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So, I did a juice cleanse earlier this week. And now I’m craving cookies. Cookies, cookies, cookies.
That’s how it’s supposed to work, right?
Well, since these cookies have peanut butter and banana in them, maybe that can at least partially count as health food. ;)
Actually, the inspiration for these tasty little cookies did come from a healthier source — this protein-packed Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie recipe. It was so good when I made it for breakfast, that I thought about re-making it for dessert after dinner. And then the idea occurred to me — why not translate it into a cookie?
I mean, everyone loves peanut butter and bananas when it comes to baking. So the idea seemed to have potential.
And sure enough, it was a winner. Here’s how to make them!
Start out with your basic cookie ingredients, plus a nice ripe banana and a bunch of peanut butter.
Mix up a simple dough, then form it into balls on a cookie sheet.
Use a fork to make the classic PB cookie criss-cross pattern if you’d like. Then sprinkle with a pinch of turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar). Bake ’em for about 8-10 minutes…
…the voila! These cute and easy little peanut butter banana cookies are yours to enjoy.
They are sweet but not too sweet. They are soft and chewy, especially when just out of the oven. And they basically taste like banana bread meets peanut butter cookies. Aka, peanut butter banana heaven.
Alright, run to your kitchen and make some already!
These peanut butter banana cookies are easy to make and super yummy!
Ingredients
Scale
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter (I used creamy natural from Trader Joe’s)
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(optional: cane sugar, for sprinkling)
Instructions
Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
In the (separate) bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add peanut butter, egg, banana, and vanilla, and continue mixing on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once if needed. Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Measure out a rounded tablespoon-full of dough, roll it into a ball, then place on the baking sheet. Use a fork to press down the top of the ball and make a criss-cross pattern. Sprinkle with a pinch of cane sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. Cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve immediately or store in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
This is going to sound like a weird question but what font did you use in your ingredient shot above? I’m a graphic designer and I love this one :) Oh and I’m going to make these cookies for sure!
I made these. Not sure what went wrong as I bake quite often and always have cookies work out but the dough was wayyyy too sticky and wet so I added some flour just until i was able to roll them then they tasted like flour with a hint of banana. I had to garbage the whole batch… I noticed u said one cup of banana (1 banana)… I needed two to make a cup. Could that be my problem? Should it just be one banana?
Oh NO! Jen, I’m so sorry! I just looked back at my notes and realized I had a typo. Yes, the recipe should have said 1 banana (or 1/2 cup mashed). I am so sorry about that! Not sure how I missed that in typing things out. The recipe should work perfectly with 1/2 cup banana. My apologies!
lol! That is definitely how my juice cleanses go! These cookies look like the most fabulous way to cap off a cleanse! And their healthy because they have both banana and pb, right?! ;-)
These cookies (and the photos!) look absolutely gorgeous. They look almost as if you bought them from a shop, actually. Great inspiration from a smoothie!
Soooo good. Made the recipe exactly, even though I live at high-altitude. I find that I don’t have to adjust cookie recipes much if they have banana in them. They turned out very light and fluffy, if not as pretty as in the pictures. My husband suggested I add some jam to the tops of these so they’re like pb&j sandwiches—they’re fantastic with and without!
I haven’t seen peanut butter banana cookies. These sound so good. I typically never have a peanut butter sandwich without a banana. Why not in cookie form?
Yes, you could. I would recommend white whole wheat flour. (And actually, I often recommend using half all-purpose, and half whole-wheat the first time you try the substitution to get used to it.) The texture/flavor of the cookies will be slightly different than the original recipe, but still good.
Just made these cookies, & they’re delightful. I was worried that the cinnamon might throw off the main flavors, but it didn’t. Apart from the health benefits of cinnamon, I’m not sure that it added anything. Couldn’t taste it at all – I think that’s a good thing!
Oh my goodness- I made these gluten and dairy free (subbed AP GF flour for the 2 cups of flour; subbed 1/4 c vegetable oil and 1/4 cup applesauce for the 1/2 cup of butter)… so chewy and good!
I don’t have cornstarch, can I omit it? I also don’t have arrowroot powder to sub for the cornstarch!! Help, I want to make these yummy cookies so bad.
I tried these out and idk why they came out terrible. Lacking flavor and dry tasted like buiscuts they were also very grainy. I bake all the time and this was one of the worst experiences. Maybe it was because I used frozen banana. Not to sure but very disappointed.
Megan —
Mine were dry and biscuity as well. Only difference is my banana wasn’t frozen. Not sure what went wrong :(
This is a horrid recipe. It needs more sugar, too much baking powder, and there’s absolutely no reason for the cornstarch. They taste like banana and peanut butter flavored biscuits.
Just made these today! We liked them, and enjoyed that they aren’t too sweet. Topped them with a tiny bit of Nutella for a special after lunch treat for my kids. Yummy!
Just made these and they came out great! Nice and soft, with a hint of peanut butter and banana. The only thing I could say is I wish the banana flavor was a bit stronger. I do not think they taste like biscuits at all!
