Banana Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Who says you can't have cookies for breakfast? These bite-sized treats are filled with mashed banana, rolled oats, and chopped walnuts. Serve with a cold glass of milk to start off your morning or set them out for a satisfying after-school (or after work!) snack. Adults and kids alike will be smitten by the soft, chewy texture and warm, spiced flavor.

It All Starts With Ripe Bananas

Anytime you are baking with bananas it is important to wait until they have reached peak ripeness. Bananas at the grocery store are often greenish-yellow and slightly under-ripe. These bananas are easy to peel and make a great snack on their own, however, they have not yet developed the level of sweetness that makes them great for baking.

Deep yellow bananas with brown spots on the skin are best for baking. They might even have become too soft to peel and eat — and this the perfect time to use them in recipes. The more spots you see, the riper the fruit has become. In fact, eventually, the entire outside of the banana will turn brown.

If you get a craving for baked goods made with bananas but your bananas aren't quite ripe enough, try one of these methods to ripen them more quickly. Sometimes it is easier to find speckled, ripe bananas at corner convenience stores or local bodegas, rather than large grocery chains. Bananas sell quickly at larger stores so they don't remain on shelves long enough to begin to ripen.

How to Quickly Ripen Bananas

The Best Type of Oats to Use for Baking

Walk into the breakfast aisle at the supermarket and you'll easily encounter a whole shelf full of oats. When it comes to baking, we recommend good old fashioned whole rolled oats. These oats hold up well when baked, adding a nice chewy texture the cookies.

Don't Skip Chilling the Dough

This recipe calls for popping the finished cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. While it's tempting to skip the step, chilling the dough stops it from spreading too much as it bakes. That's not only important for achieving the ideal chewy texture, but also helps the dough hydrate and become more flavorful.

Get Creative With Add-Ins

Coarsely chopped walnuts are added to these cookies, giving them a banana bread-like flavor and texture, but you can add other ingredients, such as:

• Dried fruits
• Chopped pecans
• Shredded coconut
• Chocolate chips

Just be mindful of not adding too much or else it'll overload the dough.