Last weekend, my brother and his best friend briefly stopped by my house on their way up to the mountains. They planned on spending two nights at our family’s cabin, a small getaway home built from redwood and nestled amongst a vast forest of trees. With only a few very quiet and courteous neighbors in the surrounding cabins, trips up there are always relaxing and rejuvenating for the soul.
Knowing the boys wanted to head back on the road as soon as possible, I planned ahead for their quick break at my house. I always try to surprise them with some baked treats, especially this summer since their apartment lacks air conditioning (and I’m positive they avoid using the oven and turning their kitchen into a sauna to bake for themselves!).
Despite my pantry and fridge threatening to burst open at the seams with so many homemade treats inside, it’s still a little tricky to pass things off to my brother… He’s allergic to eggs and lactose-intolerant! While he can take a lactase pill before eating any dairy and prevent any reactions (this is the one he uses, and he says it works wonders for everything from pizza and ice cream to lasagna and fudge—and more!), he avoids anything with eggs because there aren’t any allergy pills or other medications that work for him.
Since almost all store-bought traditional baked treats include eggs (like cookies, cakes, brownies, muffins, cheesecakes, and more), I make him as many egg-free versions of those as I can. I usually turn to my favorite egg substitute because it works perfectly in almost all of my recipes, but sometimes, I can skip that altogether.
Like with these Strawberry Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies! They’re naturally egg-free (and contain no butter, refined flour or sugar either!), yet they still taste incredibly soft and chewy. My brother and his best friend finished off the entire batch in two days—they’re just that good!
These cookies are the next recipe in my clean-eating oatmeal cookie series. Have you tried any of the other flavors yet? (I highly recommend the carrot cake, traditional oatmeal raisin, and peanut butter chocolate chip—they’re three of the most popular recipes on my blog!) Just like I mentioned above, all of these cookies contain no butter, refined flour or sugar, yet they’re just as chewy as their indulgent counterparts. Pure cookie perfection, if you ask me!
To start, you’ll need whole wheat flour and instant oats. No, instant oats are not the same thing as what’s in those individual-serving flavored brown paper packets! Instant oats are also known as quick-cooking or one-minute oats, and they’re sold in large canisters right next to the old-fashioned oats at the grocery store.
It’s extremely important to measure the oats correctly, using either the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale, because oats act like little sponges and soak up moisture from your cookie dough. If you add too many, your cookies will taste dry or cakey, rather than chewy. I highly recommend a kitchen scale! This is the one that I own, and it has easily been the best $20 I’ve ever spent. I use it every day, and it ensures all of my recipes turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time I make them.
The mashed banana plays three main roles in these cookies. It provides that irresistible fruity flavor, natural sweetness, and replaces the eggs. (You’re really smart, so I bet you already guessed that last bit!) For the best results, use the darkest, spottiest banana you can find! You only need one small banana, but the more speckly it is, the more flavor it’ll add to your cookies.
For the rest of the sweetness in the cookie dough, you’ll use honey. That’s right—no refined sugar in these treats! Pure maple syrup would also work, if you prefer a vegan option, but I recommend the honey since it pairs so perfectly with the banana. (My brother ate peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches all the time during our childhood!)
Finally, you’ll mix in diced strawberries. I prefer fresh when they’re in season, but frozen and thawed berries will also work. Cut the strawberries to be no larger than the size of chocolate chips. This ensures that the cookies bake evenly—and that every bite contains a bit of fruit!
Who’s ready for dessert?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Strawberry Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup (63g) mashed banana (about 1 rather small banana)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) honey
- ¾ cup (105g) fresh strawberries, diced
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, mashed banana, and vanilla. Stir in the honey. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the strawberries. Let the cookie dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten slightly using a spatula. Bake at 325°F for 12-14 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. To make your own, add the same amount of old-fashioned oats to a food processor, and pulse 10-12 times.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free instant oats and the following gluten-free flour blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends will also work, if measured like this.
For a vegan version, substitute pure maple syrup or agave in place of the honey.
Measure the strawberries before cutting them! It’s important to finely dice the strawberries. They should be no larger than the size of chocolate chips (about half the size of your pinky’s fingernail) to ensure the cookies bake evenly.
Frozen and thawed strawberries may be substituted for the fresh.
For answers to all other questions regarding substitutions and tips, see my Oatmeal Cookies FAQ page.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like…
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Dark Chocolate Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Raspberry Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Strawberry Banana Bread
♥ Whole Wheat Strawberry Blueberry Banana Bread
There’s nothing better than the strawberry-banana combo in my book! Well, except maybe chocolate and peanut butter 😉 I’ll have to wait a few weeks to bake these because I don’t have access to a kitchen in Boston, but they look SO YUMMY!! 🙂
I completely agree with your chocolate + PB statement — it’s like you read my mind! 😉 Stay cool in Boston!! My parents went to grad school there, and they always rave about the cannoli in the North End. Hope you get to try them while you’re there!
Can I use banana that I have frozen?
