These Banana Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with whole grain flour, oats, and lightly sweetened with maple syrup and coconut sugar. Dairy free and a delicious healthier cookie!
Recipe originally published September 2015, with photos updated September 2019. Same delicious recipe! If you’re just here for the recipe, simply click the “JUMP TO” button.
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These cookies are near and dear to my heart, and I created them for my lovely LTF’s (long-time friend) birthday four years ago! I’ve updated the photos and parts of the post for easier reading but all-in-all this recipe remains the same.
I hope you enjoy!
September 21 we celebrate my wonderful LTF’s birthday – Also known as “Pal.”
We grew up baking together and I am not sure I would have found such a love for baking without all of our various baking adventures in our teenage years.
Cookies are pretty much our thing. We started baking together probably when we were 12 or 13. Our weekends consisted of searching allrecipes.com for hours, trying to decide which recipe we wanted to make.
We would look for recipes with a lot of reviews and highly rated, and read through the different substitutions suggested by readers.
Some of my fondest memories are of us baking together in her mom’s kitchen. I remember the year she got her red Kitchenaid mixer and we were both so excited. To be honest, I am pretty sure I barely knew what a Kitchenaid mixer was then, but I could tell it was special.
We also had several nicknames while we were in the kitchen: Martha and Stewart (Stu for short), Auntie J and Betty (Crocker)… And somewhere along the lines we settled on Pal and Bud. Those stuck for a while. I pretty much always call her Pal to this day.
And while I won’t get to hand deliver these cookies to her like she was able to for my birthday years ago, I am hoping this post will do.
Many moons ago I requested banana cookies from my Pal as my birthday treat. I still remember that day when she handed me the container, saying she was unsure of how they turned out because the texture resembled those of muffin tops. (Quite often the result of baking with bananas.) But they were SO good. I was (and still am) rather obsessed with banana-anything, so her cookies were perfect. Muffin-like or not.
Ingredients needed for Banana Coconut Cookies
These Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies are inspired by her original creation, but we’re using whole grains, oats, coconut, maple syrup for a little added sweetness, and obviously chocolate chips.
- whole grain flour – whole wheat white or even a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour will do.
- quick oats – if you only have rolled oats on hand, simply pulse the oats a few times in a blender or processor to make quick oats.
- unsweetened flaked coconut – make sure to get unsweetened! I like the big flakes here but shredded works too.
- extra ripe bananas – the spottier the banana, the more flavor and naturally sweet the cookies will be.
- coconut oil – you could sub another oil if dealing with a coconut allergy. OR sub melted butter (dairy-free or conventional).
- maple syrup – you can also sub honey but I wouldn’t omit as it affects the wet-to-dry ratio of ingredients.
- egg – this helps hold things together but I am betting a flaxseed or chia seed “egg” or egg replacer product would work here.
- granulated sugar – you can use coconut, brown or even reduce to 2 tablespoons if looking for a less sweet cookie.
- cinnamon & nutmeg – my two favorite spices! You can omit if you’re not huge fans of the spice in cookies but they make these banana cookies taste almost like a banana bread.
How to Make Banana Cookies with Oats and Coconut
- Mix the dry ingredients separately first – flour, oats, spices, salt and baking powder then set aside.
- Begin mixing the wet ingredients in another bowl – well mashed banana, oil, maple syrup, vanilla, sugar and egg. Once this mixture is combined add to dry ingredients and then mix in chocolate chips.
- The dough will be quite sticky so you’ll need to chill the dough for about 45 minutes. Once chilled, scoop and then flatten slightly.
- Chilling the dough will help keep the cookies from spreading too much but you’ll still want to flatten slightly after placing on baking sheet.
- All that’s left to do is bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, cool and enjoy!
I honestly don’t think there isn’t a time when I am not thinking of her while I am baking. She pretty much taught me everything I know when it comes down to the kitchen, and especially cookies.
So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAL! This one’s for you 😉 XOXO
Banana Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup quick oats
- 3/4 cup whole wheat white flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 1 small banana, mashed well (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar, or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare two large baking sheets with parchment paper, or line with silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl combine oats, flour, coconut flakes, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine mashed banana, melted coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and egg (room temperature). Stir well until egg is thoroughly mixed in. Add wet banana mixture to large bowl of dry ingredients and stir until dough forms. Fold in dark chocolate chips and mix until well combined. Refrigerate dough for up to 1 hour.
- Using rounded tablespoon, or cookie scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheet. Slightly flatten cookie dough, they will not spread much while baking.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes, allowing to cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before transferring to cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in airtight container.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information
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