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Who says you can't have cookies for breakfast? These bite-sized treats are filled with mashed banana, oats and chopped walnuts. Serve it with a cold glass of milk to start the morning, or prepare your kids for a satisfying after-school (or after-work!) snack. Both adults and children will love the soft, chewy texture and warm, tangy flavor.
It all starts with ripe bananas
When baking with bananas, it is important to wait until the bananas are at their peak ripeness. Bananas in the supermarket are often greenish-yellow and slightly unripe. These bananas are easy to peel and make a great snack, but they haven't yet developed the sweetness that makes them great for baking.
Deep yellow bananas with brown spots on the peel are best suited for baking. They may even have become too soft to peel and eat – and now is the perfect time to use them in recipes. The more spots you see, the riper the fruit has become. In fact, eventually the entire outside of the banana will turn brown.
If you're craving banana baked goods but your bananas aren't ripe enough yet, try one of these methods to help them ripen faster. Sometimes it's easier to find speckled, ripe bananas at corner stores or local bodegas than at large grocery chains. Bananas sell quickly in larger stores, so they don't stay on the shelf long enough to ripen.
Tip
About 3 bananas make 1 cup of mashed banana.
The best type of oats for baking
If you go to the breakfast section at the supermarket, you'll easily come across an entire shelf full of oatmeal. We recommend old-fashioned oat flakes for baking. These oats hold up well when baked and give the cookies a nice chewy texture.
Don't skip cooling the dough
This recipe calls for placing the finished cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Although it's tempting to skip this step, chilling the dough prevents it from spreading too much during baking. Not only is this important for achieving the ideal chewy consistency, but it also helps moisturize the dough and make it more flavorful.
Get creative with add-ins
Coarsely chopped walnuts are added to these cookies, giving them a banana bread-like flavor and texture. But you can also add other ingredients such as:
- Dried fruit
- Chopped pecans
- Desiccated coconut
- Chocolate chips
Just be careful not to add too much or the dough will be overloaded.
“These banana oatmeal cookies are an absolute delight! Because they are soft and chewy, they have a more cakey feel and are reminiscent of banana bread, but in cookie form. My four year old devoured three straight away. The addition of ground nutmeg adds a lovely flavor and complexity that makes it delicious for adults too. I used my trusty OXO cookie scoop to portion the dough and yielded exactly three dozen cookies, more than enough to enjoy with my family and share with friends.” – Patty Lee
1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Salt
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 Cup unsalted butterat room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
1 large egg
1 Cup ripe pureed Banana (from about 3 ripe bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups boiling quickly oatmeal
1/2 Cup Walnutscoarsely chopped
Gather the ingredients.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder. Put aside.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni In another large bowl, beat the softened butter, sugar and egg until fluffy.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni Stir in the banana puree and vanilla until smooth.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni Gradually stir the flour mixture and oats into the banana mixture until well combined.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni Stir in walnuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C. Line baking sheets with baking paper.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni Place on a rack to cool.
The spruce eats / Kristina Vanni Serve with a glass of milk and enjoy!
| Nutritional Information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 208 | Calories |
| 10g | Fat |
| 27g | carbohydrates |
| 3g | protein |
View full nutrition label
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| Nutritional Information | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 18 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 208 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| 10g | 13% |
| Saturated fat 5g | 26% |
| 31 mg | 10% |
| 158 mg | 7% |
| 27g | 10% |
| Fiber 2g | 5% |
| Total sugar 13g | |
| 3g | |
| Vitamin C 1 mg | 5% |
| Calcium 14 mg | 1 % |
| Iron 1 mg | 5% |
| Potassium 93 mg | 2% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) indicates how much a nutrient in a food portion contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories per day is used for general nutritional advice. | |
(Nutritional information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
