Banana Breakfast Cookies make a wholesome, yummy breakfast on-the-go. This banana recipe is naturally sweetened, gluten-free, and perfect for using up ripe bananas!
Craving even more healthy-ish cookies? You might enjoy Wholesome Breakfast Cookies, One-Bowl Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Oatmeal Lunchbox Cookies!
Are you always on the hunt for new, different banana recipes? Well, if so...may I interest you in a COOKIE FOR BREAKFAST?!?!
Ingredients
Oh. Do I have your attention now?
Good.
Because that's exactly what I'm sharing today...Banana Breakfast Cookies that are loaded with banana and oatmeal, studded with chopped nuts, kissed with peanut butter (or your favorite nut/non-nut butter), and sweetened with a touch of honey.
What Makes Them Great
Aside from satisfying your search for banana recipes to use up an ongoing abundance of ripe bananas, these Banana Breakfast Cookies have a few other things going for them:
- They're easy to make.
- They're healthy.
- They're downright delicious!
- They're also gluten-free (as long as you make them with certified GF oats).
- And you can even make them vegan (using agave syrup or kosher maple syrup in place of the honey), in case you happen to care about those kinds of things.
My kids actually don't care about the pedigree of their breakfast. Their primary concern is that breakfast tastes good...better yet if it's served under the guise of dessert. So yup...anytime "breakfast" and "cookie" are used in the same breath, my offspring are pretty much guaranteed to be immediate fans.
And have I mentioned that this is a great recipe for your how-am-I-going-to-use-up-all-of-these-ripe-bananas file???
I don't know about you, but I buy extra bananas every time I go the grocery store just so I'll have ripe bananas to bake with...and then I scramble to use them up before they go bad. What can I say...it's an illness.
Optional Add-Ins
In addition to all of the good-for-you ingredients stuffed into these, feel free to add a handful of chocolate chips or raisins if you wish to balance out all of that goodness with a bit of sweet decadence. 😉
How to Make Them
Finally, these Banana Breakfast Cookies are an absolute cinch to make. No mixer is even required! Simply...
- Mash the 'nanners.
- Dump all of the ingredients into a bowl.
- Mix with a wooden spoon.
- Plop the resulting (stiff) dough onto a cookie sheet.
- Then pop the pan in the oven and wait patiently for your breakfast of champions to emerge!
These treats are not only perfect as a quick breakfast on a busy morning or even for eating on the run, but they're also excellent tucked into a lunchbox or enjoyed as a snack.
That's all folks! This is guaranteed to become one of your favorite banana recipes...easy, tasty, healthy Banana Breakfast Cookies!
Now you can have your banana oatmeal cookies (for breakfast)...and eat them, too. 😉
More Overripe Banana Recipes
- Chocolate Banana Smoothie
- Zucchini Banana Bread
- The BEST Banana Pancakes
- Soft Baked Banana Oatmeal Bars
Banana Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed banana, from approximately 2 large or 3 medium overripe bananas
- ½ cup peanut butter, or your favorite nut or non-nut butter, like almond butter or sunflower seed butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup chopped pecans, or your favorite nut
- ¼ cup chocolate chips or raisins, optional
Instructions
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Measure oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl; whisk to combine. Stir in mashed banana, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, pecans, and chocolate chips. Scoop dough using a scant ¼-cup measuring cup for form 12 cookies. Flatten the top of each cookie on the baking sheet and bake for 14 to 16 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- For slightly sweeter cookies, you may increase honey to ¼ cup.
- Cookies will not spread, so its shape on the baking sheet is how it will look once it's baked.
- For gluten-free cookies, just be sure to use GF certified oats. For vegan cookies, you may substitute agave nectar or kosher maple syrup for the honey.
Adapted from Food Network
Post originally published on September 17, 2015.
Tara
Actually these are soo good. We are trying to eat more healthy foods instead of prepackaged snacks. Unfortunately I didn’t have any honey and I subbed in a tablespoon of brown sugar. I used 3 large bananas and 1/4 cups of choc chips bc it’s all I had. But my 11 yr old gives them 5 stars.
Erin C
I made a double batch of these today with 5 overripe bananas and they are soooooo good! I planned to give 1 dozen to my brother but couldn't part with them, so I'm only giving him 6 LOL ! They are soooooo good! I love the texture and they are not overly sweet. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Pamela Patenaude
SO DELICIOUS !!! I added coconut and flax . Thank you
Pamela
Jane
Would these freeze well? I have about 8 overripe bananas I would love to use up with this recipe.
Samantha Skaggs
Yes! 🙂
Karli
These were so easy to make and pretty tasty too.
Denise
Excellent recipe. Had 1 1/2 ripe bananas so I restructured the amounts of everything and added a tsp of ground flax to make even more healthy. Used raisins and 4 small bars of regular milk chocolate. Baked longer and reduced temp to 325 after 15 mins for another 10. Super delicious. Thanks for posting. Deno.
