Is it really possible to have a cookie recipe that doesn’t call for any sugar or butter but still produces cookies just as sweet and delicious as the ones you’re normally used to eating? Well, not only are these treats incredibly easy to make — even for moms that rarely bake — they’re nutritious and tons of fun for kids to get involved in making. The dates and bananas add a rich sweetness to every bite and the toasty oats give these cookies a crispy texture. And if you prefer bars to cookies, it’s easy to convert this recipe.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Weelicious.comPin

When I whipped these up with Kenya last week, he totally got into it by helping me smash the bananas, toss the remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl and then by trying to eat as much of the dough as possible before it hit the cookie sheet. Since there are no eggs in this recipe, I didn’t worry about letting him chow away. After all, you only get to be a kid once and eating cookie dough is part of the fun of baking!

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PS You have to freeze a few of these. The kids go crazy for them right out of the freezer!

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Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.50 from 4 votes
Servings: 1 cookie
Author: Catherine McCord
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients  

  • 3 bananas (preferably ripe or spotty bananas)
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 cup pitted and chopped dried dates
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips, walnuts or raisins
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Mash bananas in a bowl, and mix in the remaining ingredients.
  • Using a mini ice cream scoop or tablespoon, place the batter onto a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Bake for 25 Minutes.
  • ** To make into bars – place dough in a greased 7×11 dish, bake for 35-40 minutes then allow to cool. Cut into bars or squares.
  • To Freeze: allow cookies to cool after baking then place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 20mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!

About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

Comments

  1. These are in the oven right now – thank you! I have your cookbook and have so many recipes I will be trying over the next few months. Looking forward to it! I’m worried my kids won’t like the dates – what would you suggest I add instead or can they be omitted completely? Thanks!

    1. 5 stars
      I made the bar version, and they are amazing. I was thinking about making a chocolate drizzle to top. They are sweet and chewy. I used finely chopped almonds and coconut oil. Thanks Catherine!!!

  2. Yumm!!! Made with coconut oil and. Almond oil (i was indecisive), added ground cashew/almond mix and vanilla essense..i had two right out of the oven

  3. I made a variation with chopped dried apricots and purée stewed apple (instead of bananna) and a splash of apple juice and sultanas. Delicious

  4. […] (Shawna) I’m a little obsessed with this banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe from one of my favorite cooking-for-kids websites, Weelicious. Get this: there’s no sugar, no […]

  5. Delicious! I substitute dates for raisins since that’s what I generally have around the house and add some walnuts. It’s a perfect crunch texture and flavor to these delicious cookies. They never last long in my house!! Perfect as a weekday cookies.

  6. My 15 month old loves these! I left out the chocolate and halved the salt–I feel great about how nutritious they are for him.

  7. Can someone help please?
    In the nutritional value, 110 calories is for 30 cookies or just one cookie? It doesn’t say. Thx

  8. In the nutritional value, 110 calories is for 30 cookies or just one cookie? It doesn’t say. Thx

  9. call me crazy, but my favorite way to eat these are right out of the freezer!! I give them frozen to my 19 month old as well!

  10. So you keep them in the fridge, not out on the counter? (Any particular reason why?) And when you freeze them, do you just let them come to room temp before giving to kiddos? Mine are baking right now and smell delicious!

  11. […] Bananas (to eat on their own, sliced and added with honey and nut butter on a sandwich or added to Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies) – Baby carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers or any of your child’s favorite veggies – […]

  12. Just made this, minus the dates. They were simple, fast, and delicious. Made them into squares, using an 8×8 pan. Kids (ages 11 & 9) are requesting them for upcoming school year. They are excited about making different variations! Even my diabetic mother in law can have these!

  13. Gezonde chocolate chip cookies met havermout en banaan | Kiwi&zo, gezonde en goedkope recepten says:

    […] Heerlijk vind ik die! Maar natuurlijk niet heel erg gezond. Dus toen ik dit recept tegenkwam op Weelicious, moest ik hem maken. Het zijn eigenlijk meer havermoutkoekjes met chocolade en banaan, maar dat mag […]

  14. […] As skeptical as she may be about new food, Madeline has been a great helper. Especially when chocolate chips are involved, as they were in this cookie concoction from Weelicious. […]

  15. I vote for the cucumber cream cheese sammiches & made them today for my daughter. My 2 other FAV videos are the spaghetti pie & breakfast cookies. thanks so much for all your recipes! I have a very picky eater at home, but whatever I try from this website, he loves and gobbles it up!

