amazing banana oatmeal cookies i swear, i have no idea where this recipe came from. i found it one day written on a sheet of legal paper that was folded and tucked away among papers several years old. no matter. i made these recently and again tonight and they had the most amazing banana bread-like consistency -- even better than banana bread itself!

preheat oven to 325 degrees

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg
• 3/4 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1.25 cups butter (2 and 1/4 sticks, yes, that's a lot)
• 1.25 cups sugar
  
• 1 egg (or one tablespoon arrowroot)
• 3-4 large bananas, pulped and mooshy
• 1.75 cups quick cooking oatmeal

in a medium bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda nutmeg and cinnamon
in a larger mixing bowl cream butter and sugar together
add bananas and egg (or arrowroot) to butter and sugar and mix well, the smoother the better
mix the dry ingredients into the wet in thirds. better will be wetter and stickier than most cookie recipes, and it turns out that's okay.
mix in the oatmeal.

drop large spoon-sized lumps of dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart, and place in the oven for 10 to 13 minutes. they should be slightly browned on top and bottom and will be very soft when they are done. let them sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a cooling rack

the place will smell like banana bread for a long time, the intensity matched by the ripeness of the bananas. they will be so moist from the banana that storing them in an airtight container will actually soften them so i'd leave them out overnight (unless you have naughty kittens/housemates/vermin who might get into them). certainly a higher heat and longer cooking time will yield more cookie-like results, but i prefer the way these came out so soft and bread-y.

makes 2 dozen good sized cookies.  ¶ Monday, October 16, 2006