Learn how to make the best banana oatmeal cookies with this easy recipe. These delicious cakey chocolate chip cookies are loaded with oats, mashed banana, and toasted nuts, creating a cakey texture with crunchy edges.
Some people love crispy oatmeal raisin cookies, and others prefer soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. These banana oatmeal cookies are for those who prefer a cakey oatmeal cookie that is somewhere in between. They are kind of like a hearty version of these banana oat muffins but in cookie form!
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Ingredients
These banana chocolate chip cookies are easy to make and call for a simple list of ingredients that you probably have in your pantry already!
- butter—this recipe was tested with unsalted butter. If using salted, you may want to reduce the salt added to the cookie dough
- sugar—I like to use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar. For the brown sugar, dark brown sugar will give you the most flavour, but light will also work
- eggs—use large eggs. The cracked egg should weigh 50 grams
- banana—use a very ripe banana and weigh it after mashing. This recipe calls for 110 grams of mashed banana, which is usually equivalent to 1 large banana. Make sure to have extra bananas in case your bananas are smaller. Make sure the total weight of banana added to the cookie dough matches the recipe card, or else your cookies may be too dry or too wet
- vanilla—use pure vanilla extract if possible, or add less if baking with artificial
- oats—this recipe was tested with large flake oats, which are sometimes called rolled oats or old fashioned oats. Don't use steel-cut or minute/quick oats as these will greatly affect the texture
- flour—I used bleached all-purpose flour, but unbleached flour should work fine here
- leavening agent—these banana oatmeal cookies are made with baking soda, not baking powder. Read about them if you are unsure of the difference between baking soda and baking powder.
- salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If you are using table salt, add half the amount
- chocolate chips—any of your favourite chocolate chips will work here
- nuts—any chopped nuts will work here, but I prefer walnuts or pecans
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
With a simple recipe like these banana cookies, your substitutions are limited. Here's a few ways to vary this cookie recipe:
- Chocolate - I have tested these with dark chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips can be less sweet, so make sure to use semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate, as these cookies aren't overly sweet.
- Spices - you can keep these plain, but these banana cookies are also excellent with a teaspoon (5 mL) of cinnamon added to the dry ingredients
- Nuts and nut-free cookies - I prefer to make these with walnuts or pecans, or a combination of both. You can replace these with pumpkin seeds (cup-for-cup) for a nut-free version.
Instructions
Like any drop cookie recipe, these banana oatmeal cookies come together quickly. The cookie dough doesn't require any chilling or resting!
Step 1—Toast the nuts on a small sheet pan (image 1) before you begin making the cookie dough. Meanwhile, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking soda, salt) with a Danish dough whisk (image 2).
Step 2—Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (image 3) and beat until fluffy and well-mixed before adding the egg (image 4). Add the mashed banana and vanilla after (image 5) and beat it in. At this point, the mixture may look a little curdled.
Step 3—Stir in the whisked dry ingredients (image 6), followed by the chocolate chips and chopped toasted nuts (image 7) to form a thick, sticky cookie dough that you will portion out using a medium cookie scoop (image 8).
Step 4—Place the scoops of cookie dough on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper. I like to bake 6 cookies per pan. Use the back of a spoon to press down and flatten out the scoops slightly (image 9), then bake until golden brown and set (image 10).
Hint: Oatmeal cookies don't spread very much in the oven when baked. This is why you need to press the scoops of dough with a spoon or your palm to flatten them out slightly before baking to help them spread, like in this recipe for apple oatmeal cookies.
Banana Oatmeal Cookie FAQs
The size of bananas varies greatly. For this recipe, you will need 1 to 2 bananas to obtain 110 grams of mashed banana. Please weigh the bananas after peeling and mashing.
You should only bake with ripe bananas. If your bananas are still green, ideally, you would wait until they have ripened to make these cookies. Alternatively, if you peel and mash the underripe banana, it will ripen at room temperature faster.
These banana oatmeal cookies are best eaten within 3 days of baking; after that, they may dry out. You can also freeze them for later in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Other Drop Cookies to Try
Looking for other drop cookie recipes like this one? Try these:
Other Banana Recipes to Bake
These are my favourite banana baking recipes if you've got too many ripe bananas:
If you tried this recipe for banana oatmeal cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 90 grams walnuts chopped
- 200 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats) also called old fashioned oats
- 125 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 3.75 mL baking soda
- 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 155 grams unsalted butter softened
- 100 grams dark brown sugar
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 1 large egg(s)
- 110 grams mashed banana approximately 1 very ripe large banana
- 10 mL pure vanilla extract
- 160 grams dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment.
- Place the walnuts on a sheet pan and toast them until golden brown (about 10–15 minutes). Set aside to cool completely then breka them into smaller chunks.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugars for about a minute or until properly blended and smooth, then add the egg, scraping down the bowl as needed with a spatula.
- Add the mashed banana and vanilla and stir them into the dough. The dough will likely look curdled at this stage.
- Add the whisked dry ingredients to the mixer, on low, until the cookie dough is just starting to come together, then add in the chocolate chips and toasted nuts.
- Portion out the cookie dough using a 40 mL (1-⅓ oz)and place 6 per prepared baking sheet. Flatten the scoops down with the back of a spoon or your palm. You can moisten your palm with water so the dough doesn't stick.
- Bake the cookies until set, about 12 minutes, depending on how well done you like them. Personally, I leave them until the edges turn golden brown.
- Let the cookies sit on the sheet pan to firm up before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- Store these cookies in an airtight container.
- If the cookies dry out after a few days, you can soften them with a soaked terracotta brown sugar keeper. Blot it dry after soaking, and then place the brown sugar saver in the cookie container and close the lid. After a day, the cookies will have softened. They will remain pleasantly chewy but won't be as hard and brittle!
- If you'd like to add spices to your banana cookies, consider adding 5 mL (1 teaspoon) of cinnamon along with the dry ingredients.
- Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C) in order to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.
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