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I've made banana chocolate chip cookies before but when I saw a recipe for peanut butter banana cookies, I was intrigued. I love peanut butter and bananas, especially on toast or in a crepe with nutella. Definitely my mana! These cookies definitely did not disappoint. They were chewy, soft and redolent with the taste of bananas. I put in one and a half cups of peanut butter but the taste was still quite subtle. I think I would try putting in even more peanut butter next time to bring out the peanut butter flavour even more. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of butter but I substituted 1/4 of applesauce for the butter in order to make it slightly healthier. I also found the cookies a tad too sweet so I would reduce the sugar by half a cup next time but that's my personal taste as I don't like things to be overly sweet. I added chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips to the batter to add more texture and make the cookies even better. I only added the pecans to half the batter as Tombee doesn't like pecans but the recipe below is for the full recipe. You could add almonds, peanuts, butterscotch chips or even white chocolate chips if you want. The sky is the limit when it comes to what tastes good! I got about 80 cookies out of the recipe but I did make mine only about the size of a tablespoon as these spread quite a bit. I baked mine for 15 minutes to retain a soft and chewy texture but if you want a firmer cookie, bake for about 17-18 minutes. The cookies do set after they have cooled, so don't be worried when you take them out of the oven and they seem like they aren't cooked yet.
Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies adapted from Food Geeks
Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 medium extra ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, applesauce, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
3. Peel the bananas, break into smaller sections and drop into the mixture; mix well (some small banana chunks are okay).
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.
6. Add flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and beat just until combined.
7. Add pecans and chocolate chips and mix together until pecans and chocolate chips are fully incorporated into the batter. Use a cookie scoop or drop by the spoonful onto parchment lined cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 15 minutes - they will not be golden brown when removed from oven. As they set they will turn slightly firm.
9. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for five minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Pour a glass of milk and eat cookies with relish while still warm, making sure to lick fingers of melted chocolate. 
I live with a potato sack who, not only does not appreciate sweets and desserts, but hassles me to sleep....at 9:40PM! Not only is said person messing with my creative genius but he doesn't even enjoy the goodies I make. I bet Einstein's wife never hassled him to go to bed when he was working on his theory of relativity! Luckily for me, there are plenty of other victims...er...I mean volunteers who are willing to play guinea pig for the things I make. And now back to your regularly scheduled program.
I got this recipe from TS and JS of Eating Club Vancouver. It's a Martha Stewart recipe (my hero!except for the whole prison thing...) and it was super easy to make. I used a milk chocolate ganache and a raspberry chocolate ganache to fill the thumbprints and I have to admit, I am an absolute genius (I didn't create the theory of relativity but isn't delicious food just as important?!)! The raspberry chocolate ganache was absolutely divine! Smooth, creamy, sweet but not overwhelmingly so, with the dreaminess of raspberry that just skims the palette. I don't even like chocolate and I was tempted to eat the whole bowl of raspberry ganache with a spoon. I had some left over after filling the thumbprints and I'll use it to make raspberry chocolate truffles. And I know who won't be getting any either ;)! The recipe says it makes 70. I got about 60 out of the batch using a tablespoon but you can make them smaller or larger as you please.
Chocolate Thumbprints from Martha Stewart Living magazine
Makes 70
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons coarse salt (like kosher)
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar, plus more for rolling
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350◦ Sift flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a small bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium, and add yolks, cream and vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture until just combined.
2. Roll balls using 2 teaspoons dough for each, and roll each in sugar. Place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. With the handle of a wooden spoon, press gently in the center of each to create an indentation. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are set, about 10 minutes. (If indentations lose definition, press centers again.) Let cool slightly on baking sheets. Transfer cookies on wire racks, and let cool.
3. Spoon warm ganache into center of each cookie. Let stand until firm, about 15 minutes. Cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.
