot.com/2013/05/last-weekends-baking-extravaganza.html )  I wasn't very smart about frosting them, so they look a teense bit messy.  I will have to work on that...

But, my OH MY! They are downright delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And they were very simple!  Ya gotta love that.  I will definitely be making these, again!!!

Till next time...