Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies
These delicious, chewy banana chocolate chip cookies are, coincidentally, low in fat and made with 100% whole grains! No one will even notice!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 19, 2024
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This week has been my first week working from home, so I have been trying to adjust to a new routine. Funemployment brought out my lazy, indulgent side; whipping myself back into shape has proven a painful process.
I’ll share a glimpse of working from home soon, and discuss my frustrations with modern life in the digital age and the challenge of setting realistic expectations. All in due time, my friends.
Today we will talk about cookies. Cookies make everything better. These cookies are extraordinary for two reasons:
- They are crazy delicious.
- They are significantly healthier than the average chocolate chip cookie. They are significantly less unhealthy than most chocolate chip cookies.
Let’s call them reasonably healthy cookies. Why?
- These cookies call for only two tablespoons of butter, whereas an equal-sized batch of classic Tollhouse cookies would require an entire stick of butter. That’s a 75% reduction in butter, and you would never guess it!
- They are 100% whole grain, made with whole wheat pastry flour and old fashioned oats. Do we need to discuss the benefits of fiber?
- Make them with dark chocolate chips, and you’ve incorporated some antioxidants.
- Banana. Cinnamon. Yum.
The recipe is a combination of Gina’s recipes for Low Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, which uses applesauce in place of most of the butter, and Chewy Low Fat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies, which calls for mashed banana instead of applesauce. I thought, wouldn’t banana taste great in chocolate chip cookies? And can I trade all-purpose flour for wheat? Success!
PrintLow Fat Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies
These delicious, chewy banana chocolate chip cookies are, coincidentally, low in fat and made with 100% whole grains! No one will even notice! Recipe yields about 30 cookies (roughly 1 tbsp each).
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour
- 2 cups oats (the original recipe called for quick oats, but I used old fashioned oats with great results)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup turbinado/raw sugar (or regular sugar)
- ½ cup unpacked Muscavado sugar or brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup mashed banana, which is a almost one whole banana, OR same amount of unsweetened apple sauce (see footnote)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips are my favorite!), OR walnuts, if you’re into that.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. I used an old-fashioned egg-beater but if you’re lucky enough to have an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed.
- Add the egg, followed by the mashed banana and vanilla extract.
- Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheets, flattening each cookie slightly. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies become light brown at the edges. Do not overbake these cookies!
- Let cool on baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Note on apple sauce, added 5/20/11: I just tried these cookies with apple sauce instead of mashed banana. While they are tasty, they seem a little more like reduced fat cookies. The banana cookies have a fluffier texture, with a higher rise and softer insides. Final verdict? I’m sticking with banana.
Make it egg free: Though I haven’t tried, readers report that their cookies turn out well when they replace the egg with some additional mashed banana or a flax egg.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Looking forward to making them this week, how can I substitute for eggs?
Hi there! I’m reviewing the other commenters and it sounds like these cookies have turned out well by either replacing the egg with some additional banana or substituting a flax egg.
Hi Kate,
How do you typically store these cookies? Just made a batch and was going to keep some out in an air tight container and then freeze the rest.
Hi! You can do that, or in the refrigerator as well.
Love all the flavor combos in this recipe! Sharing my own personal tweaks in case they appeal to anyone else – I used 2 mashed bananas instead of one since I had them on hand. I subbed coconut sugar for brown sugar and omitted the regular sugar completely. I used a flax egg and omitted the butter also. And I threw in 1 tbsp of peanut powder for a little chunky monkey flavor. A lot of small changes but still came out delicious!!
Thank you for sharing, Rosie!
Can you use steel cut oats?
Hi Lauren, since they are denser and require different cooking, I wouldn’t recommend it.
These are seriously good All your recipes are! I added some chopped almonds in place of some of the chocolate. Looking forward to making these with my 3 year old nephew.
I’m glad you love these!
Best cookies ever. They’re my Husband’s favorite and we make them all the time!
These cookies are so good! I love that they are a healthier alternative to store bought.
I added a tablespoon of natrual peanut butter and replaced the chocolate chips with rasins. This is a recipe that I will definitely make agin :)