Banana Oatmeal Cookies With Chocolate Chips

Sweet and chewy Banana Oatmeal Cookies are loaded with rich chocolate chips, banana, and oatmeal, baked until soft with a chewy center. It's the perfect cookie to enjoy with your morning coffee or as a sweet snack any time of the day! 

Oatmeal is a great nutritious ingredient that we love to make porridge with, add to pancakes, berry crisps, muffins, and make cookies such as healthy oatmeal cookies, no bake cookies to name a few.

• Overripe Bananas - For the sweetest flavor you’ll need about 2 medium-sized bananas that are ripe, full of brown spots, and mashed. Well, any banana will work here but overripe bananas will give the best sweetest flavor.
• Flour  - these cookies are made with gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum but regular all-purpose will produce very similar results. Check out my own recipe for homemade gluten free flour. We also like Bobs Red Mill and Schar Mix C.
• Oats - Quick oats can be used or old-fashioned oats when you want a more chunky cookie. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but most of them are processed together with gluten products. If that is important to you, look for certified GF oats.
• Butter and egg - these types of ingredients should be at room temperature as it will help to incorporate them into the cookie dough mixture better. Unsalted butter is preferable otherwise omit the salt called for in the recipe. 
• Sugar - I’ve used equal parts white and brown sugar. While the granulated sugar helps to caramelize the cookies and make them crisper, the brown sugar keeps them moist and chewy on the inside!
• Chocolate chips - I’ve used semi-sweet chocolate chips but you could also use milk chocolate chips, and white or dark chocolate chips instead. To intensify the banana-chocolate flavor in these cookies, increase the quantity of chocolate chips to ¾ cup. 
• Baking powder - be careful as some have gluten in them. If you are gluten free sensitive, look for certified gluten free baking powder.
• Salt - Sea salt or kosher salt for the best natural flavor.

• Make sure that the egg and butter are both at room temperature as this helps them to mix much better into the cookie batter.
• Unlike classic chocolate chip cookies, no need to chill the cookie dough as these cookies will not spread out as much.
• Allow the butter and egg to reach room temperature for easy mixing. 
• Cookie scoops are a great tool to use for creating uniform-sized cookie shapes. Or a kitchen scale to measure out each cookie.
• Flattening the cookie dough balls slightly before baking the cookies will help them spread evenly. 
• Don’t overbake - bake these cookies until they are slightly golden brown on the edges but still soft in the center. 
• Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This will help prevent the freshly baked cookies from falling apart. 
• You can easily double the ingredients to make an extra batch of cookies and store them away in the freezer to enjoy whenever you like. 
• Always check the expiration date on the label of your baking powder and baking soda as old or expired ingredients can affect how these cookies rise while baking.  
• Use a cookie scoop for ease of measuring and to ensure uniform-sized cookies that will bake evenly. 
• Don’t be tempted to substitute the sugars in this recipe. They are both needed to ensure the best buttery and soft cookie. While you could technically make these cookies only with white sugar, there definitely will be a difference even though they will still taste good.

• To Store. You can store the cookies at room temperature in a tightly sealed airtight container for 2-3 days. For anything longer than that, I'd recommend keeping them refrigerated. These cookies are medium soft and will crumble easily after storing. Make sure to keep them sealed so they don’t dry out too quickly.
• To Freeze. Allow the cookies to cool and transfer them to an airtight container or freezer-friendly bag and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and let come to room temperature before eating.
• Make Ahead. You can freeze the unbaked cookie dough for up to a month or freeze the baked cookies for 2-3 months. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator until softened and let come to room temperature before baking.