Nine ingredients and less than 30 minutes to incredible healthy peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies. Crispy edge and melt in your mouth middle, perfect for breakfast or a healthy snack!
Cookies are a food group. At least in our house. So coming up with healthier versions that taste amazing is a non negotiable item. I'm all about balance but when you're scarfing cookies down at the rate you should be eating veggies, it's time to step up your nutrients in the cookie game.
What cookies are the healthiest?
Using mostly whole foods is a great way to get a lot of nutrients in your recipes. These peanut butter banana cookies are made with some legit ingredients:
- oats
- peanut butter
- banana
- date paste
- pecans
- chocolate chips
All of those, minus the chocolate chips, are pretty nutrient dense. You can even sub cacao nibs for the chocolate chips for ultra healthy breakfast cookies (but hey, I'm all about a touch of chocolate in my life).
You not only need to look at the ingredients in a recipes, but when you are buying those ingredients, you need to look at the labels themselves. Let's take peanut butter for instance, there should be 1-2 things on the ingredient list: peanuts and maybe salt.
Many jars out there include added sugar, oil and other add ins that are simply not necessary! Do you need help understanding the ingredients on a food label? I have an awesome information guide. Click here to get it for free!
Are cookies good for breakfast?
Is the sky blue? Of course they are good for breakfast, especially when they are healthy peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies.
But really though, I can't stress this enough. Read the labels if you are buying them. If the ingredients are mostly whole foods, then you're probably good.
Are homemade cookies healthier?
Some of the time the answer is yes. And for these peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies, definitely yes. But again you need to read labels.
I mean, we all know that freshly baked cookies are best right out of the oven. So it makes sense. Not that it isn't ok to have unhealthy cookies sometimes. Or any time. Balance is key, I talk more about this in my podcast episode about finding that perfect balance!
But these healthy vegan cookies are done and cleaned up in under 30 minutes so really, why would you buy cookies anyway?
Are vegan cookies healthier?
Not necessarily. I'm going back to what I have hammered into your head, read the labels! Most cookies that are not vegan are filled with butter and sugar, so I wouldn't call them healthy. But nothing wrong with it once in a while.
What is the healthiest alternative to added sugar?
Since the only natural sugars come from milk and fruit, I love using date paste to sweeten my healthy sweet treats. It's so simple to make, basically dates and water, and it keeps for a long time in the fridge. Plus it gives the perfect texture to these peanut butter banana cookies!
I make it every few weeks, and store it in a glass jar. You can even freeze it if you wanted.
When I am not using date paste, my second go to is maple syrup. While it is not a natural sugar, it's glycemic index isn't as high as other added sugars and I love the flavor.
How do you make healthy peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies?
If I told you it took me shorter time to make these cookies than it did to get my son to eat a bite of lasagna would you believe me? Well it did. Because these babies are "don't look away long enough for your 3 year old to try riding the cat" fast.
- Mix the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients.
- Add the chocolate chips and pecans.
- Bake.
- Shove into mouth before the kids see.
If you liked this healthy treat, check out some of the others!
- Apple Cinnamon Date Scuffins
- No Bake Chocolate Peppermint Balls
- Caramel Peanut Protein Truffles
- Churro "Unfried" Ice cream
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup peanut butter , see note
- ½ cup mashed ripe banana , about 1 small banana
- ¼ cup maple syrup (can sub with ½ cup date paste)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup rolled oats , gluten-free if needed
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup dairy free chocolate chips (can sub with dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs for an ultra healthy version)
- ½ cup chopped pecans , omit and use more chocolate chips for nut free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C
- Mix the peanut butter, banana, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a bowl until combined, I used a whisk. It's okay if there are some banana chunks.
- Add the oats, baking soda and salt to the bowl and mix well with a spoon.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans.
- You can put the mixture in the fridge to firm up a bit while you clean up if you want it to be a touch easier to scoop.
- Using a spoon or small ice cream scooper, drop balls of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets. These retain shape and don't spread much.
- Bake 17-20 minutes or until brown on edges. Cookies will harden a bit more as they cool.
Notes
- You can use almond butter too, or try sunflower seed butter for a nut free option.
- These are very forgiving and adaptable. Use add ins of your choice, just remember to keep the total to around 1 cup (the amount of chocolate chips and pecans) because if you add to much the dough won't stay together.
- Serving size is one cookie.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Kristi
These are my favorite healthy cookies! I have made them several times and everyone likes them.
veggiesdontbite
Yay! So happy you liked them Kristi!
Cami C
Subbed a high quality maple syrup for the date paste, and also went a little light (just short of 1/2 cup.) The turned out great. So...I assume people have tried the “raw” dough before baking? These seriously almost didn’t make it to the oven because it was so good! 😂
veggiesdontbite
Hahaha! Love it Cami!! So happy you liked them!
