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
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.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I added 1/2 cup of sugar and used PB2 instead of regular peanut butter. The consistency is difficult to work with, so you have to basically drop a spoonful onto the baking sheet. They turned out soooo yummy! They tasted kinda like a muffin-cookie! Mmmmmmmm
I’m more of a cake person than a cookie one. But, this recipe is a keeper!! Normally, I almost never buy or bake cookies due to their super high sugar content. Today, I had these overripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter and I didn’t want to bake my regular banana bread ‘coz I very recently had baked it :) (btw, I bake a mean banana bread ;) ) I got to your page through pinterest. Oh and right now it’s 3am where I live and I just baked these cookies and ate 2 of them right after it was slightly cooled, and having a hard time forcing myself to stop going for the third :P I used “7 nut and seed butter” since I ran out of peanut butter and used extra cinnamon. Anyway, long story short, I LOVVVVVED this delicious fluffy little fragrant monsters.
hear me shout this out loud:
THANK YOU ALI
Just made these and they came out great! Nice and soft, with a hint of peanut butter and banana. The only thing I could say is I wish the banana flavor was a bit stronger. I do not think they taste like biscuits at all!
Just made these today! We liked them, and enjoyed that they aren’t too sweet. Topped them with a tiny bit of Nutella for a special after lunch treat for my kids. Yummy!
This is a horrid recipe. It needs more sugar, too much baking powder, and there’s absolutely no reason for the cornstarch. They taste like banana and peanut butter flavored biscuits.
I tried these out and idk why they came out terrible. Lacking flavor and dry tasted like buiscuts they were also very grainy. I bake all the time and this was one of the worst experiences. Maybe it was because I used frozen banana. Not to sure but very disappointed.
Mine were dry and biscuity as well. Only difference is my banana wasn’t frozen. Not sure what went wrong :(
I don’t have cornstarch, can I omit it? I also don’t have arrowroot powder to sub for the cornstarch!! Help, I want to make these yummy cookies so bad.
I believe you can omit it. The cookies just will not be as thick and chewy. Good luck!
~Ali
Oh my goodness- I made these gluten and dairy free (subbed AP GF flour for the 2 cups of flour; subbed 1/4 c vegetable oil and 1/4 cup applesauce for the 1/2 cup of butter)… so chewy and good!
I tried from my friend and they where good .
Wow, these are amazing! Just ate 3 warm from the oven, will certainly make again and again!