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!