Linda
Oh my goodness, I just came across this post and recipe! I have never tasted such a good, healthy 'cookie'! I just hope I can wait for more bananas to ripen now! LOL I'll definitely be making these on a regular basis. Thank you for sharing!
Candi
Hello,
I've made these twice now (I always have an abundance of over rippened bananas...), added raisins and semi sweet chocolate chips both times, and they are amazing!!! The second time I made them I cut the rolled oats with a pastry blender so I didn't have to dirty my food processor, lol!! They came out just as good!! Thank you for sharing!! My only question is, how long do they last in the fridge??
Samantha Skaggs
So glad you enjoy these, Candi! I usually keep them in a container at room temperature for a couple of days and, if they last longer than that, transfer them to the fridge for up to a week. 🙂
Candi
Thank you so much!! 😁😁😁
Nicole
How many cookies at a time is a serving size and what are the nutrition facts? I looked and looked and couldn't find.
Samantha Skaggs
The recipe makes 12 cookies and one serving equals one cookie (at the top of the recipe card). The estimated nutrition facts for one serving are at the bottom of the recipe card. Hope that helps! 🙂
Nancy
Can you use steel cut oats? That is all I have and I want to try these. Thanks
Samantha Skaggs
No, I'm afraid steel cut oats can't be substituted for regular oats or quick oats because steel cut oats take so much longer, and require more liquid, to soften and cook.
Natalia
Can I use old fashioned oats instead?
Samantha Skaggs
Those will work, Natalia! Your cookies will just have extra texture, and you may need to add slightly more oats for the right consistency of the cookie dough (since quick oats are finer and more pack into a measuring cup). Enjoy! 🙂
Lindsay
Oh my gosh?! These are INCREDIBLE. such a good snack for “that time of the month” to keep me off of wanting more sugary things! I used old fashioned oats with the same measurements and they came out very soft, moist, and delicious. Trying not to eat the whole batch in one sitting!
Robin Rouch
I just made these and they are great! I did use 1/4 cup of sugar-free maple syrup instead of honey, almond butter, and increased the oats to 2-1/4 cups because dough was too runny. I baked for 16 minutes, but needed more time. Next time I will bake for 18 minutes. They fit into my nutrisystem food plan as 1 protein and 2 carba, but well worth it! Delicious! Kudos!
Lisa
Will definitely make these again! I made a peanut butter, walnut and date version, with a bit of added maple syrup and they were easy to make and delicious!
R
I've been making these cookies since 2015 and they're delicious! I use crunchy peanut butter instead of adding pecans, and I use dark chocolate chips and they come out amazing! 🙂
Sarah
These breakfast cookies are so good. I made them at 3:30 pm and by 5:30 I'd eating five of them while prepping for dinner 😛
I liked the sound of another review and added chia seeds and hemp hearts. I also had a little less chocolate chips than suggested so I threw in a bit of cocoa powder. They are so yummy! Absolutely will be making these again.
Karla
Made these whenever I had 3 ripe bananas I didn’t want to just discard.
They were sooo good. I’m mailing some to my son whose away at college. He’s going to love them.
Caroline
Love these cookies! Perfect snack while out hiking or bike riding and they freeze really well. To cover all of the energy bases, I add chopped pecans, dried apricots and dark chocolate chunks, plus a little extra kosher salt. I also use old-fashioned oats, since that's what I have in the house.
Joyce
I followed the recipe except omitted the honey and added 1/4 cup flaxseeds, 1 egg, 1/2.cup wheat flour. Turned out more dough cookies. NExt time I’ll use chunky peanut butter instead. Thank for sharing
Lisa Kelderman
These are absolutely amazing. I added slightly less flour and added a full scoop of peanut butter protein powder to give them some extra protein and flavor. Delicious!!
Rosemary
This is the best recipe for breakfast cookies, EVER! I got 12 cookies and ate two as soon as they cooled and sitting here wanting more. Thank you for this recipe!
Loo
We are a "no waste" household and we had way too many ripe bananas leftover and this recipe helped us use them up.These are absolutely wonderful! The only change I made is I added a tablespoon of Chia seeds so that they will keep us Fuller longer throughout the day till lunch time. Now that we are back in school, it makes a quick grab and go for the morning. Thank you so much for such a great recipe!
Christine Riggs
Very yummy, but a little more guidance on the bake, please. Are these meant to be chewy, soft baked or crispier cookies? I did 15 minutes, but they are quite soft. Not mushy, but very soft. Not worried about eating them if slightly underbaked as there are no eggs in them or anything else to worry about. So, they are delicious, I just think they maybe should have baked a little longer? What do you think?
Samantha Skaggs
Hi Christine! I would say these cookies are intended to turn out soft-baked. You can bake them longer if you prefer a firmer cookie, but I don't think they'll ever get truly "crispy." Hope that helps and glad you enjoyed them! 🙂