This banana bread cookie recipe takes everything you love about banana bread and turns it into a soft and crispy cookie form. Warm gooey chocolate chips, crunchy walnuts, and two ripe bananas make for a sweet banana bread-cookie mashup.
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Yes, these cookies have all the classic banana bread flavors but their structure and texture are 100% cookie. I tried so many recipe variations until I created the perfect batch that was soft on the inside but still had the perfect crunchy and crispy outer crumb.
OTHER RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles // Chocolate Horchata
This cookie recipe also has the perfect ratio of walnuts and chocolate chips, which gives the ideal thickness and texture. Whenever I have two ripe bananas, this is the family favorite I'm whipping up!
Healthy highlight: These banana bread cookies are loaded with walnuts, which gives a boost in protein and fiber. Also, there are two ripe bananas in the dough, which provides some natural sweetness.
📸 See How to Make Banana Bread Cookies
This cookie recipe follows a classic creaming method where you whip the butter and sugar together before mixing in the other ingredients. While these cookie instructions are pretty traditional, what's a little unique about this recipe is that the egg was replaced by two ripe bananas! Other than that swap, this banana bread cookie recipe doesn't have any other surprises.
After preheating the oven and prepping the sheet pan:
- Whisk the dry ingredients (minus the sugar) together, then set aside.
- Using a mixer cream the butter and sugar.
- Mix in the banana and vanilla extract.
- Whisked dry ingredients, walnuts, and chocolate chips until just combined.
- Using a ¼ cup measure, portion out the cookies and bake!
- Check out the recipe card below for more detailed recipe instructions -
🎯 Cookie Baking Tips
Below are a few troubleshooting tips and fun tricks I discovered throughout my many recipe tests. I thought through all the potential recipe snags so you can make the best banana bread cookies ever!
Quickly softening butter:
Forgot to leave the butter out on the countertop to soften before baking? Soften butter in a pinch with a hot mug!
Fill a tall mug with boiling hot water and wait a minute for the heat to saturate through. Then, stand the butter vertically, toss the hot water into the sink and completely cover the cold butter with the warmed-up mug and the radiant heat will perfectly soften the butter. Wait about 10 minutes and repeat if necessary.
Best way to mash your bananas:
Mashing your ripe bananas in a shallow bowl with the back of a fork will give you the perfect pureed consistency. Use this technique for any recipe that requires a mashed banana, like banana bread.
The consistency should be a smooth puree with some small banana chunks throughout.
Something is oozing out of my cookies!
During my first few recipe tests, I kept getting two or three 'oozing cookies.' It looked like runny caramel and kept happening to the last few cookies I would scoop onto the sheet pan.
I quickly realized, the oozing was actually banana that was sitting in the bottom of the bowl and that was never fully incorporated into the dough. Avoid the ooze by scraping the bottom of the bowl after mixing in the banana, making sure everything is evenly blended together.
❄️ How to Freeze Cookies
There are two ways you can freeze your leftovers - freezing the raw dough and freezing the fully-baked banana bread cookies. Freezing options are really nice if you have a lot of overripe bananas and need to double/triple this recipe or if you just want to preserve your leftover banana bread cookies to enjoy for weeks to come!
Freezing your uncooked cookie dough:
- Scoop and portion out your dough using a ¼th cup measure, then place the dough scoops on a freezer-safe plate or sheet pan. The key is to leave some space between the dough and not let them touch. Place the plate level in the freezer for at least 24 hours.
2. Transfer the frozen cookie dough to a dated and labeled bag or container. The dough pieces can be touching but should be stored flat. Freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to bake, you can take the dough straight from the freezer to the oven, no need to thaw! Just add 5 extra minutes to the total bake time.
Freezing fully baked banana bread cookies:
This is my favorite trick for having cookies on-demand! To freeze, lay your banana bread cookies flat and not stacked on top of each other in a dated and labeled freezer bag, then store them flat in the freezer. Whenever you want a cookie, pull them out and thaw for a few minutes at room temperature. These cookies will last up to 12 months in the freezer.
📍 Recommended tools and ingredients
Below are Amazon affiliate links to the exact equipment and ingredient brands I used to make this banana bread cookie recipe and all other recipes I create.
