Healthy Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (No Oil, No Refined Sugar)
Have ripe bananas? These healthy banana peanut butter oatmeal cookies are oil-free, low in added sugar, totally vegan, and delicious! They are chewy, easily-customizable, and perfect for sharing.
I love making homemade snacks for my family. Not that it’s always convenient, but if I bought protein bars or packaged snacks for every time we needed extra energy, our grocery bill would probably be double! Making snacks like these cookies saves a ton of money, and allows you to feed your family fresher foods that haven’t been on a shelf for months. You can control the ingredients, and add love to every bite.
With how fast these are to make, and how low-cost the ingredients are, they might be a new staple for you just like they are at our house.
Why You’ll Love These Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
If you love no-bake energy bites like the classic recipe I use all the time that’s in my children’s cookbook!), you’ll love these for a baked version. They are:
- low-cost
- high in fiber
- customizable (you can use almond butter or sunflower butter instead, for example, or add coconut or hemp seeds or other add-ins)
- chewy, delicious, perfectly sweet!
- healthy enough to make anytime–breakfast, snacks, dessert!
- simple and quick
- suitable for No-Sugar January since they can be totally refined-sugar-free (use date paste and omit chocolate chips)
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ripe bananas. If you don’t have any, you can also thaw out frozen ripe banana if that’s what you have at the moment. This is your healthy sweetener!
- Peanut butter, almond butter, or other nut or seed butter you like. Please, don’t use peanut butter with added sugar and palm oil! Only buy the pure stuff!
- Oats. I use rolled oats but you can also use quick oats.
- Maple syrup or date paste. Here is a blog post about how to make date paste. You can even freeze it and thaw it for uses like this.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Dairy-free chocolate chips
- Toasted pecans or walnuts (I recommend! They are so delicious. But you can skip if you have nut allergies.)
How to Make Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Mash the ripe bananas with a fork in a large bowl. Measure the mash into a measuring cupto make sure it’s about the right amount since bananas vary in size so much, or just risk it!
- Stir in the peanut butter, then the maple syrup or date paste.
- Add the remaining ingredients to form your batter. Here is where you can customize it, but don’t add too many additional ingredients like nuts, dried fruit, or seeds or the batter won’t hold together as well.
- Portion into cookies, press down slightly, and bake. Let cool to firm up, then enjoy!
FAQ’s
How to Store These Cookies?
Since there is banana in them, I store them in the fridge or freezer.
Are the cookies gluten-free?
If you use certified gluten-free oats (which ensures they are not contaminated), then yes, they are naturally gluten-free.
Other Healthy Cookie Recipes
Here are more healthy cookies that are wholesome enough for breakfast!
Almond Berry Breakfast Cookies
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies (flourless, fruit-sweetened)
Apple Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars
Healthy Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (No Oil, No Refined Sugar)
Ingredients
- 1 cup ripe mashed banana (2-3 medium bananas)
- 1 cup peanut butter*
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (or 1 cup date paste)
- 2 cups rolled oats or quick oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup dairy-free mini chocolate chips (optional) omit or use raisins
- 1 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Arrange oven racks so the lower one is not at the lowest setting (to prevent cookie bottoms from burning). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you plan to add the nuts (which I highly recommend), toast them first. On a plate in the microwave, heat the nuts for 1 minute until they smell fragrant (or in a dry skillet on the stove over medium heat). Chop and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Measure to get roughly 1 cup per batch. Add the peanut butter and maple syrup or date paste, and mix well.
- Stir in the oats, baking soda, salt, and then fold in the chocolate chips and chopped toasted nuts.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion out balls of cookie dough onto two baking sheets, lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat because they do stick to the pan otherwise. They won't spread much, so use wet fingers to press them slightly and shape them into circle shapes.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Switch pans halfway because the bottom one can burn. Let cool to finish setting up. Enjoy!I keep leftovers in the fridge or freezer because of the banana.
Notes
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Do these have almond flour in?
No, not these ones. I was making a different recipe when I made a reel you might be referring to. But then I wanted to send this one out because it’s a new favorite!