If you love moist, tender cookies, here’s a great gluten-free cookie recipe that everyone is sure to love. Trust me – no one will notice the absence of the wheat flour – they’ll just be going, “Mmm, wow, what are these delicious cookies?!”
And, yes, that is “banana” in the title of the recipe. What makes this recipe a real keeper is that apart from the sugar, this is an extremely healthy cookie that taste like a decadent cookie. I love to eat two or three of these before I head out cross-country skiing. And, trust me, after making these, you’ll never be worried about what to do with those brown bananas in your house again….
- 1 cup gluten-free flour (combine: 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup sorghum flour, 1/8 cup buckwheat, and 1/8 cup spelt)
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon guar gum
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup of banana ‘mash’ (3/4 cup black bananas = 1 to 2 bananas)
- plus 1/2 brown banana mashed together
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
- Measure, mix together, and then sift: the flours, baking soda, baking powder, guar gum and cinnamon. Mix in the rolled oats.
- Prepare the banana mash: squeeze out the black bananas into a measuring cup — making sure you squeeze out all the liquid too. The banana, the liquid, and the mash may all look disgusting but trust me, it’s all goodness and the liquid it is packed with that ‘extra’ banana flavour which will elevate these cookies. The black banana will add a stronger depth of flavor and the rustic taste of dark sugars, while the brown banana will add some texture.
- In a separate bowl: beat the egg and then beat in the sugars. Beat in the bananas — these add moisture and are what allows this recipe to seriously reduce the fat content without giving up ‘moisture.’ Beat in the vanilla and the butter until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Gently fold the flour mixture into wet ingredients until all ingredients are mixed together and the batter is smooth. It may look overly liquid for cookie dough, but let stand a few minutes. Once the liquids hit the guar gum and the baking soda, they will start to activate – and when guar gum does its thing, it will start to thicken the batter. You’re looking for a batter that is just thick enough to stand when you spoon it onto the baking sheet. If it is too thick, add a few table spoons of the extra black banana (or water) until it is the right consistency.
- When the batter is the right consistency, fold in the chocolate chips (and optional walnuts).
- Using a tablespoon, scoop out spoonfuls of batter onto the prepared bakingsheet,leaving room for the cookies to ‘expand.’ They won’t flatten a lot, but they still need space to cook evenly.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, turning once after 7 minutes. Keep a watchful eye on them. Cookies will be done when they start to ‘firm’ to the touch and a light brown around the edges.
- Let cookies cool on the baking sheet (about 30 minutes).
- Transfer any cookies you don’t eat (good luck!) to a container and refrigerate.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30min
Yield: 24-30
Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup gluten-free flour
→ combine: 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup sorghum
flour, 1/8 cup buckwheat, and 1/8 cup spelt)
2 cups rolled oats
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon guar gum
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup of banana ‘mash’
→ 3/4 cup black bananas (=1 to 2 bananas)
plus 1/2 brown banana mashed together
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter room temperature
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
-
Measure, mix together, and then sift: the flours, baking soda, baking powder, guar gum and cinnamon. Mix in the rolled oats.
-
Prepare the banana mash: squeeze out the black bananas into a measuring cup — making sure you squeeze out all the liquid too. The banana, the liquid, and the mash may all look disgusting but trust me, it’s all goodness and the liquid it is packed with that ‘extra’ banana flavour which will elevate these cookies. The black banana will add a stronger depth of flavor and the rustic taste of dark sugars, while the brown banana will add some texture.
Note: As bananas brown, I save them by throwing them in the freezer, skin and all (the skin helps preserve them). The freezing also intensifies the flavours and sugars, not unlike frozen grapes in icewine. When I am planning to cook with them, I take them out the night before and let them defrost on a plate in the fridge — the plate is very important because they have a tendency to ooze/leak out as they defrost.
-
In a separate bowl: beat the egg and then beat in the sugars. Beat in the bananas — these add moisture and are what allows this recipe to seriously reduce the fat content without giving up ‘moisture.’ Beat in the vanilla and the butter until all ingredients are well incorporated.