  16. I use 1/4 cup unsweetened applesause in place of the oil. We love these! I’m loving your site. Thank you
    Joyce

  17. These are amazing!! My 17 month old just gobbled these up. Super easy and also relatively healthy. Thanks for these great recipes!

  18. The parchment paper makes for easier cleaning because these cookies can get sticky while baking! You can definitely omit it, though!

  19. I’m curious…. What does the parchment paper do? Can I omit it? My baked goods always burn on the bottom when I use it.

  20. […] good for you! I didn’t have some of the ingredients, but they turned out great. Here is the original recipe, and below is what I did! […]

  21. Does the recipe mean 1 cup dates (then chop them) or 1 cup of chopped up dates. I’m hoping that makes sense. I’m thinking it would be a completely different amount depending on which measuring method a person used.

  22. Shoot… I bought Rolled Oats because they said they were “Rolled Old Fashioned Oats.” Not sure how long I should cook them?? I already made the batter haha, so I guess I’ll just keep an eyes on them and hope for the best.

  23. Yum! Delicious!!! Just out of the oven and they are sweet and tasty. I could try using fewer choc chips less time. I used mini chips so they are spread out well. My kitchen smelled amazing-like banana bread. Mine were cooked in a little less than 25 min. 🙂 Will be freezing a few as suggested! Thanks!

  24. […] the perfect “treat” don’t you think?!?Banana Oatmeal Energy BitesAdapted from Weelicious.com 3 ripe bananas, mashed 2 cups rolled oats 1/2 cup flax seeds 1 cup dried dates, chopped 1/2 cup […]

  25. […] (via weelicious.com) /* */ This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. ← Sunday Inspired Room…Nautical […]

  26. We’re not fans of dates in our house either so I boiled the dates down to almost a sauce – I boiled them in just a little water and then mashed them – then I cooled them down before adding them to the cookies. It worked really well – no date chunks and still with the sweet goodness they provide!

  27. […] Bananas (to eat on their own, sliced and added with honey and nut butter on a sandwich or added to Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies) […]

  28. I just made these with dried plums (because that’s what I had at home) and they are delicious. I did add 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar because I was afraid it wouldn’t be sweet enough (my family just switched to a healthier diet, so unfortunately my kids are used to very sweet cookies). Next time I’ll try with no brown sugar and applesauce instead of oil.
    Thank you so much for the recipe.

  29. Hi. I only have two bananas!! What if I only do two? Does that ruin the texture or the flavor?

  30. I made these last night and the second batch in the oven turned out great, my first batch got a little burned as we need a new oven soon it burns everything. So I don’t keep them in as long but man my very picky 5 year old loved these and will be sending them in her lunch when she starts kindergarten in 3 weeks. Thank you these are great

  31. Yet another Weelicious WIN! Made these for breakfast this morning, and at the last minute, my husband wandered by and popped a fresh blueberry onto the top of a few, just before they went into the oven. Yum! I think he may have incurred a slight hot-cookie injury when he jumped all over them the minute they were done. And oh yes, our son likes them, too 🙂

  32. These were AMAZING! My whole family loved them,we will definitely be making these all the time.Thanks for the awesome recipe!

  33. WOW! Just made these, (a half batch cause I was a little skeptical) and they were AWESOME! Love the recipe. Thanks so much.

  34. A Champion’s Breakfast: Smoothie Shots & Cookies | | The Playful ParentsThe Playful Parents says:

    […] first saw this recipe from Weelicious, and I have taken the liberty to tweak it to suit our […]

  35. Just be wary of oats as being gluten free. Theoretically they should be but some products strangely include gluten.

  36. Reading all your comments and questions is so helpful! I can’t wait to make these and surprise my kids with a new “cookie” treat.

  37. I thought these were really yummy! My first experience ever using/eating dates. The 5-yr hasn’t gotten up the courage to try them yet. After reading other comments, may try subbing dried strawberries for the dates – that might go over better. I put the leftovers in a ziploc and did notice they got really soft and crumbly in the bag over night.

  38. These were amazing, especially out of the freezer. Next time I make them (which might be today) I plan to freeze the whole batch right away!

  39. oh yeah I’ve also found the search engine could use some improvement–I was looking for cake recipes and only a few things came up when I searched for cake, and I know there are tons more cake recipes on this site. And the name of this recipe doesn’t match the exact name in the cook book. But, regarding the cookie, I just ate several raw as the oven heated–couldn’t stop eating them. It’d be helpful if the author explained why we should let the batter sit for 10 minutes? I skipped that step but may have been more likely to take it seriously if I understood the importance. I used coconut oil instead of the kinds suggested in the cook book because I’ve heard that canola oil is bad.

