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!
This my first time making these cookie, and I love them. Ok it turn out dry but it do not matter because it were 2 of my flavor things. . And that was banana and peanut better, so I still love the cookie. So mmmmm
Thank you for this recipe! I wanted to make a suggestion for those who don’t favour the ‘cakey’ texture: I rolled out the dough quite thin and cut out squares, then baked them a small distance apart on the sheet. I also added a few chocolate chips per square and baked them longer, close to 14 minutes. The result is mega addictive.
These cookies came out great!! I did add more brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla. They were super soft and light. My whole family loved them, I will make this recipe again. I might even try to add chocolate chips to a few next time. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this recipe and turned out so tasty and gorgeous! I substitude brown sugar with palm sugar, since I don’t have any brown sugar left ??? thank you for the recipe
Made these tonight, made some cookies, took the rest put in a pan made bars, topped with melted hersey bar, added melted vanilla icing on top of the chocolate, let cool, awesome! Thank You
Mmmm, sounds delicious!!
Great cookie! We stuck some kisses in the middle and my three year old won’t atop eating them.
Had to make these cookies as soon as I read this recipe.. so easy to make and the result is pure heaven.. pure delight: a mild banana flavour mixed with the taste of peanut butter goodness.. love them!
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed them! :)
Tried it, it was great, would prob add slight more sugar next time, texture great. I could taste banana and a slight hint of peanut butter. Will definitely make it again and play around with it a bit more.
thanks
Thanks for your feedback, we’re glad you enjoyed these, and definitely feel free to adjust the sugar amount! :)
These came out alright for us, but not sure I’d make them again. As some other comments said, they were bland overall, and had a very flour-y consistency. I would suggest adding more peanut butter and banana, and more brown sugar.
Hi Stacey! We’re sorry you didn’t really care much for these, and we appreciate your feedback.
Based on comments (bland, cake-like, not sweet enough), I added a bit more salt, and a few drops of almond extract. I also added more brown sugar (maybe doubled the amount) and used crunchy peanut butter. I then beat in most of the flour mixture using my mixer before stirring in the rest to make them more cookie-like than cake-like. The dough was too soft to roll, so I dropped tablespoons of dough on the sheets. After baking, I topped each cookie with a chocolate kiss. With these changes, my family rates these cookies 5 stars.
Thanks for sharing, Pattie, we’re glad you were able to make some adjustments and that you and your family enjoyed these!