One summer, my family and I flew to Wisconsin to visit my dad’s old college roommate and his wife. As very gracious hosts, they played tour guides for our entire vacation and drove us to all of the little gems in the area, including Laura Ingalls Wilder’s house (I grew up reading those books!), the historic Trempealeau Hotel with their infamous walnut burgers, and boating on the Mississippi River like Huck Finn.
All of that driving meant that my parents filled up the gas tank on our rental minivan fairly often. Nearly every morning before the rest of us woke up, they navigated through the sleep streets to the nearest gas station to fuel up and purchase the daily newspaper.
On one of those trips, my dad impulsively brought a loaf of banana bread to the cash register along with the paper. Back at the house, he and his college roommate carved off thick slices to share around the breakfast table. I politely declined, somewhat skeptical of gas station banana bread, and stuck with my yogurt and cereal, but the two of them insisted on offering me a pieces multiple times throughout the meal.
By the end of our trip, it almost became a game: Buy gas station banana bread and see how many times we can offer it to Amy before she gives in. I good-naturedly went along with it, but with willpower like nobody in my family had ever seen, I held out for the entire vacation. To this day, nobody in our family can look at banana bread without thinking about that gas station!
However, if they had offered me these Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies, it would’ve been a completely different ballgame—and not just because they’re homemade! Soft and chewy with oodles of gooey melted chocolate, they’re much healthier and absolutely irresistible!
These little beauties are the next installment in my clean-eating oatmeal cookie series. We’ve done blueberry, raspberry, apple pie, and carrot cake (plus lots more!), but these… They’re the first ones that involve chocolate and no other mix-ins. Surprising, seeing how much of a chocoholic I am!
The main difference between this recipe and the rest of the oatmeal cookies (besides the chocolate, of course!) is that these do NOT require chilling. In fact, I insist that you don’t!
I used mashed banana to provide the iconic banana bread flavor and replace the egg. Because mashed banana contains a lot less liquid than eggs, the dough is firmer as soon as you mix everything together compared to my previous oatmeal cookie recipes, so you don’t need to chill it to make the dough stiffer. And that means you get to eat cookies half an hour sooner!
To maximize the chocolaty goodness, I added both mini and regular chocolate chips. The mini chips ensure that every bite contains chocolate, and when you hit a big, melty regular chip… Well, I basically thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I highly recommend that you try microwaving a cookie for 7 seconds, just enough to warm it up and start the chocolate melting again. Pure bliss.
And definitely much better than gas station banana bread!
| Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- 1 c (100g) instant oats (measured correctly)
- ¾ c (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ½ tsp (4g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (3g) ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp (1g) salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ c (63g) mashed banana
- 1 tsp (5mL) vanilla extract
- ½ c (120mL) agave
- 2 ½ tbsp (35g) regular semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, mashed banana, and vanilla. Stir in the agave. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in all of the regular chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten slightly. Press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 325°F for 13-15 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Instant oats are also known as quick-cooking or minute oats. They come in large canisters, just like old-fashioned oats. They are not the ones in the small flavored packets of oatmeal.
If you don’t have instant oats, measure the same amount of old-fashioned oats, and pulse them in a food processor 7-10 times.
Chopped dark chocolate may be substituted in place of the chocolate chips.
Honey or maple syrup may be substituted for the agave. Alternatively, ½ cup (105g) brown sugar + 5 tablespoons (75mL) milk may be substituted as well. The baking time stays the same.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free instant oats and a gluten-free flour blend. I recommend the following blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon (2g) xanthan gum.
For all other questions regarding the recipe, including ingredient substitutions, please see my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ + Video page.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
More banana cookie recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Banana and Nutella Oatmeal Cookies by French Press
♥ Banana Breakfast Cookies by Crazy for Crust
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana FlufferNutter Sandwich Cookies by Half Baked Harvest
♥ Healthy Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies by Yummy Healthy Easy
Those look delicious! I’d love to eat one of those for breakfast 🙂
Thanks June!
These cookies are so gorgeous and you’re right – they definitely don’t look healthy at all!
Thanks Nicola!
These look amazing as usual!! Could white whole wheat flour be an appropriate sub or would it change the cookie completely?
Thanks Marina! Yes, white whole wheat flour is perfectly fine. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Your story kills me. I would have turned up my nose at gas station banana bread too!