-
Gently fold the flour mixture into wet ingredients until all ingredients are mixed together and the batter is smooth. It may look overly liquid for cookie dough, but let stand a few minutes. Once the liquids hit the guar gum and the baking soda, they will start to activate – and when guar gum does its thing, it will start to thicken the batter. You’re looking for a batter that is just thick enough to stand when you spoon it onto the baking sheet. If it is too thick, add a few table spoons of the extra black banana (or water) until it is the right consistency.
-
When the batter is the right consistency, fold in the chocolate chips (and optional walnuts).
-
Using a tablespoon, scoop out spoonfuls of batter onto the prepared bakingsheet,leaving room for the cookies to ‘expand.’ They won’t flatten a lot, but they still need space to cook evenly.
-
Bake for 15-17 minutes, turning once after 7 minutes. Keep a watchful eye on them. Cookies will be done when they start to ‘firm’ to the touch and a light brown around the edges.
-
Let cookies cool on the baking sheet (about 30 minutes).
Transfer any cookies you don’t eat (good luck!) to a container and refrigerate.
Yields 20-24 moist cookies that will keep in the fridge for roughly a week.
Great recipe – I had a copious number of overripe bananas and remembered your recipe. I modified it to make it vegan but not gluten-free and they turned out awesome….
-substituted egg replacer
-coconut oil for the butter in the same quantity
-omitted the guar gum and added 1/4 cup extra all purpose flour
-substituted raisins and dried cranberries for the chocolate chips.
They were a healthy but delicious treat my 3 year old son loved too. 🙂
Thanks for coming back and sharing your variations. Proof that is it is a very adaptive recipe. Love the addition of the dried cranberries and coconut oil. I will have to try those next time as well. So many wonderful combinations to build from — and great to hear that this can be made for vegans, those avoiding gluten, or those that just want a yummy snack. Thanks again. 🙂
Beware, spelt flour is NOT gluten-free! It’s wheat-free but that’s not the same as gluten-free. Spelt flour is NOT good for people with celiac disease or with an intolerance to gluten. Glad you created a revised version with coconut flour. I love coconut and almond flour – so good! 😉
No question, this is a versatile recipe. The 1-cup of “flour” can be put together with almost any number of combinations. Really depends on one’s pantry, diet, and taste. With the input of Dana, the version with the coconut flour seems to be the preferred hit at home. Creates a slightly firmer cookie with more strength too, a harder thing to accomplish without gluten, but in this case there is no way anyone would guess. Please experiment yourself and let me know what you try and … and what you think.
I can’t wait to try them. Wish I could make my bananas ripen faster! I love your poetry! Very soothing and exciting!
I can definitely relate to your banana dilemma. A couple of suggestions: many markets have “priced down” or “reduced” sections for fruit and veggies past their prime. You can load up a bunch of over ripe bananas and throw the extras in your freezer. Short of this, you can also cook the banana for a few minutes on the stove top or in the microwave and add a little juice. It won’t have exactly the same amount of “strength” of flavour to it and you don’t get the extra liquid from the peel which comes as it blackens, but it is a great cheater if you’re looking to get ahead.
Thank you very much for the very kind feedback on the poetry too. I’m startled and a little blown away that people (yes, real people) are enjoying it. More to come ….
These sound delicious! Have you ever used coconut flour in them? I love the way it tastes and was wondering if it could be incorporated into the flour mixture. I can’t wait to try them!
Thank you for the feedback! No, I haven’t used coconut flour but am intrigued to give it a try. My understanding is that coconut flour is very dense, like almond flour, and highly absorbent of liquid. My guess would be substitute this for the spelt in the recipe, omit the nuts, and be prepared to add more banana (another half?). I was going to make another batch this weekend anyway, so I’ll give it a try and report back …. In the meantime, if you try them yourself, please do let me know your own experience. Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your ideas.
So I took your suggestion and gave it a whirl and the results were very good. I substituted the 1/4 cup coconut flour for the spelt and buckwheat (i.e. 1/2 cup rice flour + 1/4 cup of sorghum + 1/4 coconut flour) and I also added 1/3 cup of toasted shredded-coconut. I increased the banana liquid by 1/4 cup as well. The results were a much more structured cooked that was still very moist. I can’t say the coconut came through as a flavour, but I really liked the texture of the shredded coconut. My only recommendation is pat the cookies down a little when you drop them on the sheet because they will not spread as much in this form. Highly recommend this version. Thanks again for the suggestion.