Banana peels make sugar cookies better

Interest in plant-based diets and reducing food waste is increasing, and people want creative ways to use every part of their vegetables and fruits.

So, banana peels aren't always destined for the trash or compost anymore. They're making their way onto people's plates, replacing sandwiches and incorporating into sugar cookie batter makes the treats more healthful.

Recently, scientists found that they can grind the peels into a flour that's rich in fibre, Magnesium, Potassium and antioxidant compounds. And when small amounts of wheat flour in breads and cakes were replaced with the new flour, the baked goods were more nutritious and had acceptable flavours.

Increasing the amount of the banana peel flour from 0 to 15% in the batches produced browner and harder products, which could be a result of the increased fibre content from the peels. In addition, cookies with banana peel flour were more healthful, having less fat and protein, higher amounts of phenols and better antioxidant activities than the conventional ones.

A trained panel determined that cookies with the smallest substitution of banana peel flour (7.5%) had the best texture and highest overall acceptability compared to the other batches. This batch also kept well for three months at room temperature—it tasted the same as the wheat-only versions after the lengthy storage period.