So glad I’m not the only one Andrea! You would’ve laughed so hard at the crazy antics they tried to pull… “It’s healthy!! See, look at the Nutrition Label. It’s low-fat, really it is!” Sigh. My family. 😉
Could I use all purpose flour and what would be the measurment. My daughter and I want to make these today but I only have all purpose flour. Thank you in advance for you r ime!
Yes Wendy, you may use AP flour! The measurement will stay the same. I hope you and your daughter enjoy the cookies!
Thank you, we are planning on making them tonight! I will let you know how they turn out!!!
OMG!!!!! These are amazing! My daughter and I made and just sampled them; we used AP flour and Brown Sugar and Milk–in place of the Agave. They turned out wonderful, I may try a handful of chopped walnuts or some coconut next time!
I’m so glad you and your daughter enjoyed the cookies Wendy! I love your idea of walnuts and coconut. I just may have to try that sometime too! 🙂
omg, I love the gas station story! I totally would’ve thought the same thing about gas station banana bread, but I was thinking you were going to shock us and say it was the best you’d ever had. 😉 Never know! Ha! These cookies look amazing! Banana is the jam!
Thanks Lindsay! To this day, I’ll never know… It could very well have been the best banana bread in the world, but until I head back to Wisconsin, that’ll remain a mystery! 😉
I love everything about these, and I’m fairly certain I could live on chocolate chip banana bread
thanks for the link love
You’re welcome Heather! I’d be right there with you. Chocolate and bananas are two of my favorite things!
Haha that is so cute! I would totally rather have these cookies than the gas station banana loaf. They look delicious! Love how soft and chewy they are!
Thanks Kelly! I still can’t believe how many times they tried to get me to take a bite of that banana bread… Cookies are much more my style! 😉
Anthony, the brand “Enjoy Life” semi sweet chocolate chips are dairy, nut & soy free. And “Chocolate Dream” makes dairy free chips also. So no worries. Don’t give up so easily! 🙂
Thank you so much for your insights Laurel!
These are NOT vegan. Semi-sweet chocolate chips have dairy in them, and this should not have been posted on a Vegan Facebook page. Oh well, on to another recipe that is cruelty free.
Anthony, I am vegan and I promise there are plenty of dairy free semi-sweet chocolate chips out there. Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are vegan, as are the Costco brand of semi-sweet. You just have to read your labels. It is a great recipe and you can just sub in your own favorite brand of choc chips. I like Enjoy Life brand and they would work beautifully in this recipe. .
Thank you so much for your insights Carolyn! I didn’t realize the Costco chocolate chips are vegan-friendly; that’s great to know. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Yes, plenty of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips out there and thank goodness for that! I usually go for Enjoy Life brand but plenty of others too! YUM! Thanks for the great cookie recipe! 🙂
My pleasure Deryn! I don’t know what I’d do without chocolate… It’s a blessing to have so many vegan-friendly chips out there!
Anthony, the brand “Enjoy Life” semi sweet chocolate chips are dairy, nut & soy free. And “Chocolate Dream” makes dairy free chips also. So no worries. Don’t give up so easily! 🙂
Amy, these sound fantastic. My daughter is dairy & gluten allergic. What gluten-free flour would be best, in your opinion?
Thanks Laurel! My preferred GF flour blend is included in the Notes section beneath the recipe. 🙂 I hope you and your daughter enjoy the cookies!
Hi, can substitute the agave for honey or maple syrup?.. Thanks!
Yes Cori, you may! I already included that swap in the Notes section beneath the recipe. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Thanks for the recipe! I didn’t want to add any sugar (beyond what’s in the chocolate chips) so I did 1/2 cup of banana instead of the agave and added the egg back. Since my son is dairy and gluten free I also used quinoa flour. I cooked a few to test and they weren’t quite sweet enough so I added 8 drops of liquid stevia. The end result is great and my kids love them!
I’m so glad you and your kids enjoyed the cookies Kate! I really appreciate that you included your modifications — it’s great to hear what else works!
After just discovering this blog a few hours ago I couldn’t wait to try to make something. It’s all so simple with standard ingredients and simple directions, I’m very impressed. I made these cookies today (I actually used blueberries instead of chocolate chips, I know, I’m crazy for not having a massive stash of chocolate chips at all times) and they were probably the best cookies I ever had. Once I realized the cookie dough was safe to eat I had to try it and let me just say, the bowl did not need much cleaning after how well i scraped it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Kristina! I love your blueberry twist — I need to try that! You’d laugh if you saw my baking chocolate stash; it takes up an entire drawer in the kitchen. Oops!
