These are the best banana oatmeal cookies! They are naturally vegan, toddler friendly, and healthy enough to eat for breakfast! Make a batch and enjoy it throughout the week as an easy grab and go snack.
There’s nothing my son, E, loves more than a good cookie. To keep things on the healthier side and not deny him of cookies, I always offer him these easy homemade banana oatmeal cookies. He loves these soft homemade ones! They don’t take long to make and I’ll pop them in the freezer so we’ll always have some on hand.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
While I have no qualms about offering a full on gourmet chocolate chip cookie made with white flour, white sugar, butter, and tons of chocolate, if I can throw some nutritious add-ins there, AMAZING. That’s where these banana oatmeal cookies come in. They are…
- Made with less sugar
- Chock full of nutritious ingredients
- Easy to make
- Dairy-free
- Vegan-friendly
- Totally big boy E approved!
Key Ingredients
Ground flax — Loaded with omega 3s, protein and fibre, flax is a fantastic add-in for making baked goods more nutritious. In this recipe it is mixed with water to make a “flax egg” which is a vegan egg replacement.
Vegan butter — If you’re not vegan, feel free to use regular softened butter.
Brown sugar and maple syrup — I love the molasses like flavour of brown sugar and the aromatics of maple. These sweeteners are perfect in this recipe because they keep these cookies chewy and moist.
Mashed ripe banana — I love adding banana to baked goods because it’s like a natural sweetener so I can cut back on added sugar. I basically always buy extra bananas and as soon as they get really speckled, I chop them up and throw them into a freezer bag for recipes like this.
Oats — I adore a good oatmeal cookie and I find the quick cookie oats are tender enough but still give you that chewy texture. I also love that oats are loaded with soluble fibre and provide nutritious energizing carbs (there’s a reason I bake with them so much). If you’re gluten free, make sure to use gluten free oats.
Whole wheat flour — I prefer to use whole wheat all purpose flour for the extra fibre, but in a pinch you can totally use all purpose flour.
Hemp hearts — You know I love hemp hearts for the omega 3, fibre, and protein. They make perfect easy “sprinkles” for any cookie or muffin recipe.
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Mix together the 1 tbsp flax with water in a small ramekin and sit in the fridge for 15 minutes to set as a flax egg. Then to a bowl, add the butter, brown sugar and maple to a medium bowl and beat until well combined.
Step 2: Add in the banana, vanilla, and flax egg and beat for another 30 seconds until combined.
Step 3: In another bowl, mix the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Step 4: Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 5: Roll a heaping tablespoon into balls and flatten until they’re about 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle with hemp hearts and press a banana chip in the centre (if using). Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom. Allow them to cool completely before transferring them to an air-tight container.
Expert Tips
If you do not have flax, you can try using a chia egg instead. I prefer flax because it doesn’t discolour the cookies but chia egg is a perfectly acceptable substitute.
To freeze these banana oatmeal cookies, allow them to cool to room temperature first. Once your oatmeal cookies have fully cooled, transfer them on a baking sheet to the freezer to solidify for 30 minutes. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag for up to 4 months. When you want to have a cookie, just pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until thawed through.
For an easy grab and go breakfast, I would serve 1-2 cookies with some fruit and a hard-boiled egg.
If you are a huge fan of chocolate chips, you are more than welcomed to mix a handful in, or press 1 or 2 chips into each cookie!
Recipe FAQs
These are soft and chewy, with a delicate banana flavour that is not too sweet. Perfect for kids but also for adults who are looking for a mid-morning pick-me-up!
I get this question often about toddlers and sweets, and how to balance these “fun foods” with other nutritious meals and snacks. The first step is to normalize them, and that means offering your toddler cookies and other desserts regularly. I know, that seems counterintuitive if the goal is to make sure they’re not eating ALL the cookies ALL the time. But it’s important that cookies don’t become such a novelty that they go hog wild the moment they get one.
I also recommend offering a dessert like this at meal time and allowing your kid to eat their dessert and main meal in whatever order they want. The caveat to this is that there is only one portion of the dessert, while they can have more of the other items on the table.
Another idea is to occasionally offer UNLIMITED cookies at a snack time. The important piece here is that the snack time is far enough away from the main meal that it doesn’t compete with other nutritious foods at the meal.
If you want a little more information on these tactics, check out my post on sugar here, and my articles on the division of responsibility here and here. And don’t forget to join my mom and feeding facebook group here.
If you are not vegan or dairy free, you can absolutely just use a regular egg or dairy butter. However, I do love using a flax egg for the extra omega 3s, fibre and protein.
I haven’t tried making these with gluten free flour, but you could experiment with a gluten free or wheat free flour and of course, use a gluten free oat brand.
These will keep in an air tight container for about 4 days on the counter, but for longer storage, I do suggest freezing them.
More Recipes You Might Like
Want more easy cookie recipes like this banana oatmeal cookies recipe? Try these reader favourites:
- Vegan Salted Toffee Cookies
- Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies (Vegan, GF)
- Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (Vegan)
- Carrot Cake Cookies (Vegan, GF)
What are your go-to healthy cookie recipes for your kids and toddlers? Leave me a comment below with your go-to toddler approved cookies.
BEST Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ground flax
- 2½ tbsp water
- ¼ cup vegan butter softened
- ¼ cup plus 1 tbsp brown sugar packed
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ cup mashed ripe banana about 1 large banana
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp hemp hearts
- 20 banana chips optional
Instructions
- Mix together the 1 tbsp flax with water in a small ramekin and sit in the fridge for 15 minutes to set as a flax egg.
- Add the butter, brown sugar and maple to a medium bowl and beat until well combined. Add in the banana, vanilla and flax egg and beat for another 30 seconds until combined.
- In another bowl, mix the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll a heaping tablespoon into balls and flatten until they’re about 2 inches in diameter.
- Sprinkle with hemp hearts and press a banana chip in the centre (if using).
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom. Allow them to cool completely before transferring them to an air-tight container.
Notes
- If you do not have flax, you can try using a chia egg instead. I prefer flax because it doesn’t discolour the cookies but chia egg is a perfectly acceptable substitute.
- To freeze these banana oatmeal cookies, allow them to cool to room temperature first. Once your oatmeal cookies have fully cooled, transfer them on a baking sheet to the freezer to solidify for 30 minutes. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag for up to 4 months. When you want to have a cookie, just pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until thawed through.
- For an easy grab and go breakfast, I would serve 1-2 cookies with some fruit and a hard-boiled egg.
- If you are a huge fan of chocolate chips, you are more than welcomed to mix a handful in, or press 1 or 2 chips into each cookie!
Nutrition
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Jess says
These really are the BEST. Thanks Abbey!