Date Banana Cream Sandwich Cookies

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pitted dates, cut in small pcs
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Recipe

• 1 place rack in center of the oven.
• 2 preheat oven to 350*.
• 3 line two baking sheets with parchment paper.or spray with non stick spray.
• 4 to prepare the cookies:.
• 5 sift flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl and set aside.
• 6 in large bowl with electric mixer on medium cream butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar till smooth and well blended. stop and scrape down sides of bowl as needed during mixing.
• 7 breat the bananas into 1" pcs and add the banana and mix until just a few pieces remain.
• 8 the mixture will look curdled.add egg and vanilla and mix till blended -- about 1-2 minutes.
• 9 add the flour mixture just until it is mixed in well and batter looks smooth again -- mix in the dates.
• 10 drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet.spacing them 3" apart.use a small spatula to smooth the tops, spreading them out slightly to about 3/4" thick.
• 11 bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.about 15 minutes.
• 12 cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.
• 13 turn half of the cookies bottom side up, use a thin metal spatula to spread a rounded tbls of filling over each one -- gently press the flat bottoms of the remaining cookies on top of the filling.
• 14 wrap each cookies in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour -- serve cold.
• 15 the wrapped cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.