I think my husband would love these cookies!! Do you think they would ship well he is currently deployed. It takes about 7-10 days to arrive.
You’re so sweet to send homemade cookies to your husband Danielle! I haven’t had these last for more than 7 days, so I’m not entirely sure. I’d like to say yes, but because they contain banana, I’d be worried that they may turn moldy if it took more than a week for them to arrive. I also have lots more oatmeal cookie recipes (including this one with chocolate!) that don’t contain fresh fruit and would probably ship much better. For shipping, I recommend placing a piece of wax or parchment paper in between the cookies so they don’t stick together. I really hope you and your husband enjoy the cookies!
I would love to try this recipe but don’t have any agave or maple syrup. Would applesauce be an ok substitute? If so how much?! Thanks!!!
I answer this question on my oatmeal cookies FAQ + video page; there’s also a link to it in the Notes section beneath the recipe. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the cookies Dani!
I made these cookies but wanting to cut down on the amount of sweetener I only used 1/4 cup maple syrup. They tasted wonderful but were a bit dry. I did weigh the oats and flour exactly so I don’t think that was the problem.
Next time should I add some milk to make up for the lack of liquid?
If you omitted half of the maple syrup, that would be the biggest issue because it provides both sweetness and moisture to the cookies. Without that moisture, the cookies will turn out dry. I would suggest adding ¼ cup of milk to compensate. I hope the next batch turns out better Sandra!
Just ate two of these, I couldn’t have just one! I did the brown sugar instead of agave and dark chocolate chips since they’re my favorite and they turned out great. I would definitely make these again. Very easy and delicious. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Stacey! I almost exclusively use dark chocolate chips now when I bake. I love them too, and they melt so well! 🙂
Made these tonight w my 2 year old son and they were Delish! Added a touch of cocoa powder to accommodate mamas sweet tooth and pumpkin seeds because we had some on hand. What is the best way to store these (before we gobble them all!)?
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Molly! As it says in the headnote beneath the recipe title, store the cookies in an airtight container to keep them soft and chewy. 🙂
I baked these cookies tonight. I had to substitute the agave with brown rice syrup, another great sweetener, they turned out perfectly! I’m adding these to my recipe book!
I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies Stephanie, and I’m touched that you’re adding them to your recipe book! 🙂
This has become a staple cookie for me, I bake them when I happen to have a free afternoon and have a healthy sweet snack for breakfast or evening chocolate cravings. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m really touched that you’re enjoying these cookies so much Artemi! Thank you for sharing that! 🙂
These cookies are amazing.I’m eating one right now and it’s just so delicious I don’t want it to finish! the good thing is that it’s easy to make and I can make another batch tomorrow! Thank you for another great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Zahra! I’m touched that you’ve made multiple of my recipes! 🙂
2/18/16: I made these tonight and they are freaking delicious. I did half the batch with chocolate chip and the other half with chocolate and white chocolate chips……AMAZING! Half of these will not make it past tonight, thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to share these cookies with family and friends 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Shakeda — thank you so much for your high praise! 🙂 I hope your friends and family enjoy the cookies just as much as you!
I decided to double the recipe because 15 cookies won’t last in our house and when I mixed the dry and wet ingredients together it became very thick and like a big cookie ball, had a hard time adding the raisins (instead of chocolate chips). Is it suppose to be that stiff or did I not have enough liquids?
Oh goodness! No, the cookie dough should not be stiff; it should be really wet and similar to the consistency of thick muffin batter. Did you watch the videos included on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page that’s linked to in the Notes section? That will really help you! I also recommend being very careful when measuring the oats; too many will make the cookies dry. I explain how to do that in the link included in the Ingredients list. 🙂
I made sure to measure level with a knife but I’ll make sure to watch those videos to get it right! Thanks for the advice!
My pleasure Kaly! If you have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend using that instead of the spoon and level method. It’s much more accurate! (And mine only cost $20!) 🙂 I’m excited to hear how your next batch turns out!
I found this recipe, needed something healthier for my son. He doesn’t like oatmeal, so he didn’t care for them (we loved them though, yum). So today, I tried again, ground up the oats very fine, omitted the cinnamon, added 1 Tbls + 2 tsp of cocoa powder, and added a bit more banana. They are pretty good. A bit dry, so will add more banana next time. Hope he likes them. I do! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I’m glad the rest of your family enjoyed the cookies Judy, and I can’t wait to hear what your son thinks of your recipe modifications! 🙂
well, the modifications were ok, but he still didn’t like them (just doesn’t like oatmeal). However, we love your original recipe and make them all the time for the rest of us 🙂
I’m glad everyone else loved the cookies Judy! Hopefully your son starts to like oats when he grows older. 🙂 In the meantime, I also have a few banana cookie recipes that don’t include oats! You can find them here and here. Maybe he’d like those better! 🙂
lol, he’s 18 🙂 Thanks for the links!
