I have a terrible habit of buying bananas and letting them get too ripe sitting on the counter. I have tried the plastic wrap over the stem trick and I admit that it does prolong the inevitable over-browning of my poor produce. But this time, rather than giving up, I found a cookie recipe that calls for very ripe bananas. I tweaked it a little and added some dark chocolate chips and walnuts. They came out soft and cake-like and had a banana bread flavor, yum!

Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies

• 2 & 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas (approx. 2 bananas)
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter with the white and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and pure vanilla extract. Mix the mashed bananas. Slowly add the flour mixture into the batter until just combined. Stir in the dark chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop the mixture by the tablespoonful onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

I loved the sweet banana smell that came wafting out of the kitchen while these were baking. They are a nice dessert alternative to banana bread and a great way to use up bananas that you might otherwise toss out. I would like to say that I will only be making these when I have a craving, but with my track record, they just might become a permanent staple around the house. Enjoy!