Fan of banana bread? You’re going to love these soft and chewy Banana Bread Cookies!
Mashed banana, cinnamon and golden caster sugar give these cookies that classic banana bread flavour. I’ve also added chopped walnuts for a little crunch and milk chocolate chunks because in my opinion cookies aren’t cookies without a bit of choc 😉
About these Banana Bread Cookies
TASTE: sweet banana, warming cinnamon spice and creamy milk chocolate, all wrapped up in a cookie. Heaven!
TEXTURE: super soft and gooey with a little crunch from the walnuts.
EASE: very easy to make. The only difficult part is waiting for the cookie dough to chill.
PERFECT FOR: using up blackened bananas.
BAKING FACT: mashed banana is a great substitute for butter, oil and sugar in baking recipes.
Ingredients used to make Banana Bread Cookies
Did you know that mashed banana is a great substitute for butter or oil in recipes? They lock in moisture and give baked goods a super soft texture. That’s why if you’ve made my chewy chocolate chip cookies before, you may notice the ingredient quantities for these banana bread cookies are different to my usual recipe. They’re made with less butter and more flour to stop them from being too wet or greasy.
Here’s a quick overview of the ingredients you will need:
- A ripe blackened banana: The riper the banana the more flavour the cookies will have.
- Unsalted butter: melted butter adds to the chewy texture and rich flavour.
- Golden caster sugar: brings a caramel-like flavour and reduces spread.
- Light brown sugar: locks in added moisture and keeps the cookies soft in the middle.
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk: the extra egg yolk improves the chewy texture.
- Self-raising flour: banana bread cookies need more flour than usual to counter act the moisture from the bananas.
- Cinnamon: banana and cinnamon are a flavour match made in heaven. If you’re not a fan of cinnamon, you can leave it out.
- Salt: helps balance the sweetness.
- Vanilla extract: a splash of vanilla lifts the flavour of the cookie dough.
- Optional add-ins: chopped walnuts and milk chocolate chunks. If you would prefer to leave the walnuts out, increase the milk chocolate to 200g.
Recipe tip 1: make the banana bread cookie dough ahead of time
A super important step when making these banana bread cookies is chilling the cookie dough. The dough will need to chill out in the fridge for at least 5 hours or up to 24 hours for best results (more on this further down). So here’s what I would suggest… plan ahead and make the dough the day before you want to bake the cookies. Making the dough only takes 10 mins, so just whip it together then pop in the fridge ready for the next day.
Recipe tip 2: chill the dough for best results
The number one cookie-related question I’m asked is “why do I need to chill the dough?”
So, let me explain…
- Chilled dough = less spread in the oven = thicker cookies
- Chilled dough = flavours have time to develop = better flavour
Chilling the dough isn’t always required, it just depends on the recipe and ingredients in the cookies. For example, the oats in my oatmeal cookies recipe soak up a lot of the moisture so the dough doesn’t need to be chilled.
Recipe tip 3: keep the cookie dough chilled whilst baking
The mashed banana adds lots of moisture to the cookie dough, so it will be wetter and stickier than usual. That’s why I would recommend keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge whilst you roll and bake the cookies in batches.
I rolled 8 cookies at a time and baked them on 2 large flat baking trays with 4 cookies on each. Once the first batch were baked, I left the cookies to cool on the baking tray for 15 mins, then used a spatula to transfer them to a flat surface. At this point, I took the remaining cookie dough out of the fridge, rolled it into balls and baked the second batch of cookies.
Equipment used to make this recipe
Looking for more sweetness?
Banana Bread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 large Ripe banana
- 130 g Unsalted butter
- 100 g Golden caster sugar
- 150 g Light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 medium Whole egg at room temperature
- 1 medium Egg yolk at room temperature
- 320 g Self-raising flour
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- 1.5 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 100 g Walnuts If you're not adding milk chocolate, increase the walnuts to 200g
- 100 g Milk chocolate If you're not adding walnuts, increase the milk chocolate to 200g
Instructions
Start by making the banana bread cookie dough
- Mash the banana in a large bowl with a fork or potato masher, making sure there are no big lumps. Set aside for now.
- Measure the butter into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30-60 seconds until the butter has melted.
- Add the melted butter to the mashed bananas, along with the golden caster sugar, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, whole egg and egg yolk. Mix everything together until fully combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir the flour, salt and cinnamon together. Tip into the banana mixture and fold together until the mixture comes together into a cookie dough.
- Roughly chop up the walnuts and milk chocolate into small chunks (saving a handful of each for later) and fold into the cookie dough.
- Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours or up to 24 hours for best results*.
Roll and bake the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) and line two large, flat baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Take the cookie dough out of the fridge.
- Scoop up heaped tablespoons of cookie dough and use your hands to roll them into balls. Place on the baking trays and do not flatten. You will need to leave space between each cookie so they have room to spread out. I'd suggest baking 4-6 cookies on a baking tray at a time and bake them in batches. Just keep the cookie dough in the fridge in-between batches so it doesn't get too soft or sticky*.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies should be golden on the outside but pale and soft in the middle. Don't worry if the middle still looks under-baked, this is how they are meant to be and the cookies will carry on baking as they cool down.
- Whilst the cookies are still warm, push the leftover milk chocolate and walnut chunks into the top of each cookie and use a round cutter to scoot them into shape.
- Leave the cookies on the baking tray to cool down and firm up for 15 minutes. This will improve the cookie texture so try to resist the temptation to tuck in straight away.
- Store your banana bread cookies at room temperature, in an airtight container, for 2-3 days.
Notes
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