first post!

hello! welcome to vidhya and elena's brand new food blog!

what is the premise of this food blog? as of right now, it is unclear (assuming it remains just a food blog, and not a chronicle of everything elena and vidhya ever do in their entire lives).
however, what is clear is that we share a mutual love of aliens, things cut into cute and unusual shapes, banana-flavored baked goods, experimentation, excitement, outer space, dinosaurs, fossils, kitch, themes, mustaches, and clever puns. also, we love baking. and you will absolutely see evidence of all that in this blog.

right now we're thinking we'll start off by baking a batch of unusual cookies every week. but really, the options are limitless. stay tuned.

by the by, wondering where we got the name? well, we present to you... unusual cookie recipe #1!

BANANA DUCK (AND BEAR) COOKIES



2 c flour
1⁄4 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp baking powder
1/2 stick butter
1 c sugar
1 banana
2 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
approx. 3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
powdered sugar (for topping)

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees f
   
2. combine flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
3. melt butter for 10-15 seconds in the microwave. mix in sugar, then add mashed banana, agave nectar, and vanilla. mix well.
4. slowly add the flour mixture and mix until it is well blended. add chocolate chips while mixing (you may need to use your hands!)
5. wrap and chill at least 30 minutes in the fridge or 10 minutes in the freezer before baking.
6. roll out on a floured board and cut out shapes (we recommend ducks, but we assume just about any shape will work). place shapes on lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden.
7. cool on racks and dust with powdered sugar.

notes:

• the dough is extremely delicious, try not to eat it all
• we both agreed that more banana flavor might be nice in the finished cookie, so perhaps next time we will try the recipe with two bananas instead of one!
• you could absolutely use honey instead of agave nectar; we just happened to have copious amounts of agave nectar and no honey
• everyone in the buff* who tried one thought it was delicious! not bad for a cookie that is almost entirely vegan!

*the buff is elena's house, in case you were wondering; we weren't serving cookies to a crowd of naked people


until next time,
vidhya and elena