Banana Split Cookies + A Hershey’s Giveaway

Easter is only a couple weeks away, and we’re getting awfully excited about it here. Luckily, no one gave up candy for Lent because we have quite a few traditions in our house that relate to Easter candy. When I was growing up, we always seemed to have my grandparents around before Easter, since I was lucky enough to always have my spring break the week before Easter (yay Catholic schools?). And somehow, Hershey’s candy always played a prominent role in our “preparation” for Easter.

My Gram loves Easter chocolates, whether it’s little chocolate eggs, Easter HERSHEY’S KISSES, ROLO Candy, and of course CADBURY CREME EGGS. When we had the little decorative bowl filled (and somehow always magically refilled though I never knew where the extra stash of candy was stored) with chocolate, throughout the day or evening, we would play Uno and munch away on the chocolates.

No one ever wanted to admit how many chocolates they’d eaten, however. We would scrunch up the foil wrappers are small as we could so that we could cover it with a second wrapper and “no one would know” how many chocolates we’d eaten. Better yet, if someone ever got up from the table to get a drink or – heaven forbid – check on dinner, all the wrappers would suddenly appear in front of that person’s place while they were gone. One of my fondest memories was the mock arguments we would have around who really owned the foil wrappers.

And of course it was my Gram who taught me the proper way to eat a CADBURY CREME EGG, as well. This isn’t something that you simply bite into and enjoy. Oh no. In our family, we have a much more fun way to enjoy them. Once you’ve unwrapped your CADBURY CREME EGG, take as small a bite as possible of the chocolate shell, trying not to get much of the creme inside. Savor the chocolate by letting it melt on your tongue. Once it is gone, eat all the creme from the center – or as much as you can manage without destroying the egg shell. Then, and only then, do you enjoy the last of the egg, slowly eating the shell and enjoying every bite.

In my family now, we don’t have quite the same traditions, but instead I am focused on baking and enjoying the seasons with the wee ones. Lately, I’m pretty sure that even though I know for a fact that my family loves bananas, they’ve been not eating the bananas just so that I am forced to make something with them. Sadly, I’ve gotten sick of banana bread and banana chip muffins, but I have a new favorite.

I’ve been making a healthy banana cookie that has just a few ingredients and cooks much more quickly than my banana bread ever did, which means that I can make it when I’m in a pinch for time. The basic recipe is very forgiving, which means I can have fun spicing it up in all different ways. I generally add chocolate chips to make it a little more fun, but I’ve also made this with chopped dried cherries for a more tart taste and also with peanut butter to make it like a protein filled breakfast cookie. I love that this is gluten free, so it’s a treat I can easily whip up to take to school or for when friends with allergies come over.

With all our Easter candy from Hershey’s, of course I had to have some fun with this one. I made a banana split version of the cookies that is still relatively healthy but was oh so tasty! Using the ROLO candies for the chocolate and caramel flavor, I added them to the center of my healthy banana cookie, and they disappeared like hotcakes.

I love how simple this recipe is, and I also made some with HERSHEY’S KISSES Milk Chocolates to look like spring flowers for a more traditional taste, but my favorite – and Mister Man’s and my husband’s – is definitely the banana split cookies.

Banana Split Cookies

Ingredients:
2 overripe bananas
1 1/4 c oats
1/4 c flax seeds
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
12 ROLO Candies
2 T HERSHEY’S Cocoa Unsweetened (optional)
1 T agave nectar (optional)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325. Grease a cookie sheet, or line it with parchment paper or a sil pat.

Peel your two bananas and place in a bowl. Use a fork or spatula to mash them well. Add the oats, flax seeds, cinnamon, salt, agave, and cocoa powder if using. Stir with a spatula until combined.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop out 12 even balls of the dough and space them evenly on your cookie sheet. Unwrap your ROLO Candies and carefully place them in the center of each cookie. You want to press down gently so that they are firmly entrenched while ensuring that there is a whole circle of dough surrounding the ROLO Candy so that the caramel doesn’t melt out.

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes before removing. These will store  in a tightly sealed container on the counter for 2-3 days.

Think this might be something you’d enjoy? I love all the ideas shared on the Celebrate with HERSHEY’S site. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the adorable Easter basket cupcakes I found there will be my next fun with the HERSHEY’S Candies I received. They are adorable, and wouldn’t they make a great centerpiece dessert for Easter dinner?

Good news? I have a HERSHEY’S prize pack to give away to one lucky reader. You could win an assortment of HERSHEY’S Easter Candy, just in time to fill your own baskets! Simply follow the directions in the Rafflecopter entry form below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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