Made with pantry staples, these banana oatmeal cookies are a sweet treat that everyone will love. These cookies are perfect if you’ve got some overripe bananas hanging around your kitchen counters as they’ll make these cookies sweet and moist. Thanks to the brown sugar, butter, and oatmeal, they are also delightfully soft and chewy, making it difficult to eat just one of these cookies per sitting.
Whether you’re enjoying these cookies as a snack or dessert, you’re going to wish you’d made more. Luckily, these cookies are freezer-friendly and last a few days at room temperature, so making extra is never a mistake. Want to make another oatmeal-based treat? Try making my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe, oatmeal raisin cookies recipe, or peanut butter oatmeal cookies recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Baking soda — the cookie dough is heavy due to the rolled oats, so the baking soda helps lift the cookies. Double-check the baking soda to ensure it’s not expired.
Banana — overripe bananas are a must for this recipe, so they’ll mash up effortlessly. The more brown spots on the bananas, the sweeter they’ll be for the cookies.
Butter — when buying butter, be sure to pick up unsalted butter instead of salted butter. Be sure to bring the butter to room temperature beforehand. If the butter is cold, it’ll be challenging to cream it with the sugars. Press your finger into the butter to tell when butter is at room temperature. Your finger leaves a dent if the butter is room temperature.
Sugars — this cookie recipe uses both white sugar and brown sugar. White sugar provides structure, and brown sugar gives the cookies a slight caramel flavor while keeping the cookies moist.
Rolled oats — you need to use rolled oats. Do not use quick oats or steel-cut oats for this cookie recipe. Quick oats will fall apart, whereas steel-cut oats will lead to an undesirable cookie texture.
Chocolate chip cookies — you can use bittersweet chocolate, dark chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Alternatively, you can roughly chop up a chocolate bar for a more rustic look.
How to Make Banana Oatmeal Cookies
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
2. Mash the banana with a fork.
3. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars. Beat until combined before adding the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl, and add the mashed banana.
4. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips.
5. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated.
6. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon-sized mounds onto the lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- The cookies will not spread or flatten much as they bake, so be sure to create the shape you want beforehand by flattening them if you want a flatter cookie.
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour can really affect the taste and texture of the cookies. The easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale for the most accurate results. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, spoon it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- Make sure your brown sugar is soft and moist for the best banana oatmeal cookies. If your brown sugar has hardened, don’t worry, it’s an easy fix! I wrote a detailed post on how to soften brown sugar.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies, or they’ll become hard as they’ll continue to bake while they cool. The middle should still be soft when you pull them out.
- Room temperature eggs will mix more evenly into the creamed butter. Place your egg into a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes if you’ve forgotten to take it out of the fridge beforehand. Doing so will quickly bring it to room temperature.
- Make sure to line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat so your cookies don’t stick. It also prevents the bottom of the cookies from getting too brown and crispy.
- Mix-ins such as dried fruit or chopped nuts make a great addition to cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I quickly ripen a banana?
If your banana isn’t ripe enough to mash, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 10 minutes or until the skin blackens and the banana is soft. Allow the banana to cool a bit, then peel, transfer to a bowl, and mash it up! If you have some almost ripe bananas and a little time, you can store them in a closed paper bag, and the ethylene they naturally emit will speed up the ripening process.
Why are my cookies hard?
If your cookies come out hard, it means you’ve overbaked them. As the cookies continue to harden as they cool, the cookies should still look soft when you pull them out of the oven. Another reason the cookies may be hard is adding too much white sugar. White sugar makes cookies more flat and crisp, so be sure to double-check the measurements of the sugar.
How do you keep cookies soft and chewy?
To keep the cookies soft and chewy, use brown sugar! Do not replace brown sugar with white sugar if you do not have brown sugar. Check out my post on how to make brown sugar if you’ve run out.
How do I store leftovers?
Store any leftover banana oatmeal cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature.
Can I freeze these cookies?
Once the cookies have cooled, transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 2 months, and when ready to enjoy, thaw on the counter until they’ve reached room temperature.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Banana Oatmeal Cookies recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Stand or electric mixer
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment paper
- Cookie scoop or spoons
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113g)
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar (165g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large/250g)
- 3½ cups old fashioned oats (350g)
- 1 cup chocolate chips (180g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl, and add the mashed banana. Beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips. Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon-sized mounds onto the lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. (For flatter cookies, gently press the mounds down with lightly greased fingers.)
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden around the edges and the centers appear dry. Let the cookies cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Continue baking the remaining dough. Cool cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or frozen for a few months.
Notes
- The cookies will not spread or flatten a lot as they bake, so be sure to create the shape you want beforehand by flattening them if you want a flatter cookie.
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour can really affect the taste and texture of the cookies. The easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale for the most accurate results. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, spoon it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- Make sure your brown sugar is soft and moist for the best cookies. If your brown sugar has hardened, don’t worry, it’s an easy fix! I wrote a detailed post on how to soften brown sugar.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies, or they’ll become hard as they’ll continue to bake as they cool. The middle should still be soft when you pull them out.
- Room temperature eggs will mix more evenly into the creamed butter. Place your egg into a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes if you’ve forgotten to take it out of the fridge beforehand. Doing so will quickly bring it to room temperature.
- Make sure to line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat so your cookies don’t stick. It also prevents the bottom of the cookies from getting too brown and crispy.
- Mix-ins such as dried fruit or chopped nuts make a great addition to cookies.
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