The WonderWomen and the Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I decided to move to Utah I went and interviewed with a bunch of different school districts. After numerous offers, I decided to take the one in Granite School District which led me to a job at Bennion Elementary. Someone from heaven must have been watching out for me when I made that decision because it was one that gave me some of the best friends I could’ve ever asked for. Some of these girls were there my first year and others came a little while after that but regardless we were instant friends and pretty much inseparable from then on. Kirner, Brooker, HaHa, Linds, Klagger, Duckey and Pom-Pom were truly my family out there and man did we live up every minute of our time together. When I think back on some of the things we did/got away with I literally have to laugh out loud. I would absolutely never be able to write about all of the things that we did so I will list just a few that hopefully will bring a smile to their faces (because they definitely do to mine). There was: movie-time Fridays, showers (bridal and baby), road trips to Seattle and NY, Mill Hollow, American Idol dinners, COUNTLESS pranks (jello, paper airplanes, stealing and hiding entire classes of kids, etc.), our “uniforms” on the last day of school, and just being with each other because it didn’t need to be a special occasion for us to have a great time!!! Although life has spread us out throughout Salt Lake City or the country (Klagger and myself) I still consider these wonderful women (hence WonderWomen) to be some of my closest friends. I hope these cookies find each of you well and are able to express how much I love and miss you all!!!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: Evelyn Brown
"This recipe uses very ripe bananas, the ones which you would not want to eat. The riper the bananas are, the more flavor they have."
Original Recipe Yield 3 dozen

Ingredients
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together, and set aside.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the mashed bananas. Add the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

***Changes:***
1. I used ½ Cup of White and ½ Cup of Brown Sugar instead of 1 cup of White.
2. I used Milk Chocolate Chips instead of Semisweet Chips.
3. I used only 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder instead of 2 teaspoons.
4. I used about 1 ½ Cups of Mashed Bananas instead of 1 Cup.
5. Chill the dough for about an hour so it’s easier to work with.
6. Lastly I used a cookie dough scoop and so my cookies came out a little larger, and a little less of them, then the original recipe would have.