These crinkly, fudgy chocolate nut cookies come from Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi. Mashed banana added to the dough not only adds a faintly tropical flavor, but helps keep the slightly underbaked cookies extra soft and moist, while a touch of cinnamon and chopped pecans add warm, nutty notes. These are rather fragile and don’t hold up much more than a day after baking, but they’re so delicious you’ll have no trouble eating the whole batch before then. Since this is a soft, sticky dough, it needs to be chilled twice, for 3 hours total; be sure to plan ahead to allow enough time. You can refrigerate the balls of prepared dough for up to 2 days, or even freeze them up to 3 months. If baking from frozen, add an extra minute of cooking time.

For more compelling confections from Ottolenghi, get their Flourless Coconut and Chocolate Cake recipe and their Middle Eastern Millionaire’s Shortbread recipe.

And for more fantastic chocolate-banana pairings, try our Roasted Banana-Nutella Quick Bread recipe, and our Banana Hot Chocolate recipe.

  • Yields: about 24 cookies
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 1 hr, plus 3 hours chilling time
  • Active: 40 min

Ingredients (12)

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 2 ounces mashed bananas, about 1/2 small banana
  • 1 1/3 cups pecan halves, finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

  1. Place the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, then gradually add the egg and continue to beat until incorporated. Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl, then add to the butter and sugar. Mix on low speed for about 15 seconds, then add the chocolate chips and banana. Beat until combined, then transfer to the fridge for 2 hours to firm up.
  2. When firm, use your hands to form the dough into 1-inch round balls, about 2/3 ounce each; you might need to wash your hands once or twice when making them, if they get too sticky. Place the pecans in a medium bowl and drop the balls into the nuts as you form them, rolling them around so that they are completely coated and pressing the nuts in so that they stick.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place the cookies onto the sheet— there is no need to space them apart—and transfer to the fridge for an hour.
  4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  5. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and roll the cookies in the confectioners’ sugar, pressing it in as you go so that it sticks well. Place on the lined baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart, and flatten the cookies to 1/3 inch thick.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes. They will be soft to the touch when they come out of the oven, so allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before gently transferring to a wire rack. These can be served warm, when they will be a little gooey in the center, or set aside until completely cool.

Reprinted with permission from SWEET by Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh, copyright 2017 Ten Speed Press. Photography by Peden + Munk.