banana chocolate chip cookies (banana bread cookies)

these banana chocolate chip cookies bring the comfort of homemade banana bread to your cookie jar. hints of browned butter and cinnamon meet gooey chunks of chocolate and crunchy walnuts, creating the most perfect, chewy cookie.

these are the best banana chocolate chip cookies, like autumn wrapped up in a golden, chewy treat. this recipe combines toasty, browned butter and sweet, ripe bananas with melty dark chocolate and crunchy walnuts. soft and yielding, with crisp edges and chewy centres, let each bite of one of these transport you to the cosiest of fall afternoons.

why you will love this simple banana chocolate chip cookies recipe

• complex flavour profile – these chocolate chip banana cookies are no ordinary cookie! they’re packed with the rich flavours of browned butter, banana, cinnamon and dark chocolate, and everything complements each other so wonderfully. this is about to become your new favourite cookie.

• easy recipe – these banana chocolate chip cookies are so easy to make, even for beginners. the most complicated part of this recipe is browning the butter, which is really not as hard as it looks. the rest of the steps are all very straightforward!

• a mix of two comfort foods – this is the best banana chocolate chip cookies recipe – it combines the flavours of banana bread with the crisp and chewy texture of a cookie. truly the best of both worlds, and so perfec

learn how to make these thick banana chocolate chip cookies

to make these homemade banana chocolate chip cookies, we’re going to start off by browning the butter to add an extra toffee-like depth of flavour to our banana and chocolate chip cookies. let the butter cool after browning, and in a separate bowl, mash up a ripe banana. to the cooled browned butter, add granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix these together until combined. then, add the mashed banana and mix that in. add some heavy cream and a splash of vanilla, and mix that in until you get a relatively smooth batter.

in another bowl, add flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, some baking soda and salt and mix all of that together. add the dry ingredients to the wet batter and gently fold them in until you get a banana chocolate chip cookie dough. mix milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips/chunks and some walnuts into the dough. let the banana chocolate chip cookie dough chill in the fridge for an hour or two.

once the dough is ready, split the cookie dough into equal sections. bake the banana chocolate chip cookies until golden and chewy, and we’re done!

banana chocolate chip cookies ingredients

• butter – we’re going to use unsalted butter here. if you would prefer to use salted butter, just remove the extra salt from the dry ingredients. for this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe, i decided to brown the butter for an extra depth of flavour that works so well with the banana and cinnamon in these cookies.

• brown sugar – i make these moist banana chocolate chip cookies using light brown sugar because it really helps keep these banana chocolate chip cookies soft and extra chewy. the flavours of the brown sugar also really work well with the browned butter and the cinnamon.

• granulated sugar – this recipe uses a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar. the brown sugar keeps these banana chocolate chip cookies chewy and the granulated sugar helps them spread.

• banana – we’re going to use just one ripe banana in this recipe. you want to make sure that the banana is soft and ripe – this will make it easier to combine with the rest of the ingredients and will also give your cookies a sweeter flavour. using a banana in our cookies also helps keep these banana chocolate chip cookies eggless since the mashed banana helps the dough bind together.

• vanilla extract – optional, but a splash of it will add a nice, subtle vanilla flavour to your banana dark chocolate chip cookies.

• double cream or heavy cream – this is optional but i like to add a small amount of heavy cream to my gooey banana chocolate chip cookies as it adds a lovely richness and makes the cookies extra chewy. you can skip this, or use milk if you’d rather not use the heavy cream.

• flour – we’ll be using plain flour or all purpose flour in this recipe.

• baking soda and baking powder – i use just a small amount of baking soda and baking powder in these banana chocolate chip cookies to get a good balance of spread and thickness.

• ground cinnamon – i like to add a bit of ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients because the cinnamon flavour complements the rest of the flavours in these banana chocolate chip cookies so well. optional but highly recommended!

• salt – a small amount of salt added to the dry ingredients helps balance out the sweetness in this banana bread chocolate chip cookies recipe.

• chocolate – you can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate in these banana chocolate chip cookies. i used a mix of both. you can use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate or both. use the chips if you want more of a classic cookie look and the chopped chocolate if you’re looking for those melty puddles of chocolate.

