Rainforest Cookies

The Amazon Rainforest, located in South America, is the largest rainforest in the world. A treasure of useful and delicious ingredients can be found within its borders – ingredients such as bananas, cinnamon, chocolate, cashews and coconut.

The Rainforest Grew All Around by Susan K. Mitchell, Illustrated by Connie McLennan

From the publisher: “Imaginations will soar from the forest floor, up through the canopy and back down again, following the circle of life in this clever adaptation of the song The Green Grass Grew All Around. The jungle comes alive as children learn about a wide variety of the animals (jaguars, emerald tree boas, leafcutter ants, sloths, poison dart frogs, toucans, and bats) and plants (kapok trees, liana vines, and bromeliads) living in the lush Amazon rainforest. Search each page to find rainforest bugs and butterflies hiding in the illustrations.”

This Rainforest Cookie recipe is found in the book above, with a few modifications. It is a fun, healthy, educational, and delicious recipe that uses these ingredients found in the rainforest.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups white wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
3 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup chopped cashews

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter, banana, and sugars until creamy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time, mixing after each addition.

Stir in chocolate chips, coconut, and cashews. [Note: due to some family members who are averse to coconut and nuts, we split the dough in half after adding the chocolate chips and only added the coconut and cashews to half of the dough.]