  40. Absolutely love this recipe! It’s my go to treat every now and again and one that I recommend to my clients as a healthier cookie. Just a heads up that when you use the search engine on your website to locate this lovely cookie it does not come up when you use the words “banana”, “chocolate chip” or “cookie” so can be hard to find.

  41. Catherine, these are so delicious when taken straight from the freezer. It has a bon-bonish type feel to them (meaning you are eating something almost frozen with chocolatey taste and a sweet soft center inside). It’s not a cookie, it’s not a muffin, it’s a delicious frozen morsel of banana-ey, date-y, chocolate- y goodness. My almost 2-year old loves these, although she picks out the dark chocolate chips. I think next time, I ‘ll look for mini-dark chocolate chips instead. Thank you so much.

  42. These are so yummy! I’ve made these twice so far and today’s combo of half walnuts half chocolate chips was so amazing! The tip about eating them frozen is spot on and dangerous for this momma still trying to loose baby weight! Thank you!

  43. baby food review…

    […]Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies | Weelicious â„¢ – Fast, Easy & Fresh Homemade Home Made Baby Food Babyfood Recipes, Toddler Food and recipes for the entire family![…]…

  44. These were very good. I omitted the dates because I didn’t have any. They were still wonderful. I bet these would be good with dried figs too.

  45. Pretty yummie. I just made these and used dried papaya instead of dates, used applesauce instead of oil and put both nuts and choc chips… Kids (2 1/2) picked out choc pieces! So I will try it next time with cocoa instead

  46. […] a good chocolate oatmeal cookie recipe. It all started when she posted a really yummy recipe for Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. My 4yo LOVES chocolate, so I thought this would be a great way to get some more whole grains into […]

  47. Just made these tonight with prunes and applesauce instead of dates and oil…awesome! Thank you for such a great healthy treat 🙂

  48. I made these yesterday, they are awesome! I made half without chocolate chips so my 15 month old can eat them. He likes them ok, but didn’t eat an entire cookie. I, however, really like them – with or without chocolate chips. The next time I make them, I think I will sub applesauce for the oil, add some nuts and flax seeds for more of a breakfast cookie. I might add some cooked quinoa to up the protein content.

  49. Great – I should deeinitfly say I’m impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs and related info. It ended up being truly simple to access. Good job.

  50. I made this today and they are delicious. I did modify the recipe because I, too, am not a fan of dates. I read some of the suggestions before making the cookies and added coconut and peanut butter like some of you have suggested. I put in the walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips. They were great, not too sweet! Thanks!

  51. I made these today w/ my daughters. My 5 yr. old & 3 yr. old enjoyed helping me measure ingredients and mashing up the bananas w/ a pastry cutter. Followed the recipe to a T and they came out great! Only thing is that my 1st batch came out a bit burnt on the bottom (did the parchment lined baking sheet & right temp). I even took them out 4-5 mins. early. My 2nd batch I cooked for only 15 mins. and they came out perfect!

  52. I have made these quite a few times since the recipe was posted. They are delicious! I have a young cousin who has many food allergies, so when I made them for her, I left out the nuts. They were still yummy and she loved them- and her mom was happy to have a cookie recipe she can eat (there are very few “good” ones).

  53. I made these this morning for my 2 year old and he LOVED them! I did make some changes to the recipe though. I left out the dates alltogether and used chopped cashews instead of chocolate. I also used a 1/4 cup of applesauce instead of oil. They were such a big hit I think I may need to keep these in the house 24/7(better than prepackaged snacks for sure)! Thank you!

  54. Wow, ridiculously delicious and so simple. These will be a staple in our house from now. FYI: I incorporated the concept for hot oatmeal this morning and it was wonderful.

  55. I made the original recipe (except with raisins instead of choc chips) and they were great. However, I wanted to try them without the fruit for a friend who can’t have that much sugar (natural or otherwise). So, I just left out the dates/raisins/choc chips and added in a big spoon of natural peanut butter. They were so good! Of course, they only had a little bit of sweetness, but it was enough and they had a great flavor. I think they’d be great with some chopped walnuts and/or unsweetened coconut too. My 19-month old actually wouldn’t eat the date/raisin version, but he gobbled up the ones without. Also, I think they taste best fresh from the oven so I recommend keeping the batter in the fridge (no eggs/milk to go bad so it should keep a few days) and baking just a few at a time as needed. Thanks for the great recipe!

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