Raspberry Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
4oz milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
175ml heavy cream
1-3 tablespoons raspberry jam
Directions
1. Heat cream in a small pot until boiling.
2. Add cream to chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.
3. Gently stir chocolate and cream mixture until well mixed. The consistency should be smooth and not too thick.
4. Add raspberry jam to taste. I used 3 tablespoons because I wanted a strong raspberry flavour, but you can add 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the right flavour.
5. Spoon into thumbprint. If you find it a little bit too runny, you can refrigerate for 30 minutes until it thickens and then spoon our pipe ganache into cookies.
For the chocolate ganache, do the same as above but omit raspberry jam. 
I stumbled upon Smitten Kitchen's website a few months ago when I was looking for a recipe for red velvet cake. The red velvet cake was delicious and I constantly went back to Smitten Kitchen's website and I'm a big fan. Her recipes practically beg to be made and I've bookmarked quite a number of things to bake. If you haven't visited her website, then you should definitely take a minute and check it out because it is a gold mine of delicious looking food! I made some changes to her recipe because I didn't have some of the things on hand. I've posted the recipe with the changes that I've made but if you want to see the original, head on over to her site. I made these with a rounded tablespoon and flattened each circle to 1/2" thickness so that they were about the same thickness as a regular Oreo cookie. Since mine were quite small and thin, I only baked them for about 5 minutes in my oven to retain a soft and slightly chewy center but if you'd like something crispier, more like real Oreo's, then bake for about 7 minutes. I saved myself one and took the rest to work and everyone said they were delicious and even better than real Oreo cookies!
Chewy, soft and moist with a creamy and sweet filling.
Homemade Oreos adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients
For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
For the filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 - 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, using beaters, thoroughly beat the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass and can be formed into a dough.
3. Take rounded tablespoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, flatten the dough to 1/2" thickness. Bake for 5-7 minutes, depending on how crispy you would like your cookies to be. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, beat in the sugar and vanilla, adding 1/2 cup of icing sugar at a time, periodically tasting the cream until you reach the desired sweetness. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. You can also use a teaspoon or an offset spatula to cover one cookie with cream and then cover with the second cookie. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. 
I have to admit that I absolutely adore Martha Stewart. Her recipes always turn out spectacular and her crafts are amazing! I made these black-bottom coconut bars and took them in to work and needless to say, I had none left. I did, however, get a request to make a whole pan for one of my coworkers - they were that good! The bars have a rich chocolate brownie base and are topped with a deliciously creamy coconut mix.
Yum-o! Look at that deliciously flaky coconut...and the mouthwatering brownie base...
Black-Bottom Coconut Bars from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
Chocolate Base
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
For Coconut Topping
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 package sweetened shredded coconut (7 ounces), 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling
Directions
1. For chocolate base: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a slight overhang; butter bottom and sides of foil (not overhang).
2. Place butter in a large microwave-safe bowl; melt in microwave. Add sugar and salt; whisk to combine. Whisk in egg, then cocoa and flour until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.
3. Bake just until sides begin to pull away from edges of pan, 10 to 15 minutes (do not overbake). Let cool slightly while preparing coconut topping. Keep oven on for topping.
4. For coconut topping: In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla. Gently mix in flour and coconut (except 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling).
5. Drop mounds of mixture over chocolate base; spread and pat in gently and evenly with moistened fingers. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup coconut.
6. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Lift cake from pan, peel off foil, and cut into 24 bars. Store in an airtight container 3 to 4 days.
*When baking the coconut topping, I kept checking the doneness because I was worried that I would overbake the brownie base but don't be worried because it was so moist that it could have handled an extra 5 minutes in the oven.
**I baked the coconut topping for 30 minutes but when I put a toothpick in, the dough was still a bit wet but I took it out anyway because I was worried about the coconut burning. After cooling, the coconut topping firmed up and was really creamy.
**To make this healthier, you can substitute the butter for applesauce instead. The results are still moist and result in delicious brownie heaven!