• walnuts – these are completely optional, but i personally love the texture contrast that walnuts give to these banana chocolate chip cookies.

tools:

• large bowl – for the banana chocolate chip cookie dough

• medium bowls – one for the mashed banana, and one for the dry ingredients

• pot or pan – for browning the butter on the stove

• baking sheets – you’ll need a big baking sheet lined with parchment paper or baking paper

• electric mixer or whisk (optional) – this will just make it easier to mix all of the ingredients together and get a smoother batter

step by step instructions

for full measurements, keep scrolling down to the recipe below.

step one: brown the butter. add unsalted butter to a pan or pot and heat up over medium heat. keep stirring until golden brown and toasted. you’ll know you’re done when the butter starts to smell almost caramel-like. (detailed instructions on browning butter in faqs section).

step two: add the browned butter to a large mixing bowl, making sure to scrape out all of the milk solids from the bottom of the pan and into the bowl. put this in the fridge or freezer to chill for 10-15 minutes until the browned butter has cooled.

step three: once the butter has cooled, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the bowl, and mix these together until combined.

step four: in a separate bowl, add the ripe banana and use a fork to mash the banana until it resembles something like a puree.

step five: add this to the wet batter along with some vanilla extract and the heavy cream.

step six: mix all of this together until you get a relatively smooth batter.

step seven: in another bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon and mix all of this together.

step eight: add the dry ingredients to the banana chocolate chip cookie mix and gently fold them in until a banana chocolate chip cookie dough is formed.

step nine: add the chocolate chips or chunks as well as the chopped walnuts and gently mix them into the cookie dough. the dough will be quit stick at this point but it will firm up in the fridge.

step ten: place the bowl in the fridge and let the cookie dough chill for around 1 hours.

step eleven: preheat oven 10-15 minutes before baking, and line a baking sheet or baking tray with parchment paper or baking paper.

step twelve: split the banana chocolate chip cookie dough into equal sized portions, then place the cookie dough balls on the lined tray, making sure to put space between them so that they have enough room to spread. press a few more chunks of chocolate into the cookie dough balls before baking.

step thirteen: bake the banana chocolate chip cookies for 12-15 minutes, or until they look soft and golden.

step fourteen: remove the banana chocolate chip cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet for about ten minutes before picking them up as they’ll still be soft.

step fifteen: pour yourself a glass of milk, and let’s eat!

tips and notes

• keep an eye on the butter when browning it – butter can quickly go from nutty and toasted to burnt. once the butter starts to smell caramel-like and toasty, and you can see it start to turn a dark golden brown colour, remove the pan from the heat. using a light-coloured pan or pot to brown the butter will help you see the change in colour better so i’d recommend doing that.

• make sure you give the browned butter time to cool before adding the rest of your ingredients. this is why i like to place it in the fridge or freezer for a while before going ahead with the rest of the recipe.

• use soft, ripe bananas for the best flavour as these will be sweeter. make sure you mash the bananas thoroughly until they look something like a puree – this will just allow the banana to be more evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.

• i do just use a mixing spoon to make these banana chocolate chip cookies, but to make things easier and to give you a smoother batter, you might want to use a whisk or an electric mixer when mixing the wet ingredients.

• if using salted butter instead of unsalted, leave out the extra salt stated in the recipe.

• once you add the flour and dry ingredients to the banana chocolate chip cookie mix, gently mix until just combined to avoid over mixing the dough. make sure to gently fold the chocolate chips and walnuts in, too. over mixing can make your cookies tough and less soft and chewy.

• feel free to adjust the amount of ground cinnamon in this banana walnut chocolate chip cookies recipe depending on whether you like a stronger cinnamon flavour or not. for me, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon was just perfect, and not too overpowering.

• to keep these banana chocolate chip cookies easy to make, i would really recommend chilling the dough in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours as the dough will be quite sticky before chilling it. placing the dough in the fridge will help the cookie dough firm up and also enhance the flavours of the browned butter. the longer you chill the banana chocolate chip cookie dough, the better the flavour!

• use a cookie scoop or weigh out the cookie dough balls so that all of the cookies are equal and consistent in size. this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe makes about 7 cookies, each weighing about 105g (about 3.7oz) each.

• if the dough becomes too soft to handle while you’re working with it, just place it in the fridge again for a few minutes to firm it up a little.

