3-Ingredient Nutty Banana Cookies are so easy to make, grain-free, contain no added sweetener or eggs, and are vegan. The perfect treat for those who love bananas and nuts!
Have you ever tried banana cookies?
Just imagine banana bread and cookies giving each other a very special hug, and you’ll understand the full deliciousness of this banana cookie recipe.
I wanted to make a grain-free cookie recipe that was similar to my 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies but also had more substance than my 5-Ingredient Paleo Banana Bread Cookies, and this is where I arrived.
By simply swapping raw nuts for the oats in my banana oatmeal cookies recipe, we end up with a hearty cookie that is gluten-free, paleo friendly, vegan, and so incredibly delicious!
Not to mention there is zero added sugar in the recipe, as it is sweetened only with bananas.
That is, unless you do as I do and make these banana cookies with chocolate chips.
Completely optional!
What else you can do with ripe bananas besides baking a loaf of banana bread? You’ve wandered right into your answer!
These 3-Ingredient Banana Nut Cookies use up three ripe bananas and are a magical explosion of nutty banana flavors with a chewy texture for an on-the-go snack or weeknight dessert.
Not to mention, they are just plain rad.
Banana-sweetened treats are kind of a thing on The Roasted Root.
I’ve also shared my 4-Ingredient Flourless Healthy Brownies, Healthy Apple Muffins, 3-Ingredient Chocolate Banana Cookies, and 4-Ingredient Healthy Samoa Cookies, all of which are sweetened exclusively with banana.
Let’s chat about the ingredients for this banana cookie recipe.
Ingredients for Nutty Banana Cookies:
Ripe Bananas: The sweetener and the ingredient that makes up the majority of the mass in this recipe, we use three ripe bananas to create a treat that is naturally sweet and tastes like banana bread and a cookie gave each other a very special hug.
Unsweetened Almond Butter (or Peanut Butter): The glue that holds the cookies together! You can use any unsweetened creamy nut or seed butter. Just be sure whatever you use is well-stirred and thick (as opposed to runny or over oily).
Peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter, or walnut butter are all great options.
Nuts: You’ll need two cups of raw nuts to make this recipe. You can also use roasted nuts but just be sure they aren’t salted or have any added flavors or sweeteners. The nuts serve as the crunchy, voluminous part of the recipe so choose your favorites!
I use a combination of raw almonds and pecans (1 cup of each), but you can go with any combination you love. Walnuts, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, and cashews are all great options.
The nuts will need to be chopped, so you can also use pre-chopped nuts if you have them.
Optional Ingredients:
Want to get fancy on these cookies?
We have plenty of options to customize these easy Banana Nut Cookies to change up the recipe each and every time. Here are some ideas.
- Add ⅓ cup to 1 cup of chocolate chips
- Stir in up to ½ cup of rolled oats
- Love cinnamon? Add ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- Because sea salt makes everything more flavorful, add a pinch!
- Add up to ⅔ cup of dried fruit, such as raisins or dried cranberries
- If you have vanilla extract on hand, add 1 teaspoon.
Now that we’re all lined out on the way these cookies work, let’s bake a batch (or twelve!)
How to Make 3-Ingredient Banana Nut Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer the raw nuts to a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.
Mash the ripe bananas in a mixing bowl until creamy (it’s okay to leave some small chunks).
Stir in the almond butter until a thick, sticky creamy mixture forms.
Add in the chopped nuts and stir well. If adding chocolate chips, do so now and stir until a thick gooey dough forms.
This cookie dough is meant to be very sticky and won’t resemble regular cookie dough – this is normal. Use a spoon to drop mounds of dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
The cookie dough won’t spread and it will retain its shape during the baking process, so form it into the shapes you want to end up with – I stick with round cookie shapes.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 10 to 17 minutes (I do 15), until the cookies are golden-brown and have set up. The timing is dependent on how large the cookies are.
If you make them fairly small, bake for 10 to 12 minutes, but if you make huge cookies like I did, bake for 15 to 17 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 20 minutes on the cookie sheet before digging in. I know…20 minutes is a long time and the ultimate test of patience, but if you go at the cookie too soon, it’ll dissolve in your hands and turn into a cloud of dust. Just kidding. It just won’t be set up.
More Healthy Treats:
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Paleo Blackberry Cobbler
- Gluten-Free Vegan Peach Cobbler
- The Best Giant Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Keto Lemon Pound Cake
Enjoy these nutty, banana-infused drops of joy!
3-Ingredient Nutty Banana Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 bananas 1 ½ cups, mashed
- ½ cup creamy almond butter well-stirred
- 2 cups mixed raw nuts*
Optional Additions:
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Transfer the raw nuts to a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. If you don't have a food processor (or a high-powered blender), you can easily chop the nuts by hand using a knife and cutting board.
- Mash the ripe bananas in a mixing bowl until creamy (it’s okay to leave some small chunks).
- Stir in the almond butter until well-combined. Add in the chopped nuts and stir well.
- If adding chocolate chips, do so now and stir until a thick gooey dough forms. This cookie dough is meant to be very sticky and won’t resemble regular cookie dough – this is normal.
- Use a spoon to drop mounds of dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet. The cookie dough won’t spread and it will retain its shape during the baking process, so form it into the shapes you want to end up with – I stick with round cookie shapes.
- Bake on the center rack of the oven for 10 to 17 minutes (I do 15), until the cookies are golden-brown and have set up. The timing is dependent on how large the cookies are. For small cookies, bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Bake larger cookies for 15 to 17 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 20 minutes on the cookie sheet before digging in.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Wow, I’m so so impressed and this is perfect for a quick breakfast and better for you snack ! I used natural peanut butter instead of almond butter, I used 70% cacco chocolate chips and added oats, walnuts and salted peptas! They are perfect!!!! Thanks for this awesome recipe 😊❤️
Ooh, yum! I’ll have to try it using your method next time…sounds great!
I only had 1 banana, so divided everything by 3. After I added the chocolate chunks, the dough still seemed too moist, so I grabbed my coconut flour & added about 2 T. to the bowl. That helped stiffen the dough a bit–and kept the keto factor intact!
They are baking as I type, so I can’t report on the finished product, but I did lick the spatula & that tasted good!
Love the creativity! I hope they turn out great – sounds like they will be amazing!
Hi… Am i missing something? You said:
“You can also use roasted nuts but just be sure they aren’t roasted…”
Thanks for catching, that, Sal! I meant to say you can use roasted nuts but be sure they aren’t salted. Just didn’t want folks to end up with cookies that are saltier than they want 😉
Do you think these cookies would still work if I pulsed the nuts into powder? I’m thinking of trying this so my 8 month old could also eat them.
Hi Tricia!
I think they would work but I’m not positive. If anything, you may need to use slightly more nuts to get the batter to come together, but I would try it as written first and go from there. If the batter spreads when you put it on the baking sheet then you’d need to use more nuts, but otherwise it should work great! Let me know what happens! xoxox
@Julia, This worked well. I pulsed the nuts until they were pretty crumbly and the resulting cookies were still thick enough to cook up well. And my baby loved them!
I’m so thrilled to hear it! Thank you for reporting back! xo
how do these cookies freeze
Hi Leah! These are a great cookie recipe for freezing when you have leftovers. I freeze them in a zip lock bag and they keep for up to 2 months 🙂 Hope you love them!
@Julia, thanks I want to make them for passover. its great cause no flour and i will use almond butter because cant use peanut butter for passover.
Love that! Hope you enjoy them!! xo