Indulge in these deliciously soft and moist Banana Bread Cookies! Bursting with banana flavor, they are tender and delicious and very easy to make. Use those over ripe bananas tonight!
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I've been working on a Banana Bread Cookie recipe for close to 2 years now. Originally I had made it similar to a banana pudding wafer cookie, but it was a bit cake in texture and I was really tryin to achieve a moist but still crispy cookie. These cookies are it, and I'm excited to share them with you - and help you use up those over ripe bananas!
If you are looking for another banana recipe but with some chocolatey deliciousness, then I recommend trying my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!
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Why You Will Love These Cookies
- Use Up Those Bananas. The perfect way to use up any over ripe bananas in your home without having to resort to throwing them away!
- Flavor Overload. These cookies are bursting with banana flavor! Win win if you are a banana lover.
If you want to try some other banana recipes, than I highly recommend my Banana Apple Bread, Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins or my Banana Pecan Muffins! Or if you are looking for fruit inspired desserts, I recommend my Fresas Con Crema (strawberries with cream), or Strawberry Sugar Cookies!
Ingredients
Please read through the ingredients list so you can familiarize yourself with each ingredient, along with suggestions or recommendations during the preparation or baking process. Please see the Recipe Card for all details.
Banana. We only need ¾ of an over ripe banana (about 85g). This will help keep the cookie from becoming too cakey in texture. However, you can use a whole banana - but just know it will have more of that cake texture. You will mash into an applesauce consistency before adding to batter.
Nuts. I used walnuts in this recipe, but feel free to use pecans if you'd like! You can choose to omit entirely as well.
Butter. I use unsalted butter, and browned until I had about 10 tablespoons left (~138g). You can use salted butter - just omit fine sea salt if you do.
Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar help this cookie achieve its slight crispy edges but soft center.
Ground Cinnamon. A good banana bread generally has ground cinnamon, so I wanted to make sure I kept that ingredient in this recipe as well. Don't skip on it!
Pre-Bake Tips
Use Kitchen Scale. The greatest advantage you can give yourself when baking is using a kitchen scale. A kitchen scale will help you achieve recipe results that are much closer to what they are intended to be than by using volume measurements.
Room Temperature Ingredients. Make sure your egg is at room temperature before you begin.
Brown the Butter! The flavor of the banana is accented thanks to the delicious nutty flavor browned butter gives. It only takes a bit of time to brown the butter, and then let cool enough to proceed with recipe.
Refrigerate the Dough! This will help set the dough, hydrate it and allow the flavors to really mesh together.
How To Make Banana Bread Cookies
These Banana Bread Cookies recipe uses baking tools and ingredients that can be found in most homes. Please see recipe card for full list of equipment and ingredients.
Browning The Butter
Step 1: Brown the butter in a light colored medium sized pot, place butter inside and cook on low medium heat. No need to stir consistently, just allow the butter to melt and begin cooking.
Step 2: About half way through the butter will begin to foam up a bit, but you only need to take your rubber spatula and give it a stir to bring it back down a bit. Continue to cook on the same heat, and about 6 to 7 minutes in you will begin to see light foaming on the top.
Step 3: You will notice the along the edges browning, and if you stir the butter there will be small browned pieces at the bottom. Begin stirring at this point until the color is a light to medium color and you smell the nutty flavor of the butter.
Step 4: Remove from heat and pour into heat safe bowl. You will see the brown butter bits fall to the bottom - that's ok! We will mix together to reincorporate once it has cooled.
Step 5: Allow butter to cool for about 30 minutes before proceeding to next steps.
Preparing Banana Nut Cookies
Step 1: Add sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla extract to cooled brown butter. Whisk until well combined - about 1 minute.
Step 2: Add egg yolk and whisk until well combined.
Step 3: Add mashed banana and whisk until well combined.
Step 4: In a separate bowl combine all purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon and fine sea salt. Sift until well dispersed.
Step 5: Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Do not over mix.
Step 6: Add chopped walnuts to batter and use fold into batter with a rubber spatula. Do not over mix.
Step 7: Use 2 tablespoon scoop to scoop out dough and place on baking sheet. Cover in plastic wrap or baking cover, and refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours.
Hot Tip! Add additional walnuts or pecans on top of the cookies for added flavor!
Step 8: Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove dough from refrigerator and place 5 - 6 cookies per baking sheet.
Step 9: Bake for 11 minutes, or until edges become browned and slightly crispy. Remove from oven and allow to cool before enjoying.
Variations & Substitutions
- Browned Butter with regular butter. Yes, you can opt to use regular butter but note that the flavor profile will be different than what is intended If you do opt to not brown the butter, use 10 tablespoons of butter only.
- Add more spices! Yes, you absolutely can! If you want to add in other spices such as all spice, nutmeg or whichever is to your liking, feel free to spice up the cookie.
- Add Chocolate! I wanted to make a base banana bread cookie with the option to add any chocolate if you wished. Add in ½ cup of your preferred chocolate morsels for even more flavor.
Storage
Pre-Bake Storage - You can follow all the steps up until you scoop them using the 2 tablespoon scoop. Then simply place in a freezer safe ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, follow the baking directions but add about 1 - 2 minutes to the bake time.
Post Bake Storage - you may store in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature for up to 5 days. You may also freeze in a freezer safe ziplock bag for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, remove bag or container from freezer and allow to sit at room temperature for a few hours or overnight (do not open bag).
More Recipes To Try
Fresas con Crema (Strawberries with cream)
Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar
Soft Birthday Cake Cookies
If you have tried this Banana Bread Cookie recipe, or any other recipe on this website, please don't forget to leave a star ⭐️ review! Your feedback and comments are appreciated!
Banana Bread Cookies
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Equipment
- mixing bowls
- kitchen scale optional but recommended
- whisk
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour 180g
- ¾ cup unsalted butter browned to 138g, see Recipe Notes
- ½ cup sugar 100g
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed 50g
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- ¾ large ripe banana, mashed 85g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
Browning The Butter
- Brown the butter in a light colored medium sized pot, place butter inside and cook on low medium heat. No need to stir consistently, just allow the butter to melt and begin cooking.
- About half way through the butter will begin to foam up a bit, but you only need to take your rubber spatula and give it a stir to bring it back down a bit. Continue to cook on the same heat, and about 6 to 7 minutes in you will begin to see light foaming on the top.
- You will notice the along the edges browning, and if you stir the butter there will be small browned pieces at the bottom. Begin stirring at this point until the color is a light to medium color and you smell the nutty flavor of the butter.
- Remove from heat and pour into heat safe bowl.
- Allow butter to cool for about 30 minutes before proceeding to next steps.
Preparing Banana Bread Cookies
- Add sugar, light brown sugar and vanilla extract to cooled brown butter. Whisk until well combined - about 1 minute.¾ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Add egg yolk and whisk until well combined.1 egg yolk
- Add mashed banana and whisk until well combined.¾ large ripe banana, mashed
- In a separate bowl combine all purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon and fine sea salt. Sift until well dispersed.1 ½ cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp fine sea salt, ¼ tsp baking soda
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Add chopped walnuts to batter and use fold into batter with a rubber spatula. Do not over mix.¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- Use 2 tablespoon scoop to scoop out dough and place on baking sheet. Cover in plastic wrap or baking cover, and refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove dough from refrigerator and place 5 - 6 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until edges become browned and slightly crispy. Remove from oven, sprinkle with flaky sea salt (optional) and allow to cool before enjoying.flaky sea salt
Lori Wilson says
Thank you for sharing this recipe!