• adjust baking time as needed. every oven is different, so i recommend keeping an eye on your banana chocolate chip cookies as they bake. i like to take them out of the oven when they’re slightly soft and underdone as they will continue to cook as they cool once they’re out of the oven. over baking might make your banana chocolate chip cookies dry and cakey and we definitely don’t want that! i baked these for about 12-15 minutes, but keep in mind that baking times will depend on how big your cookies are, so be sure to adjust times according to that. bigger cookies will take more time to bake. smaller cookies will take less time to bake.

• feel free to increase the amount of salt in the cookie dough if you find that it’s too sweet. don’t reduce the sugar as this will impact the texture of the cookie.

• once your banana chocolate chip cookies are out of the oven, they will likely be too soft to pick up. let them cool on the baking sheets for a good 10 minutes before trying to pick them up. they should still be soft and chewy but you’ll be able to actually hold them without them falling apart.

• use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. while i add both metric and cup measurements for this recipe, i always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients for most accurate results.

• if you do decide to use cups, bear in mind that this recipe uses higher than typical flour measurements, as it takes into account the fact that most people tend to scoop their flour.

• i really recommend adding heavy cream to these cookies as it makes them extra chewy! however, it is absolutely not necessary and the other ingredients, such as the browned butter, the brown sugar and the mashed banana, helps make these cookies quite chewy anyway. you can skip the heavy cream if you don’t have it, or use milk instead.

• for melty puddles of chocolate, use chopped chocolate over chocolate chips as chocolate chips are designed to hold their shape in the oven and won’t melt much. or you can use a mix of both chocolate chips and chopped chocolate! i like to use a mix of milk chocolate and dark chocolate, but you can use whatever you like.

• store any leftover banana chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

frequently asked questions

1. how do i brown the butter for this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe ?

   – to brown the butter for these banana chocolate chip cookies, start by adding butter to a pan. melt this over medium heat and stir constantly as the butter melts. the butter will melt and then begin to foam and sizzle. you’ll know the butter has browned when the foam starts to tone down a little and the butter looks golden brown underneath the foam. the butter will start to smell slightly nutty and toasty. once this happens, remove the pot from the heat and transfer the browned butter to your mixing bowl to cool.

2. can i use salted butter in this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe ?

   – yes, you can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. if you do use salted butter for your banana chocolate chip cookies instead of unsalted, just leave out the extra salt in the dry ingredients.

3. do i have to use vanilla extract in this banana chocolate cookies recipe ?

   – the vanilla extract in this cookie recipe is optional. i like the subtle vanilla flavour it gives to the cookie dough but if you would prefer not to use it or don’t have it, that’s also completely fine.

4. why did my banana chocolate chip cookies turn into a cake instead of soft and chewy?

   – the reason why your cookies turned cakey or crispy could be because of baking times. you should take your banana chocolate chip cookies out of the oven when they’re slightly underdone as they will continue to cook and firm up on the tray as they cool. even if you follow the exact timings in the recipe, every oven will bake things differently so timings will vary depending on your oven. i highly recommend checking on your cookies every once in a while, especially towards the end of the recommended times to make sure they don’t over bake.

   – another reason could be that there was too much flour in your banana chocolate chip cookie dough. to make these banana chocolate chip cookies as accurately as possible, i would recommend weighing out the flour using a kitchen scale.

5. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar ?

   – the brown sugar in the banana chocolate chip cookie dough gives the cookies some extra flavour that works really well with the rest of the flavours in these cookies and also helps keep them extra soft and chewy. however, if you don’t have brown sugar, you can substitute it with the same amount of granulated sugar. keep in mind that using all granulated sugar to make this cookie might result in a cookie that is less chewy and maybe even a little crispier. it will also probably spread more, but other than that, it should work just fine. for best results, use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar as stated. if you have molasses on hand, you could also add a small amount of that to granulated sugar to mimic the effect of brown sugar.

6. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies without heavy cream ?

   – the use of heavy cream in this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe helps add a lovely chewiness and richness to the cookies. however, it is also completely fine to omit the heavy cream for the cookies if you don’t have it on hand or would rather not use it. it will result in a less chewy cookie but these cookies are still pretty chewy even without the heavy cream! if you’re looking for a substitute for the heavy cream, you could also just use milk instead for a somewhat similar effect.

7. are walnuts necessary for this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe ?

