Day 2: Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Tacky Sweater

Along with baking Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies and I am also putting together a "tacky" Christmas sweater for Gray to wear to youth group tonight. I was I looking for a way to use my ripe banana's or as my kids call them, "rotten banana's" other than making banana bread so I decided on this cookie recipe.  Of course, I am going to have to modify this recipe since I don't have wheat flour that it calls for and with it raining outside - I will just bump up my white flour usage....can't image that could wreck the recipe.  And I don't have regular walnuts so I am going to have to use the glazed walnuts that I bought to go into a salad that I never made.  Have you ever tried to chop glazed walnuts?  They don't chop well.  So instead - I beat them up with a full water bottle....perfect broken glazed walnut pieces.

All ingredients mixed and ready to bake for 12-13 minutes at 375.  First batch at 12 minutes; second batch at 13 minutes; third batch at 14 minutes and finally last batch at 15 minutes - just the right amount of baking time.  This is the trial and error part of baking.  Quality control on two batches (means I ate two cookies) indicates think that I will add an extra banana next time.  There is a hint of banana, but not enough for me.  Lots of chocolate chips and just the right amount of oatmeal.  The extra white flour didn't seem to make a difference nor did the glazed walnuts.  These cookies are a "cake-y" type of cookie and reminds me of the oatmeal cookies that my mom used to make minus the chocolate chips, walnuts and banana.

In between batches - I am modifying one of my old sweaters into a tacky Christmas sweater.  I took a black/white and green sweater added a giant red bow with gold dots at the top.  And with safety pins in hand, I took 12 items off our Christmas tree and attached them to the sweater: icicles, a handmade wreath ornament, a Grinch ornament, pieces of holly and a snowman.  She is also going to take a strand of lights and wear them wrapped around her arm.  She will be quite the sight!!!