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!
Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: About 30 cookies 1x
Description
These peanut butter banana cookies are easy to make and super yummy!
Ingredients
- 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.
Honestly Ali….these are so good, they are disgusting! Okay, not really disgusting, but my oh my! Thanks for this!
they look yummy!
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!
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?! ;-)
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!
I am loving these photos Ali!!
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!
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….
Love these! I simply have to make them!
Cookies are an absolute must post-cleanse, love these!