Healthy peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies are the perfect flourless, eggless, gluten-free cookie! This is a super quick and easy, one-bowl recipe that you can make in about 20 minutes!
Of course, this simple recipe makes a healthy snack or dessert, but we love eating them as breakfast cookies! And who doesn’t get excited about cookies for breakfast!
Don’t get me wrong, I love traditional decadent cookies like chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, pumpkin oatmeal cookies, chocolate zucchini cookies, butterscotch bar cookies, and snickerdoodles!
There are times when I want a more healthy dessert and can’t get cookies out of my head! That’s when recipes like banana peanut butter cookies come into play.
These cookies are soft and fat, more like a muffin than a cookie, but they still take care of those cookie cravings.
The best part is that you’d never know they’re healthy because they taste AMAZING! I mean really peanut butter and banana are a match made in heaven!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This:
One bowl! You don’t even need an electric mixer to make banana cookies! Grab a bowl, a fork, and a spoon, and you’re ready!
No added sugar! The banana naturally sweetens these cookies. I like adding a little bit of honey, but you can leave it out. Obviously, chocolate chips add sugar, but you can leave them out or use no-sugar-added chocolate chips.
Lots of options! Make a small batch, or double the recipe and make a big batch. Add cinnamon, chopped walnuts, raisins, other dried fruit, or pretty much whatever your heart desires!
Ingredients Needed:
You really only NEED 3-ingredients to make these cookies. I really prefer making them as 5-ingredient cookies because I do love adding a few other things like honey and chocolate chips. See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients.
Bananas: Overripe bananas or soft bananas with black spots are the best bananas for baking. They have the perfect texture and are sweeter than bananas that aren’t as ripe.
Oats: I always use quick oats because they are fine, have a smooth texture, and are a bit soft. Old-fashioned oats are flat and have a firm texture and will work in these cookies too, but they’ll be a bit more chewy. Steel-cut oats are more like chopped grain and will be chewy. Since these cookies are made without flour they’re naturally gluten-free, but be sure to use gluten-free certified oats.
Peanut Butter: I typically have traditional peanut butter on hand so that’s what I use. I usually buy a brand that doesn’t have added sugar or minimal added sugar. You can also use natural peanut butter in this recipe. Be sure to stir it first. This recipe will also work with other nut butters like almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter, too.
I really like adding extras to these cookies! A few of my favorites are chopped walnuts, pecans, or peanuts, raisins or other dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips. Just be sure all the ingredients you’re throwing in add up to 1/4 a cup.
It’s also fun to experiment with adding different spices. Cinnamon is a great one to add. You can also use almond or coconut extract instead of vanilla!
How to Make Banana Peanut Butter Cookies:
So easy! They’re really isn’t much to making these healthy peanut butter banana cookies! Let me share just a few tips and tricks I’ve learned from making these a million times!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. It makes cleanup easy!
Step 1: Add a banana to a mixing bowl. Mash with a fork until it’s smooth.
Step 2: Add peanut butter. If you want to add extra sweetener you can add honey (or maple syrup works too) and vanilla for flavor. I also like adding a pinch of salt. Stir until combined and smooth.
Step 3: Add oats, chocolate chips, or other add-ins and stir until incorporated.
Step 4: Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, or a heaping tablespoon, drop cookies on the prepared baking sheet. Gently press cookie dough to smash it a little bit. Top with additional chocolate chips if you want.
Peanut butter cookies and banana cookies both tend to hold their shape while baking. Since these cookies are both peanut butter and banana cookies, they really hold their shape! I like to press the cookie dough down a little bit so it’s a bit flatter and doesn’t make cookies balls.
You can press them into a flat cookie, or a mounded cookie. I like it about half way pressed down. Flatter cookies need to be baked for a shorter time (maybe 8-10 minutes). Fatter cookies need to be baked longer. You might need to adjust baking time depending on the thickness of the cookies. They’ll be done when they spring back when touched.
Step 5: Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then move to a wire cooling rack to completely cool.
Banana Peanut Butter Cookies should be stored in an airtight container. They’ll keep at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the fridge for about 5 days.
FAQs:
Yes! They freeze really well! Freeze on a baking sheet. Then move to an airtight freezer container. They’ll keep for up to 4 months. Thaw at room temperature or microwave for a few seconds before eating.
Yes! Frozen bananas are great for baking. I like peeling bananas before freezing them. You’ll need to thaw the banana before using it. You need to understand that thawed bananas are ugly and kind of slimy! Not to worry! It will work just fine!
