Thin & Crispy Banana Oatmeal Cookies
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If you can imagine a cross between oatmeal cookies and banana bread, this is it.
These banana oatmeal cookies are everything you love about banana bread, reimagined as crispy, golden-brown cookies. Thin and lightly spiced, they’ve got the perfect balance of crunch and a chewy center, with just a hint of warmth from cinnamon and nutmeg. The mashed banana adds natural sweetness and moisture, while the oats bring a hearty texture that keeps you coming back for more. Ideal for a coffee break or an after-dinner treat, they’re a new twist on classic comfort flavors—and if you love the texture that oats add to cookies, my oatmeal brown sugar cookies with raisins and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are worth a try, too.
“Delicious for dessert or as an afternoon snack!!! Crispy on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside. Very good way to use up ripe bananas if you don’t want banana loaf.”
What You’ll Need To Make Banana Oatmeal Cookies
- All-Purpose Flour: The foundation of the cookie, creating structure and adding a subtle chew to each one. To ensure accuracy, measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off.
- Old-Fashioned Oats: Also known as rolled oats. Add texture and hearty flavor, giving the cookies a crispy edge and chewy center. I’d stick with old-fashioned oats; instant or quick oats would break down too much and impact that ideal crispy-chewy texture.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: Provide warmth and a cozy depth that complements the banana.
- Baking Soda: Ensures the cookies spread and crisp up during baking.
- Butter: Adds richness and a crispy texture to the edges of the cookies.
- Granulated Sugar & Light Brown Sugar: Together, these sugars create a balanced sweetness and help the cookies achieve a crispy, caramelized finish. When measuring brown sugar, always pack it tightly to eliminate air pockets.
- Egg: Binds the ingredients and adds a bit of chew to the cookies’ centers.
- Mashed Bananas: Brings natural sweetness, moisture, and a hint of banana flavor for a soft, chewy interior.
- Vanilla Extract: Rounds out the flavors with a classic hint of sweetness.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Stir or whisk to combine and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
Beat until light and fluffy, a few minutes.
Add the mashed banana, egg, and vanilla.
Mix to combine.
Add the dry ingredients.
Mix on low speed to combine. The batter will be wetter than most cookie doughs.
Scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing the dough balls evenly apart.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden.
Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Make-Ahead, Freezing & Storage INformation
The cookie dough can be frozen for up to three months. Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To Freeze After Baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. To thaw, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
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Thin & Crispy Banana Oatmeal Cookies
If you can imagine a cross between oatmeal cookies and banana bread, this is it.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 scant teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- ⅔ cup mashed bananas, from 2 overripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Space two oven racks so that the oven is divided into thirds. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, a few minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, mashed bananas and vanilla extract; beat until combined. Add the flour and oats mixture and mix on low speed until well combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be wetter than most cookie doughs; that's okay.
- Scoop large balls of dough (about 1½ tablespoons) onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 3 inches apart, as they spread quite a bit (I use a small ice cream scooper with a wire scraper). Bake for 14 to 17 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through, until golden brown. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The Cookie Dough can be Frozen for up to 3 Months: Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To Freeze After Baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 128
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Sugar: 8g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Sodium: 83mg
- Cholesterol: 15mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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These are “day 2 cookies” because the banana flavour has time to really come through and the texture solidifies. I added chocolate chips to mine and they are really delicious. I found rolling them into balls before placing on the cookie sheet makes beautifully uniform cookies.
Hi Jenn,
Recently our local paper ranked their top 5 favorite fast food chocolate chip cookies. My wife and I decided to buy a cookie from each over a few week period starting from the top because we were intrigued with the test results and didn’t want to miss out on a great chocolate chip cookie!
My POV: While all looked great and had the right look and feel they were all very disappointing to me because after the first bite, which I initially thought was good, they immediately shifted to taste like white processed cookie bombs. The law of diminishing returns on the hyped up experience plunged. It was hard to discern any of the classic homemade flavors a good chocolate cookie should exude. I’ve come to the conclusion that every store bought cookie, and so many homemade, are nothing more than a huge hit of white processed sugar poorly disguised as a cookie.
As such, I decided to make my own batch and searched your recipes but was quickly distracted by the idea of your oatmeal banana cookies and made them instead. However, looking at the high amount of sugar in your recipe, I thought it was far to much also and didn’t want to make more cookies that tasted primarily like sugar – so I cut the sugar in half. I was very pleased with how they came out! They still had very reasonable sweetness and the all other ingredient flavors weren’t over run by sugar. Calorie bonus: I figure with the calories cut from the reduced sugar I could eat two of those big cookies and still feel good about loading up on worthless (but yummy) calories.
Besides all that, your cookie recipe turned out great and just like described! For anyone that reads this that most concurs cookies have been overdone with to much sugar, cut it in half for this recipe and you’ll still end up with a great cookie.
Thank you Jenn
Made these lovelies today for grandbabies, followed exactly receipe except used margarine as did not have any butter on hand, and I used 1 and 1/3 banana as mine were quite large banana’s. They immediately spread out and are thin and crispy and amazing!!
I’ve made this cookie recipe several times but my cookies never get thin & crisp. I reduce the amount of sugar but that is the only change. Any ideas?
Hi Marsha, The sugar is partly what makes the cookies crisp, so that is likely the reason. Hope that helps!
Made this recipe yesterday to share love with my neighbors. Thank you so much. Really awesome and the kids love them.
I was disappointed in these. They didn’t come out flat and crispy at all. They were rounded and more cake-like. They tasted okay (not sensational), but I really wanted a crisp cookie.
Delicious!!! Crispy on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside. I added pecans which gave it a bit of crunch. Very good way to use up ripe bananas if you don’t want banana loaf.
I have to wonder if the huge difference in texture comments (very runny to very fluffy) has to do with ripeness and/or size of bananas. I’m surprised at 2 bananas only making 2/3 cup – they must be quite small. If someone goes only by count (2 bananas) and uses large ones and/or uses excessively ripe bananas, it’s going to make a huge difference from what I think is intended. Also, the recipe specifies old fashioned oats, and I saw that some people used quick oats. This will also make a noticeable difference as the baking time may be shorter and the texture more smooth. I haven’t tried making them yet (I’ll have to run to the store for more oats first), but I’ll be sure to follow directions to the tee (unusual for me as I love to improvise) and see what happens.
I’ve made these cookies twice and they turned out the same both times… very thin and soft. They were not crispy at all. Not a good texture. I love crispy cookies so these were a disappointment.
I made this recipe today but won’t be making it again…they’re okay but not great. I don’t care for the texture. Oh well, everything else I’ve tried from your offerings Jenn have been awesome so the odd one that doesn’t work for me is more about me than you.
Cheers,
Susan
“… batter will be wetter than most cough doughs” is this an error?
If not what is “cough doughs”?
LOL — that’s a typo — I just fixed it. It’s supposed to say cookie, not cough. Thanks for pointing it out!!
The text is correct in the illustrated version of the recipe but still says “cough” in the printable version 😉.
Ugh — thanks for pointing that out — it’s fixed!! 🙂