Bananas can step in for fat in baking recipes

If your family's like mine, you often face the lone banana quandary.

What to do with the overly ripe fruit everyone abandons. Becoming more speckled by the day, that solo banana waits patiently for someone to notice it.

With food prices climbing higher, it's increasingly more costly to toss overly ripe fruit into the trash bag. But what can you bake with just one banana? Most muffin and cake recipes call for at least two or three medium fruits. I set out to find a solution.

One important characteristic to consider is the banana's their dominant taste. As the fruit ripens, natural flavors deepen and the flesh feels softer and tastes sweeter. Pairing this powerful ingredient in a recipe means finding a partner equally commanding.

When my husband requested a batch of peanut butter cookies the light bulb went on. Perhaps that banana ripening on my counter could find a purpose in a cookie recipe. Certainly peanut butter's dynamic notes would give the banana a run for your taste buds.

The science of baking requires that you understand what you are stirring in order to know what amounts to adjust. In the case of mashed bananas and other fruit purees, bakers look to these to replace or substantially reduce the fat in favorite dessert. The fibrous texture of fruit once pureed, become smooth and mimics fat on our palates.

But what starts out with good intentions often ends in disaster; single substitutions seldom work as desired.

You see pureed fruit brings to a recipe two powerful components: sugar and moisture. The fruit's natural water lightens the batter and bakes the finished crumb into a more cakelike texture while the natural sugars feel both sweet and smooth on the taste buds.

It's that sugar boost that inspires bakers to substitute fruit for fat. Yet the secret to baking success lies in also properly adjusting sugars from the original recipe. Once you understand that both fat and sugar must be adjusted when substituting fruit purees in baking recipes, the recipe falls into place.

A quick review of my cookie recipe reminded me that peanut butter gets a fat boost from dairy butter. Reducing the butter to a half cup allowed the amount of peanut butter to remain unchanged, preserving the powerful peanut flavor and balancing the fruity banana taste.

Equally important, I reduced the amount of light brown sugar to compensate for the natural sugar banana brings to the recipe. Don't be tempted to replace granulated sugar for the brown variety; my trials confirmed molasses in brown sugar adds flavor depth to cookie.

Last but not least, I lowered the flour amount by a quarter cup to counter additional water from the fruit, thus preventing the cookies from baking into mini cakes. Stir in any chocolate or peanut butter flavored chips you may have in the pantry for an extra layer of flavor. Annie Overboe, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, lives in Villa Park. To submit a topic to be addressed in this column, write to Baking Secrets, Daily Herald Food section, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006. Or e-mail to food@dailyherald.com. Questions will not be responded to personally.

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky

1½ cup unsalted butter

1½ cup ripe mashed banana (about 1 medium banana)

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1-1 cups baking chips, optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl combine peanut butter, butter, banana and sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape bowl well. Add eggs and beat 30 seconds until combined. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until flour is incorporated. Do not over beat. Scrape bowl well. Cookie dough will be soft. If desired, add in 1-1 cups flavored baking chips.

Spoon or scoop into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on pans. Gently press down on cookie balls to slightly flatten; bake 12-14 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned and appear set.

Cool 10 minutes on pans before transferring to cooling rack or platter. Store tightly covered.

Serves 30.

Baker's hint: Do not substitute reduced-fat peanut butters as it include artificial sweeteners and will not produce the same results.

@Recipe nutrition:Nutrition values per cookie: 148 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated), 17 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein, 23 mg cholesterol, 106 mg sodium.