My Recommended Recipe Tools & Ingredients
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Custom Metallic KitchenAid Stand Mixer
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DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate & comment in the section below or tag me on Instagram @mymillennialkitchen. I’d love to know if you made any ingredient swaps or if you have any questions!
Print📖 Recipe
Banana Bread Cookies
Everything you love about banana bread has been turned into soft and crispy cookie form! Gooey chocolate chips, crunchy walnuts, and two ripe bananas make this the best banana bread cookie recipe ever.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 13 - 14 Cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and shake to level)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons of butter (1 stick, softened to room temperature NOTES 1 & 2)
- 1 cup white sugar
- ¾ cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium ripe bananas - See NOTE 3)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prep: Set the oven to 325˚F and line a baking sheet with tinfoil.
- Whisk some of the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until evenly distributed and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar: Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl for 2-3 minutes on high speed until it looks like fluffy wet sand - See NOTE 4. Scrape the bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the wet ingredients: Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the mashed banana and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix together for about 20-30 seconds until well combined. Ensure the banana is incorporated into the mixture by scraping the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients: Continuing with the mixer speed on low, slowly add your whisked dry ingredients to the bowl and mix only until just combined (do not over mix!) Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all wet ingredients have had a chance to mix with the dry ingredients. Lastly, add the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips to the bowl and slowly mix until evenly distributed.
- Scoop and bake: Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop out the cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving two inches between each cookie to spread out. Sometimes, I use a small dinner spoon to help scoop out the dough from the ¼th cup measure. Bake for about 24-27 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet and enjoy!
Notes
The equipment and ingredients linked are affiliate links. I only list the brands I personally used for this recipe and highly recommend.
NOTE 1: Unsalted butter is best for this recipe but if you use salted butter, skip the granulated salt ingredient.
NOTE 2: If you need to quick soften your butter, here is a quick trick! Fill a tall mug with boiling hot water and wait a minute for the heat to saturate through. Then, stand the butter vertically, pour out the hot water and completely cover the cold butter with the hot mug and the radiant heat will perfectly soften the butter. Wait about 10 minutes and repeat if necessary.
NOTE 3: The easiest way to mash your bananas is in a shallow bowl and mashing with the back of a fork. The consistency will be like a smooth puree with as few chunks as possible.
NOTE 4: I like to start my mixer on a low speed for the first 5-10 seconds so the sugar has a chance to mix with the butter. If I start the mixer on too high of a speed too soon, the loose sugar will go flying out of the bowl and all over the counter!
Storing: Once the cookies have fully cooled, store in a sealed container on the counter for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 7 days.
Freezer Instructions:
- To freeze your raw cookie dough: Pre-scoop each cookie using a ¼th cup measure and place the dough on a freezer-safe dish or baking sheet. Align the dough scoops so they are all in one even layer, not touching each other. Cover the dish or sheet pan and place flat and level in the freezer. After the about 24 hours, transfer the frozen dough scoops to a labeled and dated freezer-safe bag and store laying flat. Freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to bake, take the dough scoops straight from the freezer to the baking sheet and add 5 more minutes to the bake time.
- To freeze fully baked cookies: Lay your banana bread cookies flat and not stacked on top of each other in a dated and labeled freezer bag, then store them flat in the freezer. Whenever you want a cookie, pull them out and thaw for a few minutes at room temperature. These cookies will last up to 12 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 21
- Sodium: 88
- Fat: 14.5
- Saturated Fat: 6
- Carbohydrates: 37
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 4
- Cholesterol: 17
Keywords: Banana bread cookies
A big thanks to my Dietetic Interns who helped me recipe test, photograph, and analyze the nutrition of this recipe!
Mary says
Super satisfying! Tastes like a real cookie not too soft.
★★★★★
Diana Kinsfather says
These look wonderful and can't wait to make! Greatly appreciate the tips and picture of oozing banana (something that would totally happen to me)!
Michele Sidorenkov, RDN says
Thanks Diana! And yes, it took me a while to figure out the oozing. Glad I could trouble shoot so you don't make the same mistake I did, haha!