Kirstin
Excellent! And super easy to make. I was a little intimidated by the date paste, but it wasn’t a hassle at all. I’m excited to try with some different variations (different nuts, etc).
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Kristin! So happy you liked them. I often make it with maple syrup and love them!
Katie
These are so good! My 3yo and husband were fans and they’re pickier than me. I was gonna sub walnuts for the pecans but my son was against that so we only added the choc chips and they came out great. We polished them off in less than a day and I’m having to stop myself from making another batch 😆.
veggiesdontbite
I'm so so happy you liked them!! Thank you for the great review!
Annie
So yummy! I will definitely be making these again! I think I added a little bit too much Maple syrup (my banana was VERY ripe) and I think I might add a little bit of shredded coconut. So so good! Thanks Sophia!
Michele
Big hit with my family! The only change I made was used oat flour instead of oatmeal, because I have picky ones at home. I also added a tablespoon of aquafaba.
We will be doing this weekly, for sure!!!
veggiesdontbite
I'm so happy you liked them Michele!! Oat flour can work, just sucks up more moisture so I can see where the aquafaba helps. You could also add a little milk.
Michele
Thanks for letting me know! I will be making them again tomorrow!
Alexis
My new favorite cookie recipe!!! I used maple syrup instead of date paste and subbed sunflower seed butter. With those 2 subs I thought it was a perfect recipe for a caramel sauce before adding the dry ingredients!! I thought this recipe was the most delicious and easiest thing I’ve ever tried. So many ways to change it up too! Thank you!!!
veggiesdontbite
I'm so happy you liked them Alexis! I have made them with sun butter and love them too!
Yvette
This sounds like a delightful cookie recipe!
I'm curious about the nutrition info: it doesn't mention a serving size so I'd like to know if that is per cookie or for the whole batch.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Yvette! The servings are towards the top, it makes 16 servings. So 16 cookies. The nutrition info is per serving, so it would be per cookie. I just added it in the notes as well!
Chris Peltz
Can I sub applesauce for the banana?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Chris! You could try but the texture will be a bit different. Let me know if you do!
Amanda
Amazing, healthy, delicious, easy recipe. Kid and husband approved! I froze my batch and they are as incredible and fresh out of the freezer as they are the oven.
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much Amanda! I am so happy that they work frozen!!!
Lue
Guilt free treat! Made these today. I've never used date paste before, so that was new and it worked well. I'll keep that on hand for the future. I personalized them by switching peanut butter for almond butter and sliced almonds for pecans. Hubs walked in from work and started devouring. He likes banana in anything. Subtle banana taste there, but definitely not the prominent flavor. Tip for those who want them a little more uniform disc shaped rather than ball-ish shaped: After dropping by scoop onto cookie sheet, dip your fingertips into water and press down on the center just a bit. The water will prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers. And credit where credit is due--I learned that from your friend Brandi at TheVegan8.com.
veggiesdontbite
So happy you liked them Lue!! I love your subs, sounds amazing. And yes! Definitely shape as you wish. I use the water trick for all my baked goods...but it's also fun to get you fingers covered in dough because then you get to lick it off 😉
Sarah
I made these according to the recipe above, and they turned out flat. Reading through the comments, you mention coconut oil, flax egg, and oats being the first ingredient, but in the recipe above, it makes no mention of those except for the oats which are further down in the recipe. Is it possible that some of the ingredients are left out in the above recipe? The taste is good, but they are completely flat.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Sarah, glad you liked the flavor! I am guessing yours were flat because your peanut butter or date paste were runnier than normal. They should be someone thick. If you find that issue, I would add more oats to soak up part of that liquid. I updated and reposted this recipe from an older version so some of the comments were about the older version. Thanks for reminding me, I went through and updated them. This is the correct list of ingredients so I'd suggest the oat idea or make sure the nut butter and date paste are thick and not too runny!
Sarah
Thank you so much!
Savanna Krumwiede
It could also be that your baking soda is expired or close to expired. You can check by putting some vinegar on a bit of it to see if it still bubbles up!
veggiesdontbite
Could be! But it sounded like the batter was wet too. Good idea to check it though for sure!
The Vegan 8
Ok, lady, these could possibly turn me into a banana fan, haha! They are beautiful, chunky and hunky and look so delicious!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much friend. You do not taste the bananas at all. Just my healthy way to help sweeten so I can eat these daily and call them healthy 😉
Emily Kemp
These sound sooo delicious, looking forward to trying them!
cooper
The cookies were very good but to soft, how can I make the next batch better.
thank you
veggiesdontbite
Do you mean you want a crispier outside? These aren't a super crispy cookie though in general. You can add a bit more nut butter and cook a tad longer to get them crispier.