Method (cookies)

1. Cream the sugar, butter and small drop of yellow food gel together in a bowl until fluffy. This can either be done using a stand mixer and paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand whisk / spatula. Sift in the flour and mix into a thick dough. Transfer the dough into plastic wrap or baking paper and chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes -1 hour to firm up.
2. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
3. Once the dough is chilled and firm to the touch, roll out to approximately  1/2 inch thickness on a floured work surface (this prevents the dough from sticking). Cut into shapes using a banana shape cookie cutter. Place the shapes on the lined baking tray. Lightly score with a fork to create the texture / banana design (refer to video for example).
4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown at the edges. You can even turn the tray half way through to ensure an even baking.
5. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat until all the cookies are baked. They will crisp up slightly when cooling.
6. Allow to cool before adding in cream filling, or it may melt.

Method (cream filling)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Add in the icing sugar and mashed banana, whip to combine. Whip for 5 minutes on high speed until the buttercream becomes pale and fluffy in texture. If it’s too thick add in a splash of dairy-free milk, if it’s too runny add more chunks of cold butter to get it to the right consistency. It should be thick, creamy and hold it’s shape.
3. Transfer the buttercream in to a piping bag fitted with a medium sized round tip nozzle.
4. Pipe cream to half of the cookies, topping with some slices of banana (refer to video for visual reference) and place another cookie on top to sandwich.
5. Serve or decorate with some cocoa powder to make them look like ripe bananas (refer to photos for example).
6. Enjoy!