Banana Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

Banana Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts, an easy homemade oatmeal cookie recipe! These Banana Oatmeal Cookies are the best, crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, and loaded with banana, oats, chocolate chips, and nuts.

These Banana Oatmeal Cookies are perfect if you’re looking for something a little different than the standard oatmeal raisin cookies, or the standard overly gooey banana cookie. These cookies are full of oats, banana, chocolate chips, and walnuts and the perfect combo of crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I’ve been on a bit of a banana and chocolate chip fixation lately so these cookies were the perfect fit.

I love banana and chocolate together (like this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins. A delicious combo I must say.

So much goodness in these Banana Oatmeal Cookies, I wasn’t sure what to call them… Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Oat Cookies, Loaded Oatmeal Cookies? Well whatever you want to call them, they are delicious.

I love bananas in my cookies BUT just like pumpkin, cookies with fresh ripe bananas can be overly soft and soggy. They can have such an overly gooey texture. I hate that!

I actually attempted these cookies a few times. One time did come out too soft and soggy, and another time the cookies came out extremely flat and kind of like florentines. Both were good in their own right but just wasn’t what I was going for.

There isn’t a huge amount of banana in these cookies. Just enough to get a little banana flavor without changing the consistency too much of the cookies. I actually based them a bit on my favorite and Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Equipment You May Need

• Parchment Paper – Precut parchment paper sheets are not only great for easy cleanup but also helps prevent the cookies from sticking to the pan and over-browning on the bottom.
• Cookie Scoop – A medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 Tablespoon) helps the cookies come out in a uniform shape and size. And also helps speed up the cookie making.
• Baking Sheets – Good quality baking sheets can make a big difference when making cookies.

You can also check out my How to Bake Cookies with tips and tricks to help get the perfect cookies every time.

(Full printable recipe card is at bottom of post.)

Banana Oatmeal Cookies Ingredients

• Flour – Regular all-purpose flour.
• Cornstarch – Just a little. I love adding cornstarch to cookies for a little different texture.
• Salt – Just a little.
• Baking Powder – To help the cookies rise.
• Baking Soda – To help the cookies rise.
• Butter – I used unsalted butter. If you only have salted, you can adjust the salt in the recipe. Be sure your butter is soft before making the cookies.
• Brown Sugar – Light brown sugar preferably BUT you could use dark brown sugar if you don’t mind more molasses flavor.
• Sugar – Regular granulated sugar.
• Egg – A large egg.
• Vanilla – A little vanilla extract either store-bought or homemade vanilla extract. Other extracts would ok too if you’d prefer.
• Banana – Make sure your banana is very ripe and soft. Mash it with the back of a fork until it’s mushy. You could also use banana baby food if you want. There’s not A LOT of banana in these cookies but it does give the cookies a nice subtle banana flavor. If you add more bananas the consistency of the cookies will change. You could also add a little banana extract for a stronger banana flavor.
• Oats – I used old-fashioned oats for this particular recipe.
• Chocolate Chips – Mini chocolate chips. Or you could use regular or even chopped chocolate.
• Walnuts – I toasted my walnuts first to give them a little more flavor, but you don’t have to do that. You can omit the nuts or use your favorite nuts such as chopped almonds, pecans, or even peanuts.

How to Make Banana Oatmeal Cookies

COOK BUTTER & GARLIC. Melt butter and stir in garlic in pan.

1. PREHEAT. Preheat oven and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. DRY INGREDIENTS. Mix together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. WET INGREDIENTS. Beat together butter, sugars, then egg, vanilla, and banana.
4. COMBINE. Beat dry ingredients into wet. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
5. SCOOP. Scoop dough onto baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly.
6. BAKE. Bake cookies until golden brown, rotating pans halfway through baking.

(Full printable recipe card with full details is at bottom of post.)

Serving Suggestions

• Serve at room temperature or even slightly warm.
• Place the cookies in the microwave or oven just to warm them up if you’d like them warm.
• Delicious with hot chocolate, coffee, or of course a big glass of milk.

Quick Tips for Best Results

• Make sure the banana is ripe. If the banana is under-ripe the cookies will not taste good. These cookies don’t have an overpowering banana flavor. You could add a little banana extract for a stronger banana flavor.
• Use good quality baking sheets, and be sure to rotate the pans halfway through the baking time so they bake evenly.
• Be careful to not over bake the cookies. They can go from soft to overly brown and crispy quickly.
• These cookies do not spread or flatten much so you can flatten them slightly with your hand before baking.
• If you do want to make larger or smaller cookies, you can use any size cookie scoop you’d like. Just be sure to adjust the baking time.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies FAQ

How should I store the Banana Oatmeal Cookies?
Store the cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.

Can I freeze the cookies?
Yes! These cookies freeze well just be sure to wrap well.

How long will the cookies last?
The cookies should last a few days at room temperature, a week or so in the fridge, or a few months in the freezer.

Substitutions?
Instead of chocolate chips and/or walnuts, you can substitute your favorite mix-ins such as other baking chips or nuts.

Can I use low-fat ingredients?
You can try a low-fat butter substitute but I haven’t tried it, so not sure how well it will turn out. You could also add less chocolate or nuts.

What else can I add to this recipe?
You can add other mix-ins such as other baking chips (dark chocolate, white chocolate, or even peanut butter chips), nuts (pecans, peanuts, or almonds), or toffee chips would be delicious too. Raisins, shredded coconut, and/or a little cinnamon would be delicious too.  Healthy or sweet mix-ins would be delicious in these cookies. Or they can be used as substitutes for the chocolate chips and/or walnuts.

Can I make this vegan/vegetarian/low carb/gluten-free?
Here are some suggestions, but I can’t guarantee results. Be sure as always to check particular brands and ingredients if you’re following a specific diet or have diet restrictions or allergies.

Vegan – You’d have to substitute something for the eggs and butter.

Vegetarian – It’s vegetarian.

Low-Carb – You can try a sugar substitute but still a lot of carbs in these Banana Oatmeal Cookies.

Gluten-Free -Try a gluten-free baking flour that has a 1:1 substitute ratio.

Other Cookie Recipes You May Enjoy

• Cannoli Cookies – Easy Italian inspired drop cookies with chocolate, orange, cinnamon, vanilla, and ricotta cheese!
• Mudslide Cookies – Delicious chocolate cookies inspired by the popular drink.
• White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies – Another easy drop cookie with white chocolate, dried cranberries, and a little orange zest.

These cookies do have quite a bit of sugar in them, so as much as I’d love to say they’d be a good breakfast cookie, I can’t really. But they have banana so maybe? haha!

Hope you enjoy these Banana Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts! Tell me in the comments about other mix-ins you added to them!

Banana Oatmeal Cookies Video

Check out this quick video to see how easy these Banana Oatmeal cookies are to make…

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For more of a chocolate version of these delicious cookies, you might also these Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies. Similar cookie, but with a lot more chocolate. Perfect for the chocolate lovers out there.

This post was originally published in April 2018, but updated in December 2020 with additional information.