These simple, naturally-sweetened peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies are the perfect healthy treat for a school or work lunchbox. They’re made with just 4 ingredients– oats, peanut butter, banana, and chocolate chips. 
I first tried these simple peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies when one of my good friends made them in college, so I knew what to expect when I tried making a version of peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies myself.
They’re are an easy, healthy treat that doesn’t taste overly decadent or sweet. They’re soft rather than crispy and almost remind me of a banana bread cookie. They’re definitely not your typical cookie, but I think they’re delicious.
You can preheat the oven, mix up the batter, and enjoy one of these cookies in 20 minutes from start to finish!
To make these healthy cookies, start by mashing ripe bananas in a medium bowl. Stir in peanut butter, optional honey or sugar, oats, salt, and chocolate chips. Then, roll the cookie dough into balls, place them on a parchment paper-lined sheet, and lightly flatten them since they don’t spread in the oven. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying some cookies hot out of the oven.
A note about sweeteners: you can add a small amount of honey or sugar if you prefer your cookie to taste a bit sweeter. Even though I don’t love overly-sugary desserts, I enjoyed the addition of a tablespoon of honey to liven these up after only sweetening them with banana the first time I made them. They aren’t overly sweet at all. But it’s up to you!
I often pack a mini treat to snack on between classes or enjoy after dinner as a healthy dessert, and these peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies are perfect for that. I keep these cookies in the freezer, toss one in my lunchbox in the morning, and it’s thawed within a couple of hours.
Some of my other favorite healthy treats that I keep in my freezer are Yasso Greek yogurt bars and these amazing double chocolate peanut butter muffins (which only have 8 grams of sugar)! Feel free to share other ideas with me– I’d love to hear your favorite healthy treats!
I hope you enjoy these peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies as much as I do!
If you try these peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies, feel free to let me know in a comment and leave a star rating, or take a photo and tag me @livbane on Instagram! I’d love to see!
4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana (2 very large bananas, about 290g weighed without peel)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (I use natural, no sugar added)
- 1 Tbsp. honey or coconut sugar (optional)
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet or dark), plus a few extra to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Peel bananas and mash in a medium mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, including optional honey or sugar if using, and stir to combine.
- Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop approximately 20 tablespoon-size spoonfuls onto a cookie shape and flatten with a spatula. Press a few chocolate chips into the top of each cookie, if desired.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies have set and are just beginning to lighty brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then remove from cookie sheet.
- For optimal freshness, store leftover cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2 days, in the fridge for up to 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
A Healthy Liv original recipe
So glad to see this recipe. Love easy to make cookies using oatmeal instead of flour.
Yes! Love that they have oats for some extra nutrients and gluten-free if that’s a dietary concern!
I tried these and really enjoyed them for a less sweet cookie option! I find many desserts to be too sweet, anyway!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these, May!!
Ok so mine were definitely not photogenic, but they were delicious! Thanks for sharing these recipes!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies, Amber!!
I made these this morning and loved them! I had some unsweetened coconut that I threw in as well, and it was really good. Thank so much for the recipe!
Perfect! Wanted something sweet and just the right amount of sweetness without the quilt! Yummy!
*Thank you
Haha gotta love it when you type so fast you leave out a word!
Haha so glad to hear that you enjoyed these! Unsweetened coconut sounds like a perfect addition!
These were ok. I guess they aren’t supposed to be super delicious considering that they dont have white sugar and white flour. we still enjoyed them though. Glad I tried the recipe!
Thank you very much for this recipe! I used chunky peanut butter and extra honey. I think that the peanut chunks helped to hold the cookie together. I will make them again.
So glad you enjoyed these 😀
Just made these and we love them! A perfect after school treat for my daughter. Thank you!
I was craving something like this today and am so glad I found the recipe. I added cinnamon, a splash of vanilla, and ground flax to mine. The result was perfection! It was exactly what I needed to eat…in fact, I had 5 and considered that my dinner. Yum!!
tasty i,m diabetic and its hard to find cookie recipes.
i added the cinnamon vanilla sultan raisins chocolate chips
had to cook a lot longer than normal.
maybe because my bananas were frozen and i didn’t really wait till they thawed. lol
very nice stay safe with this virus
So glad you enjoyed these!! Stay safe 😀
Can apple sauce be a sub. For bananas
Hi Joyce! I haven’t tried it, but let me know what you think if you do!
Hi tried these today. Why would mine come out soft and rubbery.
Did these today! Added blueberries to the mix as I needed to use them up so didnt need honey aswell as the banana and blueberries were enough. Came out great!
LOVE YOUR COOKIES! Just the right amount of sweetness, I didn’t add the salt or sweetener. This is the perfect recipe I’ve been looking for, Thank you!
I thought about these before I made them as I don’t like raw oats much.. so I toasted them in the oven, cooled them and added.. also added millet about 2 tbsp and some wheat germ and almond meal and coconut.. all mixed in well and were a bit more cookie like than muffin texture, so a bit dryer but the banana kept the mositure up..
I’d make again with these adjustments
does the oatmeal have to be quick oats
I made these with date paste instead of honey. I also used raisins and added cinnamon and ground cardamom. So yummy. I’ve removed white sugar, honey, molasses from my diet so making sweet things has become a delicious lightly sweetened experience. I will make these again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these, Evita! Thanks for reporting back!
This baking dad was desperate to use some frozen bananas. Checked many recipes and liked this one the best overall – and just decided to make the frozen work. My son and I used about 9 sm.-to-med. bananas and let them strain first in a colander (after reading a note about the liquid maybe being an issue). Along with some other insignificant adjustments based on available ingredients, they came out deliciously! Thanks.
I’m so glad you and your son enjoyed these cookies and it’s great to know that frozen bananas work well here!
Thanks! I forgot to mention that we did a double batch.
I have never commented before, but these are absolutely amazing! The chocolate and banana are a great mix!
Happy to hear that you enjoyed these, Bailey!! Thanks for reporting back 😀