As my last baking post suggests, I am a fan of Sprinkles Cupcakes and religiously make the trek to the Upper East Side to cash in on some sweet BOGO deals when they’re offered. Only recently did I decide to go next door, to the Sprinkles Ice Cream shop and try their cookies… the Salted Oatmeal Cornflake cookie changed my life!
Okay, so that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was so exceptionally good that I HAD to try my hand at making a less guilty version. A browning banana sitting on the counter that had been preparing itself for banana bread status caught my eye, and this recipe was born!
Banana is a great way to cut out a bit of butter from standard baking recipes, and also provides a naturally sweet backdrop for any dessert! It took a couple of banana:butter ratio tries along with a bit of recipe iteration, but I found that a 1:1 ratio worked quite well. For future improvements, I’m hoping to successfully get that ratio a bit higher (more banana to butter), but this is a start!
The beauty of these cookies is that there isn’t just one featured ingredient, but rather several. Many of my taste testers commented on the playful texture and complex flavor that the cornflake-oatmeal-banana-salt combination provided, in a good way! It’s a cookie with a crunch, crisp on the outside, and a bit chewy and soft in the center—just my kind of cookie. It’s characterized with a unique sweet-salty, crunchy-soft, breakfast-dessert dynamic that is sure to bea hit! And now, to the recipe itself…
- 2 brown/ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 large egg
- 1 c unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ c flour (I used 1 c whole wheat flour, and ½ c all-purpose flour)
- 3 c rolled or old-fashioned oats, slightly crumbled
- 3 c cornflakes, crushed
- ¾ c brown sugar
- ¾ c granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt or salt flakes
- Preheat oven to 350° F and prepare two large cookie sheets (half sheets with silpat or grease).
- In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients: oatmeal, cornflakes, flour, baking powder, salt. Set aside
- In another large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 5-7 minutes with an electric mixer until fluffy.
- Add egg, mashed banana, and vanilla to bowl and mix until well incorporated, 1-2 minutes.
- Add in half of the dry ingredients to the banana bowl and mix on low setting. Add in half of the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low setting.
- Add in last quarter of dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with a spatula until well incorporated.
- Form into balls (about the size of a jumbo egg) and flatten on lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until sides and tops start to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle each cookie with a dusting of kosher salt or salt flakes, then let cool on wire rack.
- For garnishing the cookie, I didn't have kosher salt or salt flakes on hand. So being resourceful, I used an empty pepper grinder and sea salt to flavor each cookie with a touch of freshly ground salt.
I hope you find inspiration in these fun banana cookies and please let me know your thoughts!
-pfht
When do you add in the flour?
Hi Kevin– thanks for the catch! The flour is mixed in with all of the dry ingredients in step 2. I’ve added it in there now :)
So, a week after my birthday last month my good friends took me to the Beverly Hills Sprinkles for ice cream. I didn’t even know they had ice cream!
Anyway, my BFF ordered the SOCC & I fell head-over-heels! I just had to find a recipe to re-create at home as I often do with foods I like. There I went, googling it when I found your recipe but with the addition of banana. I baked a tray this morning & oh my goodness! Heaven in my mouth! Thank you for sharing your version, PFHT : )
Hi Alexandra–I’m so thrilled you tried this recipe and for your kind comment! But seriously, though… those Sprinkles cookies are the real deal, right?!
how much butter would i use if i didn’t want to use the banana ?
Hi Rayna– you can sub in another 3/4 to 1 cup of butter for the 2 bananas (which yields around 1c) making the total amount of butter 1-3/4 to 2 cups. Using all butter will yield a more crisp cookie and the dough will spread more when baking so I’d recommend spacing them out more on the sheet tray, and you may also find that you won’t need to flatten the dough balls as they may naturally flatten and spread in the oven. Let me know how it goes!
-E