These Cookies

I checked out Martha Stewart Cookies Cookbook from the library. I love the library (have I mentioned this before? It's a budget conscious girl's bff.) I love Martha's people...Martha herself? A little pretentious for me. I could take her or leave her.

While reading this book, I came across several delicious sounding recipes and luckily they're posted on her website so I didn't have to make copies or type the entire recipe.

Thank goodness.

Especially for these gems: Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I have a love-hate relationship with bananas. I love them if they're perfectly ripe, easy to peel and come with accessories like peanut butter, honey or chocolate. I hate their texture, the smell if they're under-ripe, and the gooey-ness of a bruise.

I didn't eat bananas until probably after college.

Unless it was baked into bread. Or muffins. Basically, I have no prejudice against anything baked.

Shocker.

Banana's weren't even on sale last week (when something's only $0.59 a pound and is shipped all over the world, should it go on sale??) and I still decided to buy 8 bananas so I could ripen them up for these cookies.

Hello beautiful perfectly, ripe bananas. These could actually have gotten a little browner, but I WANT SOME COOKIES!

I also have something against nuts in my cookies. Oh, I like nuts just fine on their own or in a salad, but keep your dang nuts out of my cookies! (Most of the time. Please.)

So, I made: Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

And when I took them out of the oven I thought, Eh, average at best.

Then they sat over-night and became the moist, delicious Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies I was dreaming about. Ok, I didn't really have any dreams about cookies. I was too busy dreaming about making out in the Wal-Mart parking lot. BUT, if I had dreamed about Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies these would be the ones.

Martha's Banana (Optional Walnut) Chocolate Chip Cookies
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (Yup, didn't use this either...just went with 1 1/2 cups of AP flour)
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
* 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (I used instant)
* 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch chunks (I used a bag of milk chocolate morsels, but I think mini chocolate chips would be divine. DIVINE.)
* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 2 ounces), toasted (OPTIONAL)

Directions (from Dame Martha):
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Eat the next day, trust me.

AMAZING. (To be sung in your best opera voice.)