Banana Chip Cookies Recipe
A riff on one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. This version features banana chips, chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, toasted wheat germ, and whole wheat pastry flour.
Riffing on one of my favorite cookie doughs, the one I use in SNC for the mesquite flour chocolate chip cookies, these decadent cookies get plenty of flavor and crunch from toasted walnuts and chopped banana chips. I have to admit, it was hard for me to resist adding even more ingredients (coconut, ground espresso, and on and on), but I fought the urge, and stopped short after the chocolate chips, oh and the wheat germ. Essentially I was on a bender in the bin section at the grocery store and these cookies were the result.
This is what your dough should look like just before you drop and bake the cookies. If you don't like banana chips leave them out, same goes for the nuts - or swap in something more to your liking...
Before and after. I'm actually curious about how these cookies might turn out if I used coconut oil/coconut butter in place of the unsalted butter. If any of the vegan bakers out there try it, please report back. I suspect it would be delicious and add a nice undercurrent of coconut flavor. With all the hot weather we've been experiencing, I think the trick would be making sure the coconut is in its solid state (so chill just a bit before beating/adding sugar)...
I actually froze off most of this batch of cookies, and will bake them on demand :) I crowd them onto a single baking sheet and place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes, long enough for them to firm up. Then I transfer them to freezer bags (double bag). It makes baking off a couple at a time a breeze, and the pre-freeze ensures you don't end up with frozen bags of mashed cookie dough. And to get this shape over and over I push the dough out of the tablespoon with my thumb.
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Banana Chip Cookie Recipe
If you can't find whole wheat pastry flour, regular all-purpose white flour will work. If you can't find wheat germ, substitute an equal amount of flour. I look for organic banana chips - the ones I like are made with organic coconut oil and bananas.
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (see head notes)
1/2 cup (toasted) wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup banana chips, loosely chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, racks in middle/upper middle. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, or stand mixer, beat the butter until lightly and fluffy, then beat in the sugar until it is the consistency of a thick frosting. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next, and scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times along the way (important!). Stir in the vanilla. Add the reserved flour mix in two increments, stirring/mixing a bit between each addition (but not too much). By hand, stir in the banana chips, chocolate chips and walnuts - mix just until everything is evenly distributed.
Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart and bake for about 7 - 8 minutes, until barely golden on top and bottom. Resist over baking, they will come out dry and not as tasty. Cook on racks.
Make about 24 cookies.
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Comments
Oh btw I live in the UK as that will make a difference as to what is available here and what isn’t :/
Man, I can’t find wheat flour anywhere here (I am a novice baker so forgive me if I sound stupid). What can I use instead?
Do the walnuts have to be toasted? And also the wheatgerm?
Thanks in advance,
Saqib.
Made these last night for a dinner party and people could not stop eating them. They were awesome! Followed the recipe except I subbed 1/4 c. of mashed ripe banana for one of the eggs. Thanks so much for another great recipe!
Used Canola Oil instaed of butter worked realy great!!! mmmm… yummy
Just finished putting the second batch of these in the oven – and the first batch is rapidly disappearing! These were great – I made them vegan, using Earth Balance and egg replacer. Didn’t have any banana chips on hand, but I added a handful of toasted macadamia nuts to the batter (which was fabulous as well, of course). Thanks for a great recipe!
Looks so yummy! I love bananas and chocolate!
Just made these today…used an organic baking mix in place of the flour/levening/salt. The banana chips do add a surprising crunch to the mix…might chop the banana chips more finely next time, to distribute the banana flavor more evenly. Thanks for the recipe, Heidi!
Hey Heidi, thanks for featuring the long-forgotten banana chips! I buy them regularly because they’re cheap, but I hadn’t thought it through to use them in a recipe. My question is–do the banana chips soften up after being partially rehydrated in the cookie dough, or are they a surprising crunch in the cookie?
i made these last night. forgot to pick up walnuts at the store, but they’re great cookies even without. not too sweet, and the banana chips add such a great crunch.
This cookies look delicious 🙂
You have amazing photos!
Those look so freaking good.
