Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

 
In February, my parents invited their close friends from college to come over for a small Super Bowl party. Although they attended a four-year university in southern California, everyone eventually migrated north to the suburbs outside of San Francisco, so they’re able to see each other multiple times throughout the year.  

We started off with appetizers and snacks during the first half of the game, which Mom spread out across the dining room table. Chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, crudités and hummus, dried apple slices, M&Ms…
 

 
People tried to pace themselves and only take a little bit at a time to save room for the main course, but they never knew when to peel themselves away from the TV to grab a few more nibbles. During the exciting action of the game?… During the hilarious and super cute commercials?…

As a huge sports fan, I opted for the latter!

During the first few minutes of halftime, but before the performance, we headed back to the kitchen for the entrées. Dad had cooked steak, sausages, and pork tenderloin on the charcoal grill in the backyard, and he also prepared a quinoa salad and my special roasted Brussels sprouts inside.
 

 
Throughout the second half, people wandered over to the dessert table, which included a few store-bought cakes, these homemade truffles, these homemade chocolate graham crackers… And these healthy banana chocolate chip cookies! They’re perfectly soft and chewy (even with no butter, eggs, refined flour, or refined sugar!) and simple to make.

And the best part of our Super Bowl party? Everyone raved about all three of my recipes and asked to bring the leftovers home with them!
 

KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Let’s cover the ingredients you’ll need to make these healthy banana chocolate chip cookies!

You’ll start with white whole wheat flour. It sounds like a paradox, doesn’t it? Normally white flour and whole wheat flour are two separate things! However, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, similar to all-purpose flour, which really lets the banana flavor and chewy texture shine! (Bonus: It has the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour!)

Tip: I included a few gluten-free options in the Notes section of the recipe, if you’d like to make these healthy banana chocolate chip cookies gluten-free!

The mashed banana plays three important roles in these cookies: fruit flavor (I’m sure you guessed that already!), natural sweetness, and an egg replacer. That’s right — these cookies contain no eggs! I included a dairy-free option too… So if you use that, your healthy banana chocolate chip cookies will be vegan, egg-free, and dairy-free!

Tip: To make the best banana cookies, pick an extra spotty banana. I always use ones that are almost pure brown or black. Very brown bananas contain a stronger banana flavor and more natural sweetness than pure yellow ones. They also make your cookies softer!

Because the banana alone doesn’t provide quite enough sweetness for these cookies, you’ll also mix in coconut sugar. That’s exactly what it sounds like: an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts! But it does NOT actually taste like coconuts. It has a rich, caramel-like flavor, similar to brown sugar, and it pours like granulated sugar. Most grocery stores stock it near the regular sugar on the baking aisle, and you can also find it online.

Then for my favorite part… The mini chocolate chips! (I’m a huge chocoholic. That’s why I published my Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook!) I prefer these mini chips because they melt very well and taste really rich. Plus mini chocolate chips ensure that every bite of these cookies contains chocolate!
 

HOW TO MAKE BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Let’s go over how to make the best banana chocolate chip cookies! This recipe is easy and straightforward, so I just have a few quick tips.

Chill the cookie dough. This cookie dough is fairly sticky when you initially mix everything together. A brief trip to the refrigerator helps fix that! Chilling stiffens the cookie dough and makes it easier to work with. It’ll still be a bit sticky though, so use a spoon and spatula to shape it — not your hands!

Flatten the cookie dough. These cookies do not spread while baking, so flatten them before you put them in the oven! I like to use these mini spatulas to shape the cookie dough and smooth out the edges into nice round circles.

Do not overbake. The cookies are ready to come out of the oven when the centers still feel a bit soft and underdone. If you wait until the centers are firm, you’ll overbake the cookies — and they’ll turn out cakey, bready, or dry! But if you remove the baking sheet from the oven earlier, when the cookies still feel slightly underdone, they’ll turn out perfectly soft and chewy. (The heat from the warm baking sheet continues to cook the centers all the way through while you let the cookies rest before transferring them to a wire rack!)
 

 
Got milk? 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amys.healthy.baking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy banana chocolate chip cookies!

Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

© Amy's Healthy Baking

Yields: 12 cookies

These soft and chewy cookies are a fun fruit-flavored twist on classic chocolate chip cookies! They’ll keep for at least one week if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator — if they last that long!

4.75 from 28 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients 

• 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tbsp (21g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup (67g) mashed banana (about 1 tiny banana – and see Notes!)
• 1 tbsp (15mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk, room temperature
• ⅓ cup (64g) coconut sugar
• 3 tbsp (42g) miniature chocolate chips, divided

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the butter, vanilla, mashed banana, and milk. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in 2 ½ tablespoons of miniature chocolate chips. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a spoon and a spatula. Flatten the cookie dough to ⅜" thick. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Notes

IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much of will make your cookies cakey, bready, or dry, instead of soft and chewy.

 

IMPORTANT BANANA NOTE – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Use the ripest, most speckled bananas you can find! Ones that are almost purely brown or black are the best. They have a stronger, sweeter flavor and yield a softer cookie texture.

 

Measure the mashed banana by grams or tablespoons — not by “1 tiny banana.” Not all tiny bananas are the exact same size, which often affects both the taste and texture of your cookies.

 

IMPORTANT BAKING NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: These cookies don’t spread. They’ll look exactly the same before and after baking (just no longer raw!), so it’s important to flatten the cookie dough before baking.

 

Do not over-bake these cookies! They’re ready to come out of the oven when the centers still feel slightly soft and underdone. The heat from the warm baking sheet will continue to cook the centers all the way through while you let the cookies rest for 10 minutes after pulling the pan from the oven.

 

FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: White whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat pastry flour. Regular whole wheat flour may be substituted in a pinch, but the cookies will have detectable “wheat-y” taste. Oat flour (gluten-free, if necessary!) may also be substituted, but be extra careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent than wheat-based flours.

 

COCONUT OIL / BUTTER ALTERNATIVES + NOTE: Stick-style vegan butter may be substituted for the coconut oil or unsalted butter. For stick-style vegan butter, I really like this one and this one. (← I was surprised by how well that one melted in the microwave. It didn’t splatter or pop at all like some other brands do!)

 

Do not substitute additional mashed banana for the coconut oil or butter. That will give your cookies a more cakey, bready, or dry texture.

 

MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

 

COCONUT SUGAR ALTERNATIVE: Light brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.

 

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour flour, I recommend the following blend: ¼ cup (30g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 3 tablespoons (21g) coconut flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (I like this one from Bob's Red Mill) will work as well, if measured like this. Certified gluten-free oat flour will also work, but be extra careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent than many other flours.

 

EGG-FREE, DAIRY-FREE + VEGAN OPTION: Use the coconut oil option or stick-style vegan butter (I like this one and this one) and vegan-friendly miniature chocolate chips (I like these).

 

DOUBLING THE RECIPE: This recipe is easily doubled!

 

HOW TO STORE: Store leftover cookies in an airtight container. If left at room temperature, they’ll keep for a couple of days. If refrigerated, they’ll last about a week (if not longer!). Once baked and fully cooled, these cookies also freeze really well!

 

{gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.

View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
 
 
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡   Banana Oatmeal Cookies
♡   Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
♡   Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Brownies
♡   Peanut Butter Banana Bread Brownies
♡   Strawberry Blueberry Banana Bread
♡   Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
♡   Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Muffins
♡   Banana Chocolate Chip Scones
♡   …and the rest of Amy’s healthy banana recipes!