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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I have been baking/cooking like crazy, why not I’ve got the time! These were awesome! I did not have instant Oats, so I was a bit worried, but they turned out great. As always Jenn Segal has done my baking right.
YUM! I don’t know what people are doing to make these runny, but they turned out great for us. Maybe it has to do with your banana ripeness? Ours were good and ripe but not disgusting. I think we had the equivalent of two medium-large bananas. We used regular oats, skimped a bit on the sugar, and added raisins at the request of my 3-year-old. They are ooey-gooey and delightful!
Wow!! These banana oatmeal cookies are delicious. Whole family is home and they are eating them as fast as they come out of the oven. This is going to be a regular! Thanks Jenn!
I was suspicious of this recipe but we have banana bread and cake fatigue. However, no need, the cookies turned out great. Crispy outside, soft chewy inner. The whole batch snaffled very quickly by the fam. Will definitely be adding this recipe to our baking rotation.
Had the same issue of runny batter and the cookies spreading that another reviewer mentioned.
Hi Ali, Did you use frozen bananas? If so, did you drain off any extra liquid?
Made this today, doubled the recipe and in one half added chocolate chips and the other half chopped pecans … I also halved Both sugars. I used about 5 bananas in all and mashed them with a fork rather than the blended as I didn’t want them puréed. All in they turned out great, not flat like the picture but more peaked but no problem with too much liquid. Taste like banana Bread in a cookie 😋 yum.
I was a tad afraid after reading the reviews of runny dough but I gave it a try anyway. So very happy I did. I love these cookies I’m afraid I’ll be eating them all. Thanks for the delicious recipe 🤗.
I tried this recipe today but tweaked it to get a crunchier cookie by using less sugar and a couple tablespoons of milk plus adding 1/8 cup rice flour. Baking at lower temperature for longer (at the top of the oven) helps as well. I also patted down each ball flat and spread it out so they would bake faster at a lower temp. Worked great, nice crunchy cookies with a banana-oatmeal flavor!
Great cookies, crunchy on the outside and caky inside. Added walnuts and cut the white sugar down to 1/3 cup and they are plenty sweet. Hard to understand how some bakers get a runny batter, has to be frozen bananas as there is no liquid added.
I just made these and they are terrible; the batter was way too runny and no I didn’t use frozen bananas and because this was a new recipe to me I measured more accurately than a nuclear scientist in the lab. Absolutely tasteless and as they cooked they just morphed into a paper-thin wafer. I had divided the dough in half to add chocolate chips and I added an extra cup of flour, which helped them retain their shape somewhat but they were still bland. I won’t use this recipe again.
But…they could’ve been bland because you CHANGED the recipe by adding 1 whole cup of FLOUR!!? Yeah, that probably DID IT…ijs.🤨 if it needed an additional CUP of flour, surely Jenn would’ve added it…she IS the author and Chef.
I loved these!! Thank you! We had some extra bananas around the house so it was perfect. My husband said they were his favorite cookies that I’ve ever made (and I have been baking for us for years now). Great recipe and love that it’s something different than what I’ve made before! 🙂
delicious! I didn’t have any eggs so i use one tbsp of psyllium mix with 3 tbsp of water turned out great