Recipe: Banana Blitz Cookies with White Icing

Banana Blitz Cookies with White Icing
Source: Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies by Jill Van Cleave
Makes about 16 cookies

Ripe bananas provide rich fruit flavor to this soft, iced cookie.

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
1/2 teaspoon banana extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
White Icing (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add mashed banana and extract and blend.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, mace, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture. Stir in pecans.

Using an individual 1/4-cup measure or a 2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop level amounts of dough and drop 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake until cookies are firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Using a spatula transfer cookies to a rack and let cool. Ice cookies after they have completely cooled.

Store cookies in a loosely covered container at room temperature for up to three days.

WHITE ICING:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 to 5 teaspoons milk

Using a fork, mix sugar and milk together1 adding one teaspoon of milk at a time to produce a smooth, thick icing that falls from the fork in a slow stream.