Have you heard about the banana crisis though? You can read about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18koeppel.html?em&ex=1214020800&en=acf4d20d4c12e559&ei=5087.
Just this morning, before I saw your post, I got a little sad at the idea that bananas might have to be a luxury indulgence in the near future. I eat a banana (sometimes two!) every day.
Make the banana cookies while you still can! =)
My, my, my!!! What a delightful recipe! I am absolutely in love with choco chip banana cake, so this cookie is right up my alley. I love how you come up with such creative recipes each time. It’s always a pleasure to drop in here!
Wheat germ goes into pretty much everything I bake. And ground flax seed. it is my little homage to health that I use to legitimate my baking binge that I’ve been on recently. the oven timer literally just went off on my key lime margarita scones. with sea salt.
so far I’ve been able to resist making cookies. because that is a slippery slippery slope…
Dear God, they look tempting, oh my holy…moly stomach.
i’m bananas over banana baking.
love that stuff. will definitely try it. your picture and house looks real nice.
So, are bananas in? everyone has a banana recepie!!! haha
so, i tried banana chips the other day… not much my style, but ur cookies seem delicous ill try them!!
I love incorporating whole grains into cookies. I find it usually gives a more earthy flavor, especially with some added nuts. Never thought to add banana chips, these sound outstanding.
These cookies look delish. Anna- thanks for the tip of baking with avocado . I use it in dessert recipes for flavor, but have never tried it as a sub for butter.
Hi Karen – instead of using butter, try coconut oil or Spectrum brand shortening (palm oil).
Earth Balance is great if you can tolerate the soy, but if you have problems with dairy you may also have a reaction to the soy protein isolates in Earth Balance (causes arthritis flare ups for me – and I’m under 40!)
This recipe was a fabulous guide to some delicious cookies!!
I used what I had so I used raw wheat germ instead of toasted, all coconut oil instead of butter, succanat instead of sugar, coconut meat instead of banana chips, soaked and dehydrated almonds instead of toasted walnuts, and rough chopped 70% chocolate instead of chips.
I know it sounds like a lot of changes, but Heidi’s ingredient amounts were an amazing (and flexible) guide to making some really delicious and fairly healthy cookies!
(I am freezing most of the dough…thanks for the tip!)
Thanks, Heidi!
We have some leftover banana chips we’re kind of sick of snacking on. This is a great way to use ’em up! Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe. If you freeze them, do you need to defrost them before baking, or do you just bake them a bit longer? About how long does it take for them to defrost?
I have a potluck tomorrow and I know what I’m bringing!
Great idea — banana chips (which I can never resist) and chocolate chips (ditto)
These look SO amazing!
banana chips? wheat germ? i need this cookie dough IMMEDIATELY, so i can eat it with a spoon, raw and delicious.
I have never had these cookies but they sound wonderful! I will be making some of these this weekend.
I really appreciate the wheat-germ-turned treat theme. It’s possible to have a treat and for it to be whole grain! Thanks.
Great looking cookies! I’m going to try them with half applesauce instead of all butter (sorry – goes with the nutritionist territory). Like the freeze-ahead idea too – so smart.
Love your site – please keep up the fab recipes!
Delicious! Thanks for the freezing tip-I love the idea of ‘cookies on demand’!
yum yum yum!! i need to make cookies this week and this will probably be the recipe to use. what a great combo!
Mmmmmmmmmm they loook soo incredibly yum!
YUM! I never would have thought to put banana chips in cookies.
Bananas + Chocolate is one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations… my favorite dessert used to be a chocolate milkshake with a mashed up banana, and I have a feeling these might rival that!
ooooh those cookies look delish! I use lots of coconut oil in my baking and it works great…also avocado in place of some of the butter is surprisingly good.
Brenda and Kindra,
Yes, you can use mashed bananas as an egg substitute. Substitute about half a mashed banana per egg. It’s really tasty in chocolate chip cookies, and would probably be good in oatmeal cookies or maybe even brownies as well. It doesn’t seem to affect the texture much. You do get a distinctly banana flavor from it, though, so don’t use them anywhere that banana wouldn’t be welcome.