I’ve never tried using a frozen and thawed banana for these cookies, so I’m not entirely sure. If you’ve been able to use one in other recipes that call for mashed banana, it should probably work here as well. I’d love to hear what you think of the cookies if you try them Kelly!
I used a frozen and thawed banana. Worked beautifully! And these cookies were AMAZING, by the way!! Me and my two boys scarfed them down!!
I’m so glad you and your boys enjoyed these cookies Jessica! That means a lot to me! 🙂 And thank you for letting me know about the frozen banana. I always love hearing little things like that that work!
Strawberry? Banana Bread? Oatmeal? Cookies? All my fave things in one perfect little package! <3
If only we lived closer — I totally would’ve shared them with you Jennifer! ♥
Where are you located? I think you need an honest, objective taste tester to verify how good your recipes are. I’m applying for the job… Seriously, I love your recipes, Amy! Every day I can look forward to seeing something awesome popping up on my FB page. You inspire me. I also love that you have weights, not just measurements. In culinary school I learned the importance of weighing your ingredients for a consistent product every time. I wish every recipe had the weight listed! It is so frustrating to me to see, “1 onion diced” What does that mean? Is it a small onion, a large onion, or somewhere in between. When I look it up on a conversion chart it will say that it is usually 2 cups . REALLY? that’s some huge inion! So, again, THANK YOU!!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Linda! I’m truly touched. 🙂 I was a chemist before a baking blogger, and since we measured everything by weight in my research lab, I’m actually much more comfortable measuring like that in my kitchen too!
Is it better to go by weight or cup measurement if using a different brands? My instant oats say that 1/2cup is 40grams
For the instant oats, go by weight. I’m glad you asked! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies Candace!
Ok awesome thanks! I can’t wait to make them!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies Candace! 🙂
What about coconut flour in place of either listed flours? I know it is a moisture-sucker as well…just use it a lot!
I already answered that on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page, which is linked to in the Notes section underneath the Instructions. 🙂 I’m excited to hear what you think of the cookies Aimee!
Love your recipes but all of the advertisements makes using the website impossible. Please upgrade.
I appreciate your interest in my recipes Jerry! I’d love to hear what you think if you try any. 🙂
Thank you Amy to share a healthy cookies reciepe. I made it last night and it turns out soft, so I’m not sure that I did it right. Its chewable and has lot of flavors in it, but does it suppose to be like hard cookies or how the consistency should be? Thank you
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavors Phoebe! Just like I described in the blog post and text just under the recipe title, these cookies are supposed to be chewy, not hard or crunchy. You did everything just right! 🙂
I made these today because I had bananas waaayy past their prime, perfect for mashing and strawberries are in season. I weighed everything with my new scale, which I love! I knew these were chewy cookies so no surprise there. I appreciate the fact that these are full of ‘good stuff’. My results and observations… My dough didn’t get moistened enough, I guess. There were whitish pieces of oatmeal and I let the dough rest the time stated so I guess I didn’t ‘incorporate’ well enough, lol. Also, I didn’t press down the cookie enough, I felt mine were too ‘fat’. but I was not sure if these would spread at all. (they don’t) So, the baking time, for me, was about 8 minutes longer. The texture was perfect, not too dry so that’s good! As per recipe these were very good, not too sweet, IMO perfect as a breakfast item or a sweet for after dinner. Next time I want to add more strawberries. Do you think I need to reduce the amount of honey if I add another 50 grams or so of strawberries? (or double to 210 g) Haha, I still have bananas and berries, maybe I’ll just try now… this was such an easy make! Thanks, Amy, I look forward to trying more of your recipes! ~LB
I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies! That’s interesting that your cookies didn’t spread… Did you use instant oats? And did you measure your strawberries and banana by weight as well? How big were your strawberry pieces? Were they as small as in my photos (ie no larger than chocolate chips)? You could probably increase the strawberries to 1 cup (140g), but I don’t recommend increasing past that because the cookies won’t hold together and will fall apart. 🙂
Yes, measured by weight all ingredients, even double checked all. I used instant oats, bought specifically for this recipe as I had old-fashioned and steel cut oats already in my pantry. The strawberries were tiny dice, similar to yours and I used coconut oil rather than butter. Maybe the strawberries were not as juicy as yours, and they were fresh, not frozen. I thought the dough was a bit dry as I was scooping the cookie but since it was the first time made I just went with it. Your cookies look shinier than mine and are flatter, but for me, they did not spread at all. Thank you for suggested quantity of additional berries I’ll give it a go! Also thank you for quick rsvp! ~LB
`
It’s my pleasure! 🙂 If the cookie dough seems dry, then go ahead and add 1-2 tablespoons of milk. It should be fairly moist and sticky, similar to really thick muffin batter. I think you’re right in that your strawberries weren’t quite as juicy as the ones I used. With really ripe strawberries, they release those juices while baking, which is what makes these cookies spread!
Ok, will do! I would describe mine as scones, rather than cookies..I had them this morning with Greek yogurt and fruit, LoL
Sounds like a delicious breakfast to me! 😉