Fig Newtons!

I always have over ripe bananas in the freezer in anticipation of making banana muffins just like my mom's.  But this time, I decided I wanted to make something different with those frozen bananas, and expand my horizons.  That and I recently learned I am allergy (altho not deathly) to walnuts and I feel like banana muffins would be naked without them.  So I found this recipe for Nutella Banana Bread and decided I needed it immediately!

The verdict?  Delicious.  I made a small sample loaf for Rebecca & I so there were lots of crusty edges.  I didn't feel like the Nutella flavor was super strong (and I used about a 1/4 cup extra to use up the jar) but Rebecca said she could definitely taste the chocolate.  Here's the finished product...with some pretty sweet swirling!

Then there's the Fig Newtons.  Much like I found with homemade Girl Scout cookies, the homemade version is much better (duh, fresher).  But they were also kind of a pain; I'm sure Nabisco has a much more efficient method.  A few notes about the recipes...1) The figs came in a 6 oz bag.  Come to think of it, I had thought there was too much water when I was making the filling and I guess that makes sense because I didn't cut back on the water but did cut back on the figs.  2) There's a reason it says to chill the dough....otherwise it will spread a bit in the oven. 3) It look longer than 20 minutes to get them brown.  4) Yum, I forgot how good these cookies are!