Mandarin Orange, Banana, Raisin Cookies

I was left with a box of mandarin oranges that were too bitter to eat. I searched the net looking for a recipe to use up them up but was unable to find a recipe that suited my needs. In most cases the recipes called for canned mandarins. Then there was the problem of removing the peel. It appeared to labour intensive.

I hate waste so last night I took 8 of the little oranges and peeled them. I them cut away the pith because I understand that makes it bitter and then cut the rest up.

Today I took a recipe for a banana cookie that I had used and decided to modify it to use up my ingredients. It turned out great. The cookie is cake like and tastes like oranges and bananas. If anyone tries this recipe, I would love to have some feedback.


Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking powder (the original recipe called for baking soda and I mistakenly used powder)
1/2 cup of margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup of sugar
1 ripe banana mashed
8 mandarin oranges - peel, remove the pith and then use a food processor to chop them into pieces
1/2 cup of raisins - you can increase this to 1 cup if you like raisins
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat the sugar and margarine in a mixer (on low speed) until it is light and creamy
Add the egg and vanilla to the mixture and continue to mix
Add in the banana and mandarin to the mixture - it should be about 1 1/2 cups
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt

The mixture will be a doughy in texture. Drop tbsp of the mixture onto a cookies sheet. I had a generous dropping of the mixture because it was a looser texture.

Bake for 20 minutes and cool. They make a dozen cookies.

Here is a picture: