Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'll be honest. My favorite chocolate chip cookies would have to be Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies from the tube or tub straight out of the oven. The only thing better might be some nuts. So why bother with the effort if the chocolate chip cookie recipe I plan on using is off the back of the Nestle bag (minus the nuts)?

A better solution: mix it up a bit. Since I plan on taking the cookies to school, nuts are out of the question to be on the safe side. I've made the recipe with peppermint extract in place of vanilla, and liked the result. But today I felt like using coconut, but I knew there'd have to be something else in there to balance it out, such as flaked coconut, but I threw out the flaked coconut over the weekend.
Banana chips! (I just failed to buy enough, underestimating the proper amount.)

Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. coconut extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (approx. 11 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/3 cup banana chips, broken up and crushed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and coconut extract in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate and banana.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (or cookie size of choice) onto baking sheets.

Bake for 7-11 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly and transfer to cool completely (if they can even make it that far...)

Makes 3-5 dozen cookies depending on size.