I’m more of a cake person than a cookie one. But, this recipe is a keeper!! Normally, I almost never buy or bake cookies due to their super high sugar content. Today, I had these overripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter and I didn’t want to bake my regular banana bread ‘coz I very recently had baked it :) (btw, I bake a mean banana bread ;) ) I got to your page through pinterest. Oh and right now it’s 3am where I live and I just baked these cookies and ate 2 of them right after it was slightly cooled, and having a hard time forcing myself to stop going for the third :P I used “7 nut and seed butter” since I ran out of peanut butter and used extra cinnamon. Anyway, long story short, I LOVVVVVED this delicious fluffy little fragrant monsters.
I added 1/2 cup of sugar and used PB2 instead of regular peanut butter. The consistency is difficult to work with, so you have to basically drop a spoonful onto the baking sheet. They turned out soooo yummy! They tasted kinda like a muffin-cookie! Mmmmmmmm
I just made these and taste terrible. It’s more of a cake texture than a cookie. They don’t look at all like the picture. I did everything exact to the recipie. Threw entire batch in the garbage. Won’t make these again.
Had a jonesing for some peanut butter banana cookies. These hit the spot. I made them vegan by using chia seeds and coconut oil in place of the eggs and butter. I also used mostly spelt flour and excluded the cornstarch because I didn’t have any. Next time I think I’ll leave out the oil altogether and just double the amount of peanut butter. The end result is a touch floury, the texture pretty cakey but I kind of like it. I think I would flatten them out a bit more to make them again. I’ve already had three though, so they’re pretty good.
I bake all the time and followed the recipe exactly. I am very disappointed with these cookies. Its a shame cause with the flavor combinations I thoight they’d be amazing. I baked these in 3 seperate batches. The first batch didn’t look done at 8 min so i left them in for an additional 2min. They were dry. My 2nd batch i took out at 8min and they were still dry. 3rd batch took out at 7min….still dry. Even if they weren’t dry I still wouldn’t like them. These cookies are bland and definitely need more sugar. I even tried making a glaze to go on top just to sweeten it up a bit. The blandness of the cookie still came thru so the glaze didn’t help in the slightest. I will not be making these cookies again. Its a great idea, but just needs more tweeking for my taste.
Hi,
I don’t know if I just can’t find it or what, but I don’t see how many cookies this recipe makes. I want to make more than one batch but need to know how many one batch makes.
Literally the BEST peanut butter cookies ever. make them NOW. That is if you can get past the dough. It is that good. Sorry Grandma. This recipe is replacing yours.
Oh no.. I have banana but I don’t have peanut butter.. I want to try these cookies so much!
These cookies sound like such a delight. Love the flavour!!
No better combo than PB +banana. These look so good!
Peanut butter and banana is my favorite flavor combo! Pinned!
PB + banana = the perfect combo! These are so cute, and look delicious!
What a brilliant combination for cookies!
What a great combination, I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches, just never thought to put in together in a cookie, very clever!
These look so yummy! Peanut butter and bananas is one of my favorite flavor combinations. I’m definitely going to give these a try.
Yum! I don’t think I’ve ever had a peanut butter cookie that was made with banana. Looks delicious!
How absolutely delicious do these look?!? And a cross between banana bread and peanut butter anything? Yes please!
Cookies are an absolute must post-cleanse, love these!
Love these! I simply have to make them!
Haha I was craving sweets after my juice cleanse too! Why is that!? These cookies look so perfect, and now I’m craving cookies again….
This is going to sound like a weird question but what font did you use in your ingredient shot above? I’m a graphic designer and I love this one :) Oh and I’m going to make these cookies for sure!
I am loving these photos Ali!!
I made these. Not sure what went wrong as I bake quite often and always have cookies work out but the dough was wayyyy too sticky and wet so I added some flour just until i was able to roll them then they tasted like flour with a hint of banana. I had to garbage the whole batch… I noticed u said one cup of banana (1 banana)… I needed two to make a cup. Could that be my problem? Should it just be one banana?
Oh NO! Jen, I’m so sorry! I just looked back at my notes and realized I had a typo. Yes, the recipe should have said 1 banana (or 1/2 cup mashed). I am so sorry about that! Not sure how I missed that in typing things out. The recipe should work perfectly with 1/2 cup banana. My apologies!
lol! That is definitely how my juice cleanses go! These cookies look like the most fabulous way to cap off a cleanse! And their healthy because they have both banana and pb, right?! ;-)
These cookies (and the photos!) look absolutely gorgeous. They look almost as if you bought them from a shop, actually. Great inspiration from a smoothie!
they look yummy!
Honestly Ali….these are so good, they are disgusting! Okay, not really disgusting, but my oh my! Thanks for this!
Whoa whoa now you’ve got me craving these cookies! I so have to make these!
I love how fluffy these are!
Yummy cookies
Soooo good. Made the recipe exactly, even though I live at high-altitude. I find that I don’t have to adjust cookie recipes much if they have banana in them. They turned out very light and fluffy, if not as pretty as in the pictures. My husband suggested I add some jam to the tops of these so they’re like pb&j sandwiches—they’re fantastic with and without!
I haven’t seen peanut butter banana cookies. These sound so good. I typically never have a peanut butter sandwich without a banana. Why not in cookie form?
