The classic banana chocolate chip combo is popular for muffins, bread and pancakes. But now we have a whole new way to love the taste with our banana chocolate chip cookies. Soft, moist, chocolaty and filled with a caramelized banana flavor, these cookies taste as if you baked your favorite banana bread recipe into pillowy chocolate chip sugar cookies.
They are the perfect after-lunch, after-dinner or midday snack. But no judgments if you indulge in these banana and choc chip cookies at every other time of day!
Ingredients for Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butter: With any baking recipe that calls for butter, we always recommend you buy the best butter brand from the store.
- Sugar: The mashed bananas and chocolate chips provide a good amount of sweetness, so you’ll need only 1/2 cup granulated sugar for these cookies.
- Egg: We use one egg in these banana and choc chip cookies. Bring it to room temp by taking it out of the fridge 30 minutes before starting the recipe.
- Bananas: You will need only one ripe banana for 1/2 cup mashed banana. This guide will help you determine how many bananas are needed for any recipe.
- Vanilla extract: A dash of vanilla extract spruces up these chocolate chip banana cookies with a subtle floral sweetness.
- All-purpose flour: We’ve found that cookies with all-purpose flour yield the best texture thanks to the flour’s combination of hard and soft wheat.
- Leavening agents: Be sure to double-check that your baking soda and baking powder are not expired before starting this banana cookie recipe. It would be a shame to go through all the work just for the cookies not to rise and fluff up.
- Chocolate chips: Make these chocolate chip banana cookies taste as fantastic as possible by using a bag of the best chocolate chips.
Directions
Step 1: Create the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Beat in the egg, mashed banana and vanilla extract until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Editor’s Tip: When mixing the ingredients, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is well incorporated.
Step 2: Scoop and bake
Drop the cookie dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, 13 to 16 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool at room temperature.
Recipe Variations
- Add nuts: For added texture, stir 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts into the batter. To toast the nuts, bake them in a shallow pan in a 350° oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Or, cook them in a skillet over low heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
- Change the chocolate chips: If you prefer milk, dark or even white chocolate more than semisweet, feel free to swap in those instead.
- Use browned butter: Browned butter banana chocolate chip cookies—how delicious does that sound? To make 1/3 cup browned butter, melt 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter in a pan over medium heat, stirring the butter until it foams. Once it is golden brown and smells nutty, kick off the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process so it doesn’t burn. Let the butter cool to room temp. Cover it with storage wrap and stick it in the fridge until it’s soft and pliable. Make sure it measures 1/3 cup.
How to Store Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
One of the best characteristics of these chocolate chip banana cookies is how incredibly soft they are. You’ll want to store them the right way to maintain that moisture. Let the cookies cool completely to room temperature on a wire rack, then transfer them to an airtight container or a special cookie container.
Prevent them from drying out even more by sticking a piece of bread in the container. This one simple trick keeps the cookies nice and tender.
Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Tips
How do you ripen a banana quickly?
When baking with bananas, use ones that are ripe (or even overripe) to yield the best flavor, but if they aren’t quite there yet, check out these banana-ripening tips.
If you have a day or two to spare, place the bananas and an apple, avocado, peach or tomato in a brown paper bag. Roll the top tightly closed and keep it on your counter. This will trap the ethylene gas of the fruits and quicken the ripening process.
To ripen bananas even faster, place them in their peels on a baking sheet and warm them in a 250° oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
What else can you do with ripe bananas?
You’ll need only one ripe banana for this banana cookie recipe, but if you have way more ripe bananas than that, there seems to be a never-ending list of recipes that use up ripe bananas. Be sure to check out these banana desserts and banana bread recipes too. Don’t let those gorgeously sugary, ripe bananas go to waste!
