Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in bananas. Add pure vanilla extract.

Combine flour, soda, salt and cream of tartar; stir to blend. Add to creamed mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Mix in nuts. Refrigerate until chilled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with bakers’ parchment.

To keep dough chilled and more manageable to work with, sit the bowl of dough in a larger bowl of ice water. Form dough into tablespoon-size balls and drop into the vanilla sugar/nutmeg mixture, turning carefully to coat evenly. Place dough-balls about 3 inches apart on cookie sheets and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in the vanilla sugar mixture. Bake about 8 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheet before removing to a rack.