These healthy peanut butter banana cookies are full of oats, peanut butter, and sweet chocolate chunks! With no flour or butter in these cookies, these peanut butter banana cookies are a guilt-free dessert!
After strawberry pie, fudgy brownies, chewy sugar cookies, rice krispie treats, and cake (the latter 3 left over from a party), it was time to cut the junk for a few days and bring in a healthy dessert (because I can’t cut the dessert completely).
You’re probably thinking, who are you and what have you done with the real Michelle?
It’s a little unusual for me to post super healthy recipes, but I’m a baker, and when I find something that tastes good, who am I to judge if it’s made without butter or flour? It’s healthy and gluten-free!
I know.
And it tastes great.
These cookies are a cross between a cookie and a chewy granola bar. Don’t you love those Quaker Oat chewy granola bars? Especially the s’mores kind?! Of course, I love all things s’more, but those bars are top-notch for pre-packaged food.
Anyway, getting back to the point–the cookies.
Okay, so these cookies are delicious for being so healthy. Isn’t it the worst when you eat something healthy that literally tastes like cardboard? Here you are, trying to be good with your food choices, and your reward is eating tasteless, gritty sand.
Thankfully, these cookies provide a perfect combination of health with flavor. They allow you to still have your sweet tooth fix without worrying about how much sugar, flour, or butter you just consumed. Plus, these are packed with protein so they’re great as a pre or post workout snack. Or, a good on-the-go breakfast.
These cookies begin with ripe, mashed bananas, peanut butter, and oats. These 3 ingredients replace the flour, butter, and eggs that are in traditional cookies. Now, to sweeten these cookies I used a combination of cinnamon, vanilla extract, honey, pure maple syrup, and brown sugar.
I know some vegans don’t eat honey, so feel free to omit the honey and replace it with more pure maple syrup or more brown sugar. Or, if you don’t want to use brown sugar, use more honey or maple syrup. I love the flavor of brown sugar, and the small amount is very small per cookie, but feel free to omit it if you want to be totally healthy 🙂
Com’ere to me.
- 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 1/2 cups instant oats
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chunks, semi-sweet or dark
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas.
- Once mashed, add in peanut butter and mix until well combined.
- Add in maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon and mix well.
- Next, add in oats. Stir until well combined.
- Lastly, add in chocolate chunks and mix.
- For 9 large cookies, use 2-3 Tbsp of dough. The dough will be sticky, but do your best to form the dough into a cookie shape because the dough will not spread out.
- Bake for 14-15 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Adapted from Cooking Light
Jamie says
Those cookies look delicious! I love the combination of peanut butter and bananas so these are perfect for me! 🙂
Michelle says
Thanks, Jamie! 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
love the flavour combo + how relatively guilt free these cookies are. awesome recipe!
Michelle says
Thanks, Thaila! 🙂
Amy says
Can i use peanut butte granola in place of oats and peanut butter??
Michelle says
Hi Amy! I have not tried that before so I don’t know how it will turn out, but it does sound super good! If you tried it, I’d love to know if it turned out! 🙂
amber says
This sounds really good! Chocolate, banana and oats are a great combo! Also, I do love those chewy Quaker Oats bars (well, when I was a kid, I don’t eat them much anymore!) So if these are anything like those than I’ve got to try them! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’m always down for a healthy dessert!
Michelle says
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! Thanks so much, Amber! 🙂
Christine says
Hi!
I haven’t really baked for a long time and made these today! They were so yum & I made exactly 9 cookies as per your recipe so it was spot on!
Especially given I am based in the UK so it was fab the measurement conversions turned out nicely.
Thank you!
Michelle says
Thanks, Christine! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Jen says
Just made these (used sunbutter instead of pb, omitted the brown sugar and honey, increased maple syrup to 3tbsp and subbed choc chips for golden raisins and dates. They are huge hit, i had to.box majority of them up to.mail to my younger brother put of state. So.now i have my second batch in the oven! Already have a list of local fb friends “placing orders” lol
Michelle says
I am so glad, Jen! Ah, that seriously makes me so happy 🙂
Jasmine J says
Today was my puppies 2nd birthday, so I made these with only a few of the ingredients and they absolutely loved them. I made about 9 cookies and each and every one of them was eaten by me, my mom, my brother and the pups
Pat says
Going to make these later today and am so excited to try them! I bake for our Sunday School classes of 20-30 people each week and it IS a challenge this year as I have regular diet, gluten free kids and now egg free kids. Everything I serve is homemade so I have the control but like to make new things and healthy choices!
Thank you!
Meli says
Omg this is my new fave cookie recipe!! So simple to make and so delicious. It actually made twice the quantity for me, but I finished it in just 3 days, although it was A LOT! That’s how much I love it, haha!