Other Easy Banana Recipes:
We always have a tendency to overbuy when it comes to fresh produce and that’s why I’m always looking for a few more ways to use overripe bananas or even perfectly ripe bananas! Here are a few of our favorites!
- Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Banana Cream Pie with Pudding Mix
- Peanut Butter Banana Brownies
Printable Recipe:
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 1 whole banana overripe
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup quick oats
Optional Ingredients (counted in nutritional facts)
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 dash salt
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. LIne a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add banana to a small mixing bowl and mash with a fork.
- Add peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and a dash of salt. Stir with a spoon.
- Add oats and chocolate chips. Stir until incoporated.
- I use a 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to make these cookies. You can also heap a 1 tablespoon size scoop. Drop cookies on the prepared baking sheet. The cookies won't spread as they bake so I like to press them down a little bit before baking. You can also add a few extra chocolate chips to the tops.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. I baked mine for 12 minutes. Bigger and fatter cookies will take a little longer to bake.
- Let cookies sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Then remove from the baking sheet and completely cool on a wire rack.
Bobbie Adderly says
We stumbled over here coming from a different web address and thought I mightcheck things out I like what I see so now i’m following youLook forward to going over your web page repeatedly
Amy Engberson says
I’m glad you found me! I hope you enjoy browsing!
Kay Day says
I want to bake these cookies and I have about 2 1/2 cups oat flour already ground, but I can’t remember how many cups of oats I used to grind it! Can you tell me how many cups of oat flour I need?
Amy Engberson says
Hi Kay! It will depend on how finely you ground the oats. Typically a cup of oats will grind down to about 1/2 a cup of oat flour, maybe a little more. Hopefully that helps!
Kay says
Thanks, Amy. The cookies are delicious. My husband said, “They don’t taste healthy!” And he meant it in a good way in reference to previous recipes for healthy cookies that definite did taste healthy but weren’t very good. These were great!
Amy Engberson says
Haha! I have the same reaction to “healthy” in recipes and automatically think it’s not going to taste very good! Thank goodness these ones actually taste like cookies and are still pretty healthy! Glad you enjoyed them!
Michelle says
Do the oats have to be ground?
Amy Engberson says
You could leave them unground if you’d like. I prefer the texture of ground oats!
Nadia says
Can I use whole wheat flour In this recipe and can I substitute honey for the white sugar? These look so yummy! And we always have extra bananas in the house.
Amy Engberson says
I imagine you could substitute whole wheat flour and it would be fine although the texture might be a little more dense. As far as substituting honey goes I haven’t tried it but the rule I usually for substiting honey in baking is 2/3 cup honey for one cup sugar and reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees. Let me know if you try it!
Lisa says
Can you substitute the butter for anything else?
Amy Engberson says
I’m a dairy farmer, so I only use butter! We don’t buy margarine or shortening, or any other non dairy substitutes in this house! Honestly, I haven’t tried anything else because I already know butter is so yummy!
Sandi (@fearless_dining) says
Man, I could eat like 10 of these…they look so good. I love that you kept these healthy.
Amy Engberson says
Once I start eating treats I can’t contain myself! Thank goodness they are healthier than regular cookies!
Sabrina says
I love adding banana to baked goods! We always have an extra supply of bananas because my kids go through them like crazy!
Amy Engberson says
My kids always want to buy bananas but then they can’t seem to eat them all so I end up baking with them!
Nutmeg Nanny says
I love the idea of healthy cookies. These looks fabulous!
Amy Engberson says
Don’t get me wrong, I still love regular cookies but I like having a healthy cookie option in my stash of recipes!
Cathy Trochelman says
These look awesome, Amy! I love the addition of banana!
Amy Engberson says
Bananas just make everything soft and yummy!
Michelle De La Cerda says
These cookies would go over well here at my house. Anytime I am baking something I seem to get distracted too! I totally feel ya!
Amy Engberson says
Haha! It’s easy to get distracted! I love having treats ready for my kids!
Heather | All Roads Lead to the Kitchen says
I have 3 more days of packing lunches this school year, and my kids would love it if I snuck a couple of these into them. They sound great!
Amy Engberson says
Yay for summer! I always throw a little treat in my kids lunches. I think they deserve it!
Laura / I Heart Naptime says
Yum! These remind me of the cookies my husband’s grandma use to make, and we sadly did not get her recipe. I bet this is it, or verrrrry close!
Amy Engberson says
Grandma recipes are the best! Hope this one measures up!