Wow, great pics! Those look and sound so, so tasty!
Thanks for the great banana chip cookies recipe, Heidi.
I’m the person that love the chips, especially with the banana flavor.
Well surely make few jar for my nephew in few more days…
Heidi, you are the bomb!! I absolutely LOVE banana chips. AND I love cookies!! Awesome combo. But now I’m sad because I’m going to eat these all summer and not fit into any bathing suits. SIGH…..
Thanks for a cookie recipe that is lighter on the sugar side of things. I typically just omit some of the sugar from the cookies recipes that I have, but I’m always a little nervous that if I omit too much the batch will be wrecked. There are few things I find more depressing that wrecked cookies.
Erika – I believe that you can substitute plain ol’ white sugar for the brown sugar – the cookie color might be a bit lighter but you can balance that by adding a bit of molasses or treacle (or whatever they call it in Switzerland!).
My day today consisted of:
– Traffic
– Work
– Gym
– More traffic
– baking these cookies
What do you think I liked the best???
Great recipe, Heidi!
Message to Karen,
yes, use Earth Balance soy butter for baking instead of butter. It’s exactly like real butter only made from soy. OMG! You can’t tell the diff except no lactose intolerance problems! Yeah! And, it’s earth friendly. (Heidi…bender in the bin section…can’t we all relate to that! hehehe!
Such a good idea to pre-freeze. I love having cookie dough around for spur of the moment freshly baked cookies, so thank you for the inspiration.
Wow! The texture of the cookie dough looks perfect. Yum …
These cookies sound simply wonderful. Beautiful job!
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
I am very much a novice cook and a friend very helpfully pointed me to this site last week. She is a great cook (teaches cooking classes at Sur La Table, Parties that Cook, etc) and I was going to her house for dinner this past Saturday and wanted to take something. So I tried the Heavenly Pie recipe — it was really easy and garnered rave reviews. The site is beautifully done and I can’t wait to try more recipes (from here and the SNC book) including these cookies! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us.
As there are just two of us leftover baking usually goes into the bin, so thanks for the tip on freezing the dough! Considering the price of food these days I don’t like to think that anything gets wasted.
Not to mention the addition of coffee to the mix sounds divine…
It looks good I am going to the Kitchen now to make me some cookes . So now I Know what I am having for desert tonight cookes and Banana Jallo.
YUM! I would also love this with some espresso powder thrown in there. I think you’re forcing me to do some baking this weekend 🙂
My husband will love you forever.
OMG – I just made these delicious delights but could not resist the “kitchen sink” approach”. I added 2 TBS chopped crystallized ginger and 1/4 cup chopped dried mango. I used half unsalted butter and half chilled coconut oil (worked wonderfully) with a beautiful hint of coconut notes in the background. I did not have any wheat germ on hand so I used Grapenuts cereal (1/2 cup, toasted). I passed them around to neighbors on my floor and 2 people have already “dropped by” (so I’m sharing the recipe – giving you the credit – and expecting desserts either later tonight or this week. I’m getting to be quite the popular one, *wink*). Thank you Heidi for another innovative and imaginative recipe. Season with hope!!!
You know I think for people like myself with a sweet tooth, the baking on demand thing helps me eat healthy. I love whole grains, and fruits and veggies, but at the end of the day after dinner I NEED sugar. So baking a few cookies for my husband and I to have warm with milk or a small scoop of frozen yogurt keeps me from wrecking things by eating cookies for lunch, like I do when I bake an entire batch.
I have recently become lactose intolerant so I am no longer cooking and baking with butter. What is a good substitute in cookies? I am not crazy about the flavor of margarine. Ghee has no lactose. Would that be good? Or some kind of coconut oil? What do the vegans out there use?
Thanks
Karen
Delicious. Will need to make these for the husband, sans nuts, of course.
Thanks, Heidi!
As if the mesquite cookies could be any better…I think I am willing to bake during a Philadelphia heat wave for these beauties!
Oh my, those cookies sound spectacular – yum!! Do report back if you end up trying the recipe again with coconut oil/coconut butter in place of the unsalted butter!!
