Banana Cookies

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup Splenda (or similar no-calorie sweetener)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 cup of mashed bananas (3 small/medium bananas)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 cups of flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

You can use an entire cup of Splenda, instead of half Splenda and half Sugar. I was just running low on Splenda.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.

Fold into the batter the pecans or chocolate chips if using. Drop in dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Yield: Makes about 30 cookies.

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Number of Servings: 29

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user LHULLINGER.