Banana-Coconut “Smash” Cookies

Oh dear LORD, I have missed this blog. The past couple of weeks have been absolutely nuts with studying, finals, doctors’ visits, mental breakdowns, etc, etc. I also recently traveled to Atlanta, via a long road-trip with my family, to attend my uncle’s one-year death anniversary memorial mass. When we came back, the week was filled with relative-related activities, final wrap ups for graduate school applications, and work.

I honestly was not even sure when I was going to be able to cook for a while and it saddened me. I used to have dance as a release for my emotions but ever since I have “retired” from dancing, cooking served as my palate for my emotions and to carry on my nostalgia. Imagine my rush of happiness when my mother, who had been flitting around the kitchen for days cooking a festive meal for my relatives, came up to me and pleaded me to make dessert (okay, well not pleaded, but I’d like to imagine I saved the day).

My problem was I was lazy and I did not want to go out and buy ingredients for a dish that I haven’t even begun to think of in my head. So there I was, in my ratty pajamas, looking into my open kitchen cabinet, urging my mind to think of something, anything, to save the relatives of the house and serve them a dessert worthy for royalty. I saw shredded coconut, I saw my one can of sweetened condensed milk, I saw bananas, I saw soy nuts.

And I thought…why not just throw them all together and make a platter of blob-shaped cookies and just pray it tastes good (at least edible).

So for the sake of the spontaneity of the moment, I have the ingredients but not the measurements.

Ingredients:

• A bag of unsweetened shredded coconut
• A can of sweetened condensed milk
• Brown sugar
• Flour
• Mashed bananas (I used two)
• Soy nuts
• Dried cranberries
• Vanilla extract.

Procedure:

• I mashed the bananas with my hands on a separate bowl and left it aside.
• In a separate bowl (a large aluminum bowl), I combined the coconut, flour, sugar, soy nuts, and cranberries together.
• Then I added the milk, vanilla extract, and the mashed bananas and mixed thoroughly.
• On trays lined with aluminum and greased, I took clumps of the cookie “dough” and mashed it down to undefinable shapes.
• I popped them into a 350 degree oven for about 20-22 minutes or until the bottoms were golden brown.
• When they are done, let them cool, harden a bit, and bon appetit!

You know…they felt like soft cookies, they did not crumble, and they did not taste bad. I am not a huge fan of bananas so I could only handle two cookies but I sincerely liked them. The flavors were reminiscent of the banana-coconut fritters that my mother used to make frequently in the past. Additionally, I am pleased to share that my relatives thoroughly enjoyed the cookies. By the time of their departure, when I was hoping to sneak in a cookie for breakfast, I was happy to see that the cookies have ran out (happy but a little bitter as well, ha-ha).

Banana-Coconut "Smash" Cookies

The name was a collaboration of LaM’s and my crazy, creative minds.

I think…if I were to make this happy accident in the future, I would add a layer of caramel on top – transforming the flavors to be similar to a banana foster – a dessert that would be such a hit with Terra Recycled.

This goes to prove that an accident in kitchen could just be one happy and delicious one.