Banana Whoopie Cookie

These cookies are a great combination of cookie and banana cake. If you love banana breads, cakes, and treats you are going to LOVE these.

Makes 3 Dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mashed banana (from 1 large ripe banana)

1/2 cup sour cream

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

16 ounces cream cheese, softened (I only used 8 oz)

1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting (I used 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Combine banana and sour cream in another bowl.

Beat butter and sugars wit a mixer on medium-high speed, until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, beating until incorporated. Add banana mixture in 2 additions, alternating with flour mixture. (I read the instructions and got side tracked by the kids by the time I got to this part and had to add the banana mixture all at the same time and it worked fine. This is a Martha Stewart recipe! She always has a million steps and not all are necessary in my opinion.)

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with  a 1/4-inch plain tip. (Or cheat like me and use a small ice cream/cookie dough scoop). Pipe batter into 1 1/4-inch rounds on baking sheets spacing them 1 1/4-inches apart.

Bake until edges are golden, about 12 minutes. Slide parchment, with cookies, onto a wire rack. (I am to frugal to get a new sheet with each batch, so I spatula them off and reuse it until I am finished cooking the entire batch.) Let cool. {Unfilled cookies can be stored for up 1 day} (We thought that they were fine even on day three)

Beat cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Spoon 1 Tablespoon cream cheese mixture onto the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookie. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately. (And watch them disappear! We love these cookies without the frosting too. If you do frost them and have leftovers-highly unlikely--I recommend storing them in the fridge in an airtight container so it doesn't dry out the cookies. Yes we learned that the hard way!)