Banana Breakfast Cookies
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 to 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.
Video
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.
Nutrition
Adapted from Food Network
Post originally published on September 17, 2015.
Made these today because my husband was complaining that we "bought bananas so we could let them rot for banana bread" =0) Sooo I decided to search for an alternative to the bread. THESE ARE AMAZING! I love how simple they are. I added chocolate chips, pecans and raisins. I will try pistachios and dried cranberries next time!
Question though.... can these be frozen and unthawed one at a time you think? I would love to make these ahead for our church meals to give our shut-ins an easy healthy breakfast "treat".
Thanks!
Yes, Cassie...freezing them to thaw one at a time works great! How kind of you to want to make some to share with others. 🙂
These are wonderful!! I added peanuts and raisins.
Tested these as baked cookies. Changed up the recipe a bit as well, since I didn't have any chocolate chips, I added 2 tablespoons of chocolate powder.
Tip: I realized the recipe is amazing simply as raw dough! Used it as a spread on pancakes, as a pudding with mixed fruit or simply to have a spoonful as a snack. Yum!
Thank you for the recipe!
Well, I made these today and 1) I was eating the batter, 2) my niece and brother stole a bunch, and 3) my mom said it’s better than banana bread. Very easy, definitely will make again. Thank you!!
I made these yesterday so we could "test drive" them this morning. YUM! My 3 bananas was just over a cup when mashed, and I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I baked them for 18 minutes, and the cookies turned out great! So happy to have another recipe for over ripe bananas. Will definitely make again and again.
I seached the comments to see if anyone just spread the dough for bars instead of cookies? As I get older I just want to scoop the batter in a pan and bake...would it work instead of plopping the dough as cookies?
yes, that would work. however the cooking time may be a little longer since it's essentially one big cookie.
Awesome!!! So delicious. Exactly what I've been looking for.
Love these! Thank you for a fantastic change from muffins, they taste great!
Wholesome ingredients, easy and great texture! I doubled and froze for quick morning and lunch snacks. Next time I will double the cinnamon and maybe add some cloves.
These are great, thanks for the recipe. I too added and egg but appreciate that you don’t have too. I only used 1 tablespoon of honey and increased the raisins to 1/2 cup to counter the lack of sweetness. Trying to reduce my sugar but A girls gotta live right?
I made these, and they were wonderful. They were a bit thicker than yours because of the size of my quarter cup, but still baked well. Ultimately I loved that they were just so easy to mix up and I feel better eating these in the morning than I do eating a muffin or similar baked good (though I always have run for a muffin!). I added chocolate chips, and used maple syrup instead of honey because my honey had seized up on me.l
These are amazing! Whipped up a batch this morning and so yummy. Not too sweet, or “banana-ee” or peanutty. They are the perfect balance of flavors and super easy to throw together. I didn’t exactly measure my bananas and the mixture came out too wet. I guesstimated about 1/4 of the other ingredients would be needed to correct this and…viola! Perfection on a cookie sheet. Thanks, Samantha 😊
These were so easy to make, and they were super tasty! I can't believe it was filled with healthy items. I am making a double batch so we have plenty to freeze and pop out as needed!
My 18 month old grandson enjoys these so much. He has gotten so picky. I added an egg so they wouldn't be so crumbly when he eats them.
The dough came out for me too runny for cookies -- not like the dough in the video, a nice scoopable dough. I think this recipe sort of depends on whether one uses (1) natural peanut butter, or peanut butter with sugars added. Seed or nut butters that separate (natural) seem to be the problem in causing the dough to be runny, and (2) whether one uses quick oats or 'old fashioned' oats. I only had whole, old fashioned oats, so clearly, they absorbed less of the 'wet' ingredients. I made it work by making it into a bread and adding traditional ingredients for a banana bread. Thanks for the recipe, even though for me it didn't quite work this time.
I think the oat type is key. We use natural peanut butter, and it made a perfect dough. But I can imagine the old fashioned oats being much less absorbant.
I followed the recipe and they starting burning on the top less than 5 min into the baking time. What gives?
I turned off oven and covered lightly with foil to try to salvage them by I do not have high hopes. Oven was on bake- 350.
I'm not sure, Maria. If the tops started burning after only 5 minutes at 350°F, it sounds like an oven issue...the pan could have been too close to the burner or maybe the oven was accidentally set to convection? That definitely shouldn't happen.
Made a batch of these this weekend for the workweek ahead. They are super easy to make and taste good. I added raisins this time, but think I'll try blueberries next time. Two cookies and smoothie had me full until lunch. Thanks for sharing!!
I don't like chocolat that much and I can't find a cookie or muffin recipe with fruits which is a nonsense to me. Can I use frozen blueberries in it or it's too liquid? Thanks!
Frozen blueberries will work great! 🙂
My daughters and I LOVE these cookies. I do the recipe exactly as stated and they come out perfect every time. If we aren’t going to eat these within a couple of days I individually wrap them in foil and place them in a freezer ziploc or container. So easy to grab for on the go. They thaw pretty quickly or sometime we microwave them for 15-20 seconds. Perfect! Great for a mid morning or afternoon snack too!