Better than banana bread! These gluten-free banana cookies are super moist, yet light and fluffy that can be made with or without chocolate chips. An easy gluten-free recipe your whole family will love.
Recipe photos updated July 2018
Better Than Banana Bread!
When I was a little girl, my Dad was stationed in Hawaii. One of my fondest food memories about living in Hawaii was when my Mom baked banana cookies. Living in Hawaii we had a banana tree and we ate a lot of bananas, so we found creative ways to use all of our bananas.
Anyone can bake gluten-free banana bread, but how about combining the flavor of banana bread with the simplicity of a cookie? These gluten-free banana cookies are light and fluffy, moist and dare I say it… are so much better than banana bread.
Banana Bread Cookies In A Few Easy Steps
You will be surprised at how easy this recipe for gluten-free banana bread cookies is.
The key to this recipe is the chemical reactions between the mashed bananas and baking soda. Allowing the mashed bananas and baking soda to sit for at least 2 minutes before adding it to the rest of your ingredients is key to what makes these gluten-free cookies so light and fluffy. (photo 1)
The cookie batter is super easy to make. You just cream the butter and sugar together until is light and fluffy. Add the egg and pure vanilla extract to the butter mixture and mix until it’s fully combined.
The final step is to add the dry ingredients and mix it all together until the batter is nice a smooth. (photo 2)
I also like to mix it up a little by adding mini chocolate chips to make gluten-free chocolate chip banana cookies. You can even do half the batter plain and half the batter with chocolate chips.
Make sure to line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the cookie batter about 2 inches apart from each other.
Another recommendation I have for making these cookies perfectly is using a cookie scoop. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, please buy one. It was a game changer for me in my baking! (photo 3)
Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes at 350° F. You will know when they are done when the cookies start to turn golden brown. (photo 4)
I’ve also included a dairy-free option to the recipe. Myself, my husband and my youngest son are also dairy-free. So if you are both gluten-free and dairy-free you to can enjoy these banana bread cookies,
These gluten-free banana bread cookies are a regular treat around our house. When you make these super moist cookies, no one will ever know they are gluten-free.
Looking for easy gluten-free recipes to use up your ripe bananas? Try these!
- Easy Gluten-Free Banana Bread {Dairy-Free Option}
- Easy Gluten-Free Banana Blueberry Muffins {Dairy-Free & Refined Sugar Free Option}
- Paleo Banana Blueberry Muffins {Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, No Refined Sugar}
Better Than Banana Bread Gluten Free Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter , dairy-free use Earth Balance or Smart Balance butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg ,room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 bananas, mashed (1 cup of mashed bananas)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour (I like Pillsbury gluten-free)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum ,leave out if your flour already has it
- pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
Optional
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional, I like Enjoy Life Foods for dairy-free chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Mash the bananas and mix in the baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. (The baking soda will react with the bananas and will give the cookies their fluffiness.)
- In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer.
- Add the egg, pure vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Pour the mashed bananas into the butter mixture.
- Combine the flour, salt, and spices in a small bowl or measuring cup and give it a quick whisk/stir to combine the ingredients.
- Pour the flour mixture into the butter and banana mixture and mix until filly combined.
- Drop large spoonfuls of the cookie batter onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I use a cookie scoop for this recipe. The cookie scoop makes for the perfect amount and size. If you don't have a cookie scoop, please buy one. My cookie scoop has been a game changer for me!
- Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Please watch your oven because all ovens are different.
- Let cool and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
MLe says
Best cookies ever! We added choc chips, caramel bites, craisens and pecans. They taste like a moist chocolate fruit cake:-) Delicious! Thank you Audrey for the fabulous recipes that are well thought out and informative!
Jen says
These cookies were delicious! When I had searched for gluten free recipes to make with bananas, I kept thinking, “There has to be something better than banana bread..” Then I saw the name of this recipe and had to try it. I used King Arthur Measure for Measure flour by weight (1 cup = 120g), and instead of chocolate chips, I used Hershey’s cinnamon chips that I found a few weeks ago (labeled gluten free). Holy cannoli. The cinnamon chips complemented the subtle cinnamon spice flavor in the cookies beautifully. My non-gluten free friends were raving about these cookies as much as I was!
Froglady says
These are amazing!!! I had gf/df and ..my husband and i are so happy with these. We made large ones and used for df/gf ice cream sandwich ❤️
Alyssa says
Insanely delicious, hard to stop myself from devouring most of them! I made this at 5,000 ft above sea level so I halved the leavening, but they were still light and fluffy! This will be a regular bake in my house!
Sue says
These turned out just right to bring to a ladies retreat for a gluten-free dessert. Your instructions were very helpful. Thank you
Veronica Otero says
Loved it! But for my taste will cut the sugar at half and use coconut instead of KETO sugar. It was too sweet!!! Haha
teresa says
Love this recipe. The cookie is flavorful and soft, not gritty. the texture is much like the archway soft drop sugar cookies that I use to love, but are no longer produced. topped mine with peanut butter.
Glay says
Entire family LOVES these and I am addicted. I make sure to have them on hand daily 😅 (I use stevia instead of sugar.) gluten-free and sugar-free 🥳
Nina says
Made this tonight and they are wonderful! I always reduce the amount of sugar, so only used about 1