Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

These healthy peanut butter banana cookies contain only 4 ingredients and are SO easy to make! They are soft, chewy, dairy free, gluten free, plant-based, and contain no refined sugars. 

4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Banana Cookies in Minutes

 

I’m bringing back one of my easiest NITK recipes with some shiny new photos! This recipe for healthy peanut butter banana cookies has been a long time favourite because it is seriously so easy, you could pretty much prepare them with your eyes closed and hands tied behind your back… ok maybe not, but you get the idea, ha!

These peanut butter (and almond butter!) packed cookies are sweetened only with banana so they are subtly sweet, rich, and nutty. My toddler loves them and they are definitely appealing to kids and adults alike. 

Is peanut butter and banana good together?

 

Heck yes! This classic combination is so delicious and it combines a perfect balance of carbohydrates and fibre from the banana with healthy fats and protein from the peanut butter.

Peanut butter and banana is a common post-workout snack, so these cookies, because they contain no added sugar are a delicious post-workout option too (although I’d also recommend extra protein if you’ve done a resistance training workout!). 

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

 

These delicious and incredibly easy cookies are made with only 4 main ingredients. That’s it, that’s all my friends! While I’m sure you could find a ton of variations of this cookie out in the blogosphere, I think keeping it simple is sometimes the best approach.

You can definitely make additions or swaps which I suggest below, but the classic 4-ingredient version is just perfect too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Peanut butter (natural, unsweetened)
• Almond butter (for a little variety and more nut butter goodness, you can also omit this and just use extra peanut butter)
• Banana (ripe, or a little over-ripe/spotted is fine, avoid under-ripe/green) 
• Cinnamon (for extra delicious flavour!)

Optional: Sea Salt (this isn’t necessary but I feel it takes up the flavour a notch!) 

Recipe Add-Ins or Swaps/Substitutions:

 

I love how versatile these simple peanut butter banana cookies are. If you are a fan of extra texture or different flavours you can play around with the optional additions or swaps below!

• Swap the almond butter for more peanut butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter
• Swap smooth peanut butter for crunchy peanut butter for extra texture
• Swap the cinnamon for cocoa powder and use 1 tablespoon instead of 1 tsp for a touch of cocoa 

 

• Add in 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup for a sweeter cookie
• Add in 1/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips for a chocolatey twist
• Add in 1/4 cup hemp seeds for extra protein and texture 
• Add in 1/4 cup of shredded coconut for extra flavour and texture

Peanut Butter Banana Cookie Recipe Tips

To make these cookies all you need to do is add the banana to a bowl and mash, mash, mash. Then the rest of the ingredients and stir, stir, stir …then stir some more (you’ll need to use a little muscle!) until you have a ball of batter. Then, you scoop that batter into little balls, place them on a pan, and press with a fork. 

Sometimes however, depending on your ingredients you might have to do some troubleshooting. Here are some tips!

• If your peanut butter is “runny”: If your peanut butter/almond butter has a runny consistency (rather than a thicker consistency, this often depends on the brand) you might find the cookie batter is too runny to form into balls. Simply add 1 tablespoon of coconut flour at a time and stir until your batter begins to naturally form into a ball, like the batter pictured above. 

• If your bananas are under-ripe/over-ripe: Over-ripe or spotted brown bananas are totally fine to use and shouldn’t cause any issues. If your bananas are still a bit green however, I recommend waiting a day or so until they are ripe to make the recipe, or if you don’t have the patience, add 1-2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup to the bananas during mashing. 

 

• If you don’t find the cookies sweet enough: Because this recipe doesn’t contain any added sugars, and the only “sweetener” is the banana and some people may not find them sweet enough. Amp up the sweetness with 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup OR raw honey and add in 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips to the batter before baking. That should do the trick!

While these cookies definitely aren’t super sweet, they are rich, moist, and buttery, with a slight sweetness, and they are soft, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth delicious. 

I know many people who have made resolutions this year to cut back on sugar (myself included!), so if you are one of them, this peanut butter banana cookie recipe is a great option to satisfy sweet cravings without any refined sugars.

Do you have an extra 15 minutes to whip up these cookies today? Tell me how they work out in the comments and be sure to pin the photo below the recipe to save this one for later!

Pin me!

 

Have a great weekend!