Banana Cookies
These banana cookies taste like your favorite banana bread, but in cookie form! Feel free to omit the nuts or swap in chocolate chips, if desired.
These banana cookies are practically perfect. No, scratch that. They are perfect!
They’re easy to make, use ingredients you likely have on hand already, and share the same flavors as my favorite banana bread recipe. Even better, the cookie dough doesn’t have to be chilled before being scooped and baked.
I used this recipe to make banana nut cookies, but you’re welcome to omit the walnuts. Or, swap in your favorite baking chips.
This is a great recipe to have tucked up your sleeve for when you need to use up those brown bananas on your counter!
Ingredients in This Recipe
Because these cookies are made with bananas, they end up being incredibly soft, chewy, and flavorful. Let’s quickly go over the ingredients needed for this recipe.
- All-purpose flour: Be sure to spoon and level the flour when measuring it. This will prevent you from accidentally measuring out too much.
- Baking soda: Gives the cookies some lift.
- Ground cinnamon and salt: Add lots of flavor and perfectly complement the mashed banana.
- Unsalted butter: Always use unsalted butter when baking, because the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between brands.
- Sugar: I used a mixture of granulated sugar and light brown sugar to make this recipe. The mashed banana is already quite sweet, so I used slightly less sugar than I would in a typical cookie recipe.
- Bananas: Make sure to use overripe bananas with a lot of brown specks on them. If you need to ripen your bananas faster, place them in a brown paper bag for a couple of days.
- Egg yolk: The mashed banana helps bind together the cookie dough, so you need just one egg yolk. Save the egg white in an airtight container to use in your morning egg scramble.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract will give the best flavor.
- Walnuts: These are completely optional, so feel free to omit them or swap them out with another mix-in like chocolate chips.
How to Make Banana Cookies
These easy banana cookies come together very quickly. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars until well combined. Then, mix in the mashed banana, egg yolk, and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir until just combined. If making banana nut cookies, you’d want to mix in the chopped walnuts at this point.
Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough and drop onto three parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Leave some room between each cookie dough ball as the cookies will spread in the oven.
Bake the cookies until the edges are slightly browned and the tops are just set. They’ll continue to set up as they cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
I recommend transferring the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Can the Cookie Dough Be Frozen?
This recipe makes about 32 cookies, so you’re welcome to scoop out the dough and freeze it for later. To do so, scoop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, slightly flatten each ball of cookie dough, and freeze for 1 to 2 hours.
Then, store in a large freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. You may bake the cookie dough from frozen, but you’ll likely need to add 1 to 2 minutes to the total bake time.
Can the Walnuts Be Omitted?
Yes! I love making this recipe as banana nut cookies, but I know some people can’t have nuts. If that’s the case, you may omit the walnuts entirely or substitute them with chocolate chips.
Baking Tips
- Make sure to bring the butter and egg to room temperature before starting this recipe. To quickly bring the egg to room temperature, set it in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes.
- You’ll want to use very ripe bananas for this banana cookie recipe. The more brown spots the bananas have, the sweeter they’ll be.
- I used just 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in this recipe, but you’re welcome to add more if you’re a cinnamon lover. As written, the cookies will have a subtle cinnamon flavor to them without it being too overpowering.
More Banana Desserts to Make!
Banana Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (315 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter (softened)
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (125 grams) mashed banana
- 1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (90 grams) chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line three large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined.
- Mix in the mashed banana, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, then mix in the chopped walnuts on low-speed until fully incorporated.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each ball of cookie dough.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned and the tops are set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
When I see “Best” in the title of a recipe I usually tell myself “Yeah, they all say that” but boy is this one ever accurate! These cookies are delicious, light and soft. Hands down the best cookies (of any flavor) I’ve ever had! I doubled the cinnamon because I just love the taste but thar banana still shined right through! 11/10!
These were very good. I had about three of the cookies spread out, but not sure why. I decided not to make banana nut bread and make these instead.
Oh my Gosh!
These are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made. Soft and tasty.
Made these and I thought they were very good, I actually made a carmel frosting and spread on top.
I made recipe no nuts added 1 ripe banana and cream cheese chips. Delicious! I like the soft texture and banana cream flavor.
I love these cookies! Definitely making them again when I have an old banana! I followed recipe as written except used only ½tsp of cinnamon. I chilled the dough & used a 3T scoop baking for 13-14 minutes. I also used both chopped walnuts & about ⅔C chocolate chips. Dense, chewy & delicious. I may never make banana bread again!
I just made these cookies earlier and they were delicious!! I did use pecans and a few chocolate chips instead of walnuts. They were a big hit!! Thanks so much for the recipe!!?
I found the dough a little soft to make into balls. I put it it the fridge for an hour. The cookies were perfect.
OMG!! I made these cookies and my family and I just love them the sugar in these cookies was just perfect and so chewy. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Can’t wait to try another of your recipes. Thank you
Thank you, Martha! I’m glad you loved the cookies!
These are fantastic and my kids love them! I follow the recipe exactly and they turned out perfect. Thank you so much for a great banana cookie recipe!
These were delicious. Had to use walnuts AND chocolate chips. LOL. But I would decrease or omit the cinnamon. Just my preference. I will bake these again!
Second comment 24 hours after baking: Wow! the Banana Cookies taste significantly better after resting overnight in a covered container. Just like Banana Bread, these cookies absolutely benefit from sitting for a day. The Maldon Sea Salt also takes them up a notch – highly recommend! I may substitute dark brown sugar for the light next time to intensify the caramel notes. They could also be drizzled with your salted caramel sauce. These are a soft and chewy cookie.
I made the Banana Cookies as directed, without walnuts or chocolate chips. I used a #40 cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoons). The recipe yielded exactly 33 cookies. I chilled the dough for 30 minutes ( I almost always chill my cookie dough, as it prevents spreading and often chill overnight to improve flavor and further hydrate the flour). The cookies took 13 minutes in my oven at 350 (keep in mind that the dough was chilled). They turned out very well but the flavor needed a boost. Baked banana is not my favorite flavor (I make fantastic Banana Bread and everyone likes it better than I do). I sprinkled Maldon Sea Salt on the second batch and it made all the difference! I don’t like the banana flavor enough to likely bake these cookiues again. I imagine you could substitute an equal amount of canned pumpkin and increase the spices – but there are better pumpkin cookies to be had.
Thank you for the recipe.
Would you say that these cookies are on the soft cakey side or the dense fudge-y side?
Hi, Deja! They’re denser, similar to a chocolate chip cookie.