Last Updated on March 3, 2021
On this page you’ll find two banana oatmeal cookies recipes (soft and crunchy!) and also how the soft one evolved into a crispy version. If you love mellow cookies then just read on with this most simple cookie recipe ever.
For all others…I recommend to scroll down for the second recipe. I’ve included also step by step photo instructions and a video.
My first experiments with only two ingredients
Could 2 ingredient cookies really taste well? Could they even be a perfect snack in between to satisfy sugar cravings?
These were my first thoughts when I stumbled over a banana oatmeal recipe on Pinterest. In the beginning, I was skeptical. But as a lover of minimal recipes, I felt the urgent need to try it out…
The perfect snack for sugar-addicts
If you a former sugar addict like me then you know that a sudden sugar craving can happen at any time. One strategy to combat these sugar cravings is to just don’t have any sugar-loaded indulgences at home. Ok, my husband knows how to break this rule, but this is another story…
Instead, I have always a few sweet plant based snacks at hand like dried fruits, my coconut chocolate bites in the fridge or my chocolate raspberry bites in the freezer. But until now there was still something crunchy missing in our survival box.
For this cookie recipe you don’t need any eggs, flour, butter or weird processed ingredients – just bananas and oats, that’s it. Bananas I have at hand as I need them for clean eating smoothies or since this year for my beloved 1-ingredient banana ice cream. And oats are anyway our preferred breakfast cereal/grain either in muesli or granola.
Reality Check
Ok, don’t expect the taste of chocolate or Oreo cookies. Also as mentioned before, these plant based cookies are rather mellow treats and not crunchy at all. But surprisingly these “sweet power bites” still taste really yummy and have the potential to appease sugar cravings.
For me, these are the simplest cookies I’ve ever tried and I think you could even use them as fiber-rich breakfast cookies…but only until I find a crunchier, minimalist recipe.
Sidebar: Several years of experimenting later I’ve found the solution and added it to this page. You’ll find a much crispier version below this recipe card.
I. Simple 2-ingredient banana cookies
PrintTwo ingredient cookies with banana and oats
a delicious healthy snack to appease a sweet tooth
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
For 12 medium clean eating cookies
- 1 large, ripe banana (or 2 small bananas)
- 5 oz./100 g fine oats
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 360 °F/180°C.
- Mash peeled Banana(s) with a fork or a potato masher.
- Combine mashed banana with oats in a large bowl until smooth. (You could also put both ingredients in a food processor.)
- Add additional oats if needed to.
- Place on non-stick baking sheet with teaspoon or tablespoon and flatten the top.
- Bake it for 12-15 minutes.
- Let it cool down on a wire rack.
Notes
- Also great as a high fiber breakfast option.
Over the years I’ve found out that the darker your bananas (the black ones work best) and the longer you bake the treats (15 minutes) the crunchier the results. In that case keep an eye on them you don’t want them burn. This leads me to my second recipe.
II. Crispy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Cookies
Of course you can always pimp your banana oats cookies with additional plant-based ingredients as the possible add-ins are endless. Here comes our favorite crunchy variation.
That’s what you’ll need
- ripe bananas (the darker the crunchier the cookies!)
- rolled oats
- dark chocolate chips,
- peanuts,
- dried cranberries,
- sesame seeds and
- cinnamon.
Step by step photos
Step 1: Preheat oven at 190°C/360°F. Then mash peeled bananas using a fork.
Step 2: Stir in rolled oats using a fork.
Step 3: Add sesame seeds, cinnamon, a bit o salt and combine. With an extra pinch of cinnamon, you’ll have your first taste of Christmas.
Step 4: At last add dark chocolate chips, peanuts and cranberries.
Step 5: Combine it to a thick, sticky dough.
Step 6: Make 12 round balls out of the cookie butter, place them on a with baking paper prepared sheet pan and flatten them using a spoon.
Step 7: Bake cookies for 15 minutes at 190°C/360°F. Keep an eye on them in the oven! The result should be crunchy but not burnt.
Watch how to make them
Here comes the full recipe.
PrintCrispy Banana oatmeal chocolate chips cookies
a crunchy, plant-based treat
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 20
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas, peeled
- 8 tablespoon rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips (grated dark chocolate)
- 2 tablespoon cranberries
- 1 tablespoon peanuts
- 2 teaspoon sesame seeds
- a pinch of cinnamon
- a bit of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.
- Mash ripe bananas using a fork.
- Stir in rolled oats.
- Add sesame seeds, cinnamon. and a bit of salt
- At last add chocolate chips, cranberries, and peanuts.
- Combine it to a thick, sticky dough.
- Make 12 round balls out of the cookie butter, place them on a with baking paper prepared sheet pan and flatten them using a spoon.
- Bake cookies for 15 minutes at 375°F/190°C
- Enjoy it warm or cooled down on a wire rack.
Notes
For further taste enhancement you might want to add some vanilla extract.
Keywords: banana oatmeal cookies, vegan cookies
It is said that such cookies will keep fresh in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days. I can’t tell you for sure as ours don’t survive the first day;)
Bottom Line: You can’t have enough high fiber foods
I’m really in love with these high fiber snacks and it takes just 20 minutes to make them. On top of that, they are dairy free, vegetarian, vegan and even gluten-free if you use GF oats.
I hope you like these banana oatmeal cookies as much as we love baking and snacking them. Let me know what version you prefer most in the comment section below.