Bookmarking this one for future niece and nephew spoiling reference…. 😉
Another great one that I can’t wait to try.
And the freezing tip is brilliant! Why by the unhealthy tub of dough from the kid next door when you can have these cookies on hand?!
Oh my yum!
My only problem would be keeping the kids and myself from eating all of the banana chips before the cookies were baked.
I said, Oooooooooh, when I saw the pic. I definately will try this as soon as possible. I made the heavenly pie for Father’s Day! I am the best wife ,mother and daughter-in-law on the planet! Enough said. Thank you!
These came out so uniquely delicious! Thanks, Heidi!
Once I made a batch of chewy banana-cranberry cookies, they were sooooo good… You just can’t go wrong with flavor pairings like banana-chocolate.
Thanks for the recipe and yummy pic, Heidi.
these look so good! if anyone tries with mashed banana, please let us know how you adjusted the recipe. i usually make heidi’s incredible Espresso Banana Muffins from SNC when mine have been on the kitchen counter too long, but this sounds like it could be a great destination for them as well.
Heidi, these look amazing! I too thought they’d have mashed bananas but the banana chips are a fun twist. I’d really like to try this with the coconut butter as you suggested–would I substitute 1:1 with the butter?
Oh wow – these look amazing and I can’t wait to try them. Thanks for the pre-freezer/freezer tip — I love the idea of baking just a few at a time for my family.
love the “bender in the bin section” comment, had me smiling on this rainy monday!!
Two questions, 1. do the banana chips keep their crunchy texture after cooked in the cookies? 2. what is the consistency of the brown sugar you use … an oddly difficult ingredient to buy in Geneva. I normally import the thick, moist ‘north american’ variety.
many thanks
Brenda – yes, you can put mashed bananas in cookies. My mom’s Betty Crocker has an alternative to oatmeal raisin that adds mashed banana, and it does an amazing job of keeping them moist. I wonder if it would work as well as applesauce as a vegan egg substitute?
Brenda – yes, you can put mashed bananas in cookies. My mom’s Betty Crocker has an alternative to oatmeal raisin that adds mashed banana, and it does an amazing job of keeping them moist. I wonder if it would work as well as applesauce as a vegan substitute?
“on a bender in the bin section”
Oh, yes, I know it well 🙂
So many unmarked containers in my cabinets quickly led me to start identifying everything by sight. Millet vs. quinoa took awhile 🙂
great post. i do love me some cookies!
“on a bender in the bin section”
Oh, yes, I know it well 🙂
So many unmarked containers in my cabinets quickly led me to start identifying everything by sight. Millet vs. quinoa took awhile 🙂
great post. i do love me some cookies!
Dear God these look delicious.
I actually bet the mesquite flour would be a nice addition to these — I think I’ll give them a go that way. The sweet richness of it could work well with the banana flavor. Perhaps just a few tablespoons of the mesquite, to give a hint of the flavor without changing the texture completely.
And hooray — a break in the hot weather. Not a bad week here for baking at all.
For a minute I thought this were ‘Banana – Chocolate Chip’ cookies not ‘Banana chip’. While these look lovely – is there any way to use mashed bananas in making cookies? As you do with muffins? I get great organic bananas from our local farm but sometimes can’t eat them fast enough so like to use the really mushy ones to bake. I would love to try a banana-chocolate chip cookie….
Ooo these look so good. I love anything with bananas.
thank you for the substitute for whole wheat pastry flour. now i can make these (or i would have died).
😉
What a lovely recipe idea! I wish I had the recipe a couple of hours ago to make for my stepson who stopped by for Father’s Day! I had MOST of the indgredients – I only need to shop for a couple items . . .my kid loves dessert!
Thanks for fun ideas!
Lovely cookies. Hehe that sounded wrong somehow.
ANYWAY. I can totally relate to the whole ‘putting everything but the kitchen sink’ baking scenario. I find myself doing that a lot. Although less is more–it IS fun to see what happens when you play with things. Some really groovy recipes can result from such experimentation.
🙂
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