Nothing wrong with that! My brother was a pretty picky eater until he left for college. 😉 And it’s my pleasure!
I applaud your insistence on “measuring correctly” and love the inclusion of weight measures, not just volume. I use my food scale whenever possible and can always count on successful results when I do so.
That being said…I have been at my elderly father-in-law’s house this past week. Had a leftover ripe banana in the pantry and wanted to leave some healthy banana oatmeal cookies behind after our departure. Unfortunately, there is exactly ONE glass measuring cup in this household, so old that the markings are mostly worn off. Undaunted, I pressed forward. Despite the lack of adequate measuring equipment, or any type of electric mixer, or even a baking sheet (I resorted to using a metal 9×13 casserole pan to bake the cookies), we had a successful batch! Yummy cookies enjoyed by all. Thanks for the great, healthy recipe and the description, which helped me achieve the correct dough mixture, even without benefit of good measurements!
Oh my goodness, I’m so impressed at your perseverance Mary! It’s hard enough baking in someone else’s kitchen when it’s well-stocked with proper baking and measuring equipment, but to do so without a kitchen scale or measuring cups?? That’s amazing — good for you! I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed the cookies. Your father-in-law (and your entire family!) is so lucky to have you to bake sweet treats for them! 🙂
We just made these and they turned out great! We substituted old fashioned oats for the quick oats and used maple syrup instead of agave. Great banana flavor and the texture was perfect. Nice and soft and a little chewy. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Chelsea! 🙂
Would it alter the recipe too much if I used maple syrup? Thanks!
I actually answered that already in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies Sarah!
My daughter wanted to make healthy cookies for dessert tonight so a quick Google search lead us here to these AWESOME cookies! Really great recipe, Amy. Can’t wait to poke around on your site. Thanks for the dessert tonight! 🙂
I’m so glad you and your daughter enjoyed the cookies Kristine! It means a lot to me that you picked my recipe from your Google search. 🙂 I’m excited to hear what you try next!
Thanks for such a great recipe! We are a low-carb family so I did have to make a few modifications. I subbed oatmeal for coconut flakes (it was about 1/2 oatmeal and 1/2 coconut). I also subbed the whole wheat flour for almond flour. I replaced agave with stevia and a little brown sugar along with the milk recommendations. I reduced the banana to closer to 2 Tbsp. and used lily’s baking chips along with regular chips. I also added in a pinch of nutmeg. They are AWESOME. This is the first low-carb recipe that I don’t have the funky after taste from the replacement sweetener, probably thanks to the small bit of banana and coconut.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies Bailey! Thanks for sharing your modifications with me too. I always love hearing what tweaks work! 🙂
Hi Amy! What are your thoughts on using old fashioned or steel cut oats instead of instant?
I’ve actually answered that already on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, which is linked to in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies Khushboo!
I made these cookies for my book club and they were so good! My kids had the leftovers for breakfast this morning. 🙂 Have you ever made them with peanut butter? I love peanut butter and chocolate and banana together, and I was thinking that might be a nice option to add in sometimes if I am looking for more protein. I know I would need to adjust some things in the recipe….maybe melt the peanut butter (I use natural peanut butter so it is already less thick than the sugar-added kind anyway) and do 1/4 agave, 1/4 peanut butter? I would love to hear any thoughts you might have!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed these cookies Patti! I’ve made regular chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies without the banana, and you can find that recipe here. You can probably make a hybrid of these two recipes. (Although peanut butter only adds a minuscule amount protein, if that’s what you’re concerned about! It mainly adds healthy fat. 🙂 ) I’ve also made chocolate chip peanut butter banana cookies (no oats) here. I’d love to hear what you think if you try either of those!
Hello! I was wondering if you have a calorie count on these per cookie ? Just curious . Only because I ate like 3 of these and my husband ate the rest , they were sooo good ! Thank you 😊
I’m so glad you both enjoyed the cookies Traci! That means a lot to me! 🙂 The full Nutrition Information is actually included beneath the recipe. It can be easy to miss!