Waffle Cookies?! Sweeten Things Up With These 5 Creative Cookie Recipes From L.A.'s Favorite Bakery

INGREDIENTS
¾ cup dried banana chips, crushed, plus 15–18 whole chips for topping cookies
3½ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
11 tablespoons (or 2/3 cup) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
11 tablespoons (or 2/3 cup) vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 extra-large eggs, cold
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons pure banana extract
2½ cups (20 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Crushed peanuts, optional

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

With your hands, roughly crush ¾ cup of the dried banana chips into a bowl. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, shortening, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and banana extract and beat on medium-low speed until mixed with just small chunks of butter remaining, approximately 30 seconds. Every time you mix ingredients, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to be sure all ingredients are included in the mix—every bit matters! Add half of the dry ingredient mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated and no flour is visible, about 30 seconds. Add half of the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated and all butter chunks are gone, approximately 20 seconds. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is not sticky to the touch, about 20 seconds. Be careful not to overmix—that’s how you get flat cookies. Stir in 1½ cups of the chocolate chips and the banana chips you crushed earlier. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scooping the dough 1/3 cup at a time, firmly roll into round balls approximately 1½ inches in diameter. With the dough ball still in your hands, top each cookie with 1 full banana chip, gently pushing it in to keep it in position while they bake. Place 6 cookies on each prepared baking sheet, spacing them out well. Bake on the middle and lower oven racks until you notice hairline cracks forming on the sides, 12 to 14 minutes, spinning each pan 180 degrees and swapping their positions halfway through. 

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer them to a wire rack or parchment paper on the counter to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool before repeating with the remaining cookies. 

When the cookies have cooled completely, it’s time to drizzle and top them! In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt the remaining 1 cup chocolate chips in 30-second increments, stirring between each increment. Once the chocolate is melted, transfer to a piping bag with a skinny tip attached. Alternately, transfer to a plastic storage bag, work all the chocolate into one corner, and snip the corner off. In a zigzag motion and working from one side of each cookie to the other, drizzle the tops with chocolate. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with crushed peanuts, if desired. To accelerate the hardening of the chocolate and really get that “chocolate-covered” sensation, place your cookies in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before serving. 

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or freeze for up to a month.