I could eat a dozen right now! Loving the turbinado on top.
I would definitely like to sink my teeth into a couple of these. Warm from the oven, please!
Do you think I could use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose?
Yes, you could. I would recommend white whole wheat flour. (And actually, I often recommend using half all-purpose, and half whole-wheat the first time you try the substitution to get used to it.) The texture/flavor of the cookies will be slightly different than the original recipe, but still good.
Just made these cookies, & they’re delightful. I was worried that the cinnamon might throw off the main flavors, but it didn’t. Apart from the health benefits of cinnamon, I’m not sure that it added anything. Couldn’t taste it at all – I think that’s a good thing!
I can’t wait to try this!! It looks like it would be so good.
Wow, these are amazing! Just ate 3 warm from the oven, will certainly make again and again!
I tried from my friend and they where good .
Oh my goodness- I made these gluten and dairy free (subbed AP GF flour for the 2 cups of flour; subbed 1/4 c vegetable oil and 1/4 cup applesauce for the 1/2 cup of butter)… so chewy and good!
I don’t have cornstarch, can I omit it? I also don’t have arrowroot powder to sub for the cornstarch!! Help, I want to make these yummy cookies so bad.
I believe you can omit it. The cookies just will not be as thick and chewy. Good luck!
~Ali
I tried these out and idk why they came out terrible. Lacking flavor and dry tasted like buiscuts they were also very grainy. I bake all the time and this was one of the worst experiences. Maybe it was because I used frozen banana. Not to sure but very disappointed.
Mine were dry and biscuity as well. Only difference is my banana wasn’t frozen. Not sure what went wrong :(
This is a horrid recipe. It needs more sugar, too much baking powder, and there’s absolutely no reason for the cornstarch. They taste like banana and peanut butter flavored biscuits.
Just made these today! We liked them, and enjoyed that they aren’t too sweet. Topped them with a tiny bit of Nutella for a special after lunch treat for my kids. Yummy!
Just made these and they came out great! Nice and soft, with a hint of peanut butter and banana. The only thing I could say is I wish the banana flavor was a bit stronger. I do not think they taste like biscuits at all!
I’m more of a cake person than a cookie one. But, this recipe is a keeper!! Normally, I almost never buy or bake cookies due to their super high sugar content. Today, I had these overripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter and I didn’t want to bake my regular banana bread ‘coz I very recently had baked it :) (btw, I bake a mean banana bread ;) ) I got to your page through pinterest. Oh and right now it’s 3am where I live and I just baked these cookies and ate 2 of them right after it was slightly cooled, and having a hard time forcing myself to stop going for the third :P I used “7 nut and seed butter” since I ran out of peanut butter and used extra cinnamon. Anyway, long story short, I LOVVVVVED this delicious fluffy little fragrant monsters.
hear me shout this out loud:
THANK YOU ALI
I added 1/2 cup of sugar and used PB2 instead of regular peanut butter. The consistency is difficult to work with, so you have to basically drop a spoonful onto the baking sheet. They turned out soooo yummy! They tasted kinda like a muffin-cookie! Mmmmmmmm
The dough was splendid. Lots of flavor. After baking, well.. a little crubly and cakey and less cookie but I’m not complaining.
I just made these and taste terrible. It’s more of a cake texture than a cookie. They don’t look at all like the picture. I did everything exact to the recipie. Threw entire batch in the garbage. Won’t make these again.
I made these! Turned amazing, with a few adjustments from my side :)
Had a jonesing for some peanut butter banana cookies. These hit the spot. I made them vegan by using chia seeds and coconut oil in place of the eggs and butter. I also used mostly spelt flour and excluded the cornstarch because I didn’t have any. Next time I think I’ll leave out the oil altogether and just double the amount of peanut butter. The end result is a touch floury, the texture pretty cakey but I kind of like it. I think I would flatten them out a bit more to make them again. I’ve already had three though, so they’re pretty good.
I bake all the time and followed the recipe exactly. I am very disappointed with these cookies. Its a shame cause with the flavor combinations I thoight they’d be amazing. I baked these in 3 seperate batches. The first batch didn’t look done at 8 min so i left them in for an additional 2min. They were dry. My 2nd batch i took out at 8min and they were still dry. 3rd batch took out at 7min….still dry. Even if they weren’t dry I still wouldn’t like them. These cookies are bland and definitely need more sugar. I even tried making a glaze to go on top just to sweeten it up a bit. The blandness of the cookie still came thru so the glaze didn’t help in the slightest. I will not be making these cookies again. Its a great idea, but just needs more tweeking for my taste.
They’re good, but the texture turned out like cake. Not anything like a cookie. I’m not sure what could have happened.
These were not very good. They were very dry and tasted mostly like banana. No peanut butter flavor at all. I’m disappointed.
Hi,
I don’t know if I just can’t find it or what, but I don’t see how many cookies this recipe makes. I want to make more than one batch but need to know how many one batch makes.
Yuck……needs sugar!
Literally the BEST peanut butter cookies ever. make them NOW. That is if you can get past the dough. It is that good. Sorry Grandma. This recipe is replacing yours.