Soft and chewy without being the least bit cakey! These healthier double chocolate banana cookies are vegan and refined sugar free, but so fudgy and flavourful that you’d never be able to tell they were healthy!
I should probably just change my blog name to Running with Bananas and Chocolate at this point, seeing as pretty much every single recipe I’ve posted this month has been made with either bananas or chocolate. Or both.
What can I say? I’ve been on a huge chocolate/banana bender for the past little while, and I like to post recipes made with the foods that I’ve been loving, otherwise it’s a little hard for me to get excited about them. I mean, how can I try to get you guys excited about something when I’m just kind of “meh” about it myself myself? I can’t… hence all the bananas and chocolate.
Don’t be mad. Have a cookie.
I’d give you a glass of [almond] milk to go along with that, but I dropped my favourite milk jug (aka photo prop) on the floor the other day and it shattered into a million pieces. Sorry about that.
But let’s talk about these cookies! These wonderfully soft and chewy double chocolate banana cookies that I’m pretty sure aged me at least 6 months thanks to all the frustration I experienced while making them.
Let’s talk about how they’re called double chocolate banana cookies not only because they’re made with a double dose of chocolate (cocoa + chocolate chips), but a double dose of banana too. I started out by just adding an entire mashed banana to the batter, but that was a disaster decided to make things a little more interesting by only mashing half and slicing in the other half.
Brilliant idea. Those perfectly caramelized banana chunks are kind of to.die.for… especially when they’re paired with melty chocolate chips.
Next, let’s talk about how bananas may very well be one of the most annoying ingredients to work with as far as cookies go. They give a wonderful flavour and sweetness, but they will fight you tooth.and.nail if you’re trying to make a soft and chewy cookie. TOOTH AND NAIL! For cakey, pillowy, muffin top type things? Bananas are your man. But for cookies with even a hint of chew? Bananas will be a thorn in your side. A very delicious thorn, but a thorn nonetheless.
It took me three trials to get these guys right.
Trial #1: too much cocoa, too much mashed banana, too little oil, and oats tossed in on a whim. Result? Dense, black, pillowy puffballs with jagged edges that looked like they would cut your gums if you bit into them. Moving on…
Trial #2: less cocoa, no oats, same amount of mashed banana, and slightly more oil. Result? Equally as dense, slightly less black pillowy puffballs that looked like they would be better to sleep on than eat. Thankfully no more jagged edges. Moving on…
Trial #3: less cocoa, no oats, less mashed banana, slightly more oil, honey to replace the sugar, and baking soda to replace the powder. Result? Nailed it.
Finally, let’s talk about how these cookies are vegan, nut-free, refined sugar free, and sooooo ridiculously soft and chewy that it hurts. The dough requires a little bit of chilling time prior to baking to make it easier to handle, but it’s only 30 minutes and I promise you that it’s so worth the wait.
Oh, and speaking of wait… these cookies are similar to banana bread in that they taste better the longer they sit. They’re sweeter and fudgier on day 2 and 3, but I double [chocolate and banana] dare you to get them to last that long…
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Double Chocolate Banana Cookies
- Total Time: 52 mins
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (90 g) whole wheat flour**
- 2 Tbsp (10 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 medium ripe banana, mashed (50g or 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup (80 g) brown rice syrup***
- 2 Tbsp (30 ml) coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (60 g) vegan chocolate chips
- other half of the banana, cut into small chunks
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, mixing well to ensure that no clumps of flour or cocoa remain. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, brown rice syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and banana chunks, giving everything a final stir before covering the bowl and placing it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF (163ºC) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Using a rounded tablespoon, drop the dough onto your prepared baking sheet, and use your fingers to flatten them slightly. The cookies won’t spread too much, so make them roughly the shape you want them to be before baking.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes, depending on the final texture that you want. Less baking time will result in a slightly softer and fudgier cookie.
- Remove your cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. You can press additional chocolate chips into the tops to make them a little more presentable. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
* prep time includes chill time. ** you can make these cookies gluten-free by replacing the whole wheat flour with an all-purpose GF baking flour. If your mix doesn’t have xanthan gum, add 1/4 tsp to the dry ingredients as well. *** you can easily sub this for honey if not strictly vegan.
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
Looking for more healthy cookies recipes? Try one of these!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Flourless Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Chewy Flourless Oatmeal Cookies
Grain Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hi, my stepdaughter loves these cookies so I’ve made them many times, they always turn out great 🙂 my question is, can you freeze either the dough or the baked cookies? I’d like to have some prepped for next time she visits 🙂 thank you
Oh my these are delicious!!!!
I added some coconuts as well and maple syrup since I didn’t have brown sugar
I saved your recipe will make it again forSURE
Thank you for sharing
Thank you. My daughter and I baked this together and it is both simple and delicious. She was craving the bear paw cookies her friends get at school so we tried this as a healthy substitute and it hit the spot!
What would happen if you didn’t add the brown rice syrup??
Hi, Made this but it was in cakey not like cookies..
Hi Thanks for a healthy delicious recipe! I made those with my kindergarten children today. They learnt they do not need sugar in their party food. They loved them! baking them by the children definitely improve children’s understanding of healthy eating habits.
Hi! These look great! I am trying to follow a High Carb Low Fat Diet (80% carbs, 10% fat, 10% protein) and I was wondering if there was any vegan substitute for the oil? I have heard that applesauce can replace oil, but idk if it works in all recipes. Please let me know if you can, thanks!
Hey Amanda, I’m replacing whole wheat flour with wheat flour + xanthan because I couldn’t find any WWF in my local supermarket. Should I tweak the ratio? The internet says 3/4 WWF = 1 cup wheat flour because, apparently, WWF is denser.
Also, do I need a mixer/food processor to incorporate the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients?
Making these on Wednesday with my students! <3
thank you so much for sharing this recipe- we love these cookies!! the batter is incredible all by itself too and i think i may have to make some to use as cookie batter in ice cream. also, just a tidbit- i wet my hands before pressing the cookies down so that the batter doesn’t get stuck all over my hands! 🙂
i guess i mean cookie dough balls in ice cream! 😀 we shared some cookies with our totally non-natural-foodie next door neighbor last batch as well & she loved them!
I’m so glad you like these cookies, Beth! And thanks for sharing the tip about wetting your hands first. Making cookie dough ice cream with them sounds incredible!
These cookies are amazing! I’ve made them four times and they’ve been a hit with everyone. Thanks for providing the weights for measuring- soo much easier to use the food scale than to get a bunch of measuring cups dirty 🙂
Just made this for the skeptics in my household. All sorts of faces about bananas and chocolate. Yep, finished baking them, went away for 30 minutes…half gone (I doubled the batch by the way). Amazing!!
I love it when that happens! I’m glad you and your family liked them, Christina. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
I just made the most delicious cookies using this recipe as a base. New vegan, gluten free favourite! Thank you!!!
I made them today, they are amazing!
I’m so glad you liked them, Maria! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Chocolate and banana are so good together and these cookies look so amazing! Perfect texture too!
Hi! Just come across your blog and look like I can spend a day on your site! Have my eyes on many recipes but wanna try this one first. I’m a banana-choco person:) one question about the banana. How would you do to prevent them from getting black after baking. I love put banana chunks on the bread but they came out dark all the time Haha Any secret? Thanks.
I made the cookies and they are very yummy. The dough was very thick and I panicked a bit, adding some milk to it. As a result they are a bit like brownies. Mixed in some white chocolate chunks next to bananas. Fantastic! 🙂