Banana Bread Cookies

Banana bread cookies are soft, chewy, and studded with chocolate chips. Easy to make, they’re the perfect way to use up ripe bananas!

Banana Bread Cookies That Are SO Good & Easy!

• They’re a delicious hybrid between banana bread and cookies – with chocolate! You can’t go wrong!
• They’re easy to make.
• They’re a healthier cookie.
• Kids love them!

Ingredients You Need

• Bananas
• Brown sugar
• Greek yogurt
• Butter
• Egg
• Vanilla extract
• Gluten-free flour (I use both King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 All Purpose Flour.)
• Old-fashioned oats (certified gluten-free oats if needed)
• Cinnamon
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Mini chocolate chips

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Equipment You Need

• Stand mixer (or a bowl with a hand mixer, or even just a fork and a little elbow grease!)
• Silicone baking mats
• Sheet pans
• Small cookie scoop

How to Make Banana Bread Cookies

1. Mash bananas by placing them in a stand mixer (or bowl with a hand mixer) and mixing them 30-60 seconds on low until smooth.
2. To the mashed bananas add brown sugar, melted butter, greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla. Mix on medium-low speed for a minute, or until smooth and evenly combined.
3. Add dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt) and mix on medium-low speed for a minute, until smoothly combined.
4. Mix in mini chocolate chips. You can reserve two tablespoons of chocolate chips to sprinkle a few on top of each cookie if you’d like, or just mix them all on.
5. Using a small cookie scoop, portion batter onto prepared baking sheets about two inches apart – cookies will slightly spread while cooking. I put 12 cookies on each baking sheet and bake two rounds of cookies since there is a high yield of cookies.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until just starting to turn slightly golden brown and the dough know longer looks wet.
7. Let cool on the cookie sheet for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
8. Bake the remainder of the dough the same way.

Troubleshooting Tips to Make These Cookies

Under-ripe bananas: If they’re not ripe yet, roast them in their peels at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, then let cool enough to handle, peel, and then follow the recipe. You can also take borderline ripe bananas and peel them, placed them in a bowl, and microwave on high for 30-60 seconds.

No stand mixer: No problem, you can still make the cookies, even if you just have a fork and a bowl. Just mash really well to get a smooth, even consistency.

Dry cookies: This recipe is fairly forgiving since it creates such a soft cookie (like banana bread!), but be sure not to pack your flour when measuring. Spoon flour into your measuring cup, then use the flat surface of a knife or spatula to scrape excess flour from the top off.

Tips to Freeze Cookies

Since these cookies make 42 smaller cookies, I like to leave a dozen or so out for my family to enjoy and freeze the rest for later.

Place the cooked cookies on a silicone mat lined baking sheet, then place in the freezer for an hour to flash freeze them. They likely won’t be fully frozen at this point, but the exteriors should be frozen enough to now combine all the cookies in a freezer-safe bag or container and they won’t stick to each other.

Return to freezer and keep up to 3-4 months (longer in a deep freezer).

Are They Healthy?

These cookies can totally fit into a balanced, healthy diet! They’ve got whole grains (oats), fruit (banana), and have less added sugar than most other cookie or banana bread recipes. They also have less fat, using half fat and half greek yogurt.

Plus, by making smaller cookies, it’s very easy for a couple to fit as a snack or treat.

Know, too, that “healthy” is subjective. The foods that help one maintain their health may or may not work for you – and that’s okay! Honor the body you have. As a registered dietitian nutritionist, I suggest eating a variety of nourishing foods that help you feel good and achieve or maintain your health, balanced with the foods you love. Remember – an election isn’t won with every vote, but the majority. Your health is the same way – the overall dietary pattern is what matters most.

If you like these cookies, you may like these recipes, too!

• Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips
• Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
• Spinach Banana Muffins
• The BEST Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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