   – no, they’re not. they are completely optional. i like them for the texture and flavour that they give to these cookies, but you can leave them out if you like.

8. why did my banana chocolate chip cookies spread so much ?

   – this is likely due to the dough being too warm. chilling the dough for the stated amount of time is really important, so make sure you don’t skip this step.

9. how ripe should the bananas be ?

   – the riper, the better. i would recommend using bananas with brown spots of even mostly black peels for the best flavour.

10. can i make these into mini banana chocolate chip cookies ?

    – yes, you can! just follow the recipe as stated, split the dough into smaller sized cookie dough balls and bake them. remember that smaller cookies will take a lot less time to bake, so you’ll want to reduce the baking time for mini cookies.

11. can i make these into a banana chocolate chip skillet cookie ?

    – yes, you can. just follow the recipe as stated, chill the dough for about 30 minutes, then press the dough into a cast iron skillet and bake until soft and golden. you will need to adjust the baking times if you’re making this as a skillet cookie.

12. is this banana chocolate chip cookies recipe healthy ?

    – while these banana chocolate chip cookies contain nutritious ingredients like bananas and walnuts, they’re still considered a treat due to their high sugar content. i would recommend enjoying these banana chocolate chip cookies in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

13. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal ?

    – yes, you can. oats would be a great addition to these banana chocolate chip cookies! just replace around 1/4 to 1/3 of the flour for rolled oats to add some extra texture and chewiness to these cookies.

14. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies with oil ?

    – using oil instead of butter in these cookies is possible, but it just won’t provide the same rich flavour that browned butter gives to these cookies. it will also affect the texture and appearance of the cookies.

15. why did my banana chocolate chip cookies not spread ?

    – one of the reasons why your cookies didn’t spread might be due to your oven temperatures being too low. make sure to preheat your oven 10-15 minutes before adding your cookies in so that the oven is hot enough.

    – it could also be that your cookie dough is too cold. if you find that your cookie isn’t spreading in the oven, let the cookie dough sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before baking it.

16. do i have to chill the dough to make these banana chocolate chip cookies ?

    – i would highly recommend chilling the banana chocolate chip cookie dough before baking it. the cookie dough will be quite sticky when you first mix it due to the browned butter, so it will probably be difficult to shape. letting it chill in the fridge will help firm it up so that it’s easier to handle. it will also help enhance the flavours of the browned butter and reduce spreading in the oven.

17. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies ahead of time ?

    – the longer you chill the banana chocolate chip cookie dough, the better, so you can definitely make these ahead of time. you can make the dough up to 24 hours in advance and keep it in the fridge before you’re ready to bake these cookies.

18. can i use regular melted butter instead of browned butter to make these banana chocolate chip cookies ?

    – yes, you can. however, the browned butter adds a really nice, nutty and toasty flavour that enhances the flavour of these banana bread cookies so i would really recommend browning the butter.

19. can i make banana chocolate chip cookie bars instead of banana chocolate chip cookies ?

    – if you want to keep these banana chocolate chip cookies easy and quick to make, you can definitely bake them as cookie bars instead of individual cookies. just make the cookie dough as stated in the recipe and press the dough into a lined 8×8 inch baking dish, top with some extra chocolate and bake until soft and golden. keep in mind that baking times might differ for the banana chocolate chip cookie bars.

20. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies without baking soda ?

    – i would highly recommend using a mix of baking soda and baking powder as stated, as both of these have an impact on the texture and appearance of these cookies.

21. can i use unripe bananas instead of ripe bananas ?

    – ripe bananas would be best to use in these banana chocolate chip cookies as they’ll give you the best flavour and sweetness. if your bananas aren’t ripe, you can usually ripen them in the oven.

22. are these banana chocolate chip cookies small batch ?

    – i would consider this a small batch recipe as it makes 7 large cookies.

23. how long do these banana chocolate chip cookies stay fresh ?

    – when stored in an airtight container at room temperature, these cookies should stay fresh for 3-4 days.

24. how do i freeze these banana chocolate chip cookies to make later ?

    – to freeze the banana chocolate chip cookie dough for later, simply follow the recipe as stated, scoop the dough into equal-sized portions, place on a baking sheet in a single layer, and freeze the cookie dough balls until solid. you can then transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer bag. you can then bake these cookies directly from frozen – you’ll just need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time.

recipe