1 1/2 cups melted butter (3 sticks)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana (2 med or 3 small)
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour (no need to sift)
2 cups finely chopped walnuts OR pecans (measure AFTER chopping)
1/2 cup sugar (for later)

DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN! this dough must chill before baking.

melt butter in a large microwaveable bowl. stir in the sugar, beaten eggs, baking soda, and salt. choose bananas that have black freckles on the skin so they’re almost overripe. mash them until they’re smooth (you can do this in a food processor OR by hand). add the banana puree and mix thorougly.mix in the flour and then the nuts. cover your bowl and refrigerate it for 4 hours (overnight is fine too).

when you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle position.

roll the chilled dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands. (this dough is quite sticky – you can wear plastic gloves if you like, or wet your hands slighly so the dough won’t stick to them). put 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl and roll the balls in it. place the dough balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a sheet. press them down just a little so they wont roll off on the floor when you put them in the oven. then return your bowl to the refrigerator and let it chill until it’s time to roll more.

bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees, or until they’re lightly golden in color. they’ll flatten out all by themselves. let them cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

makes approx 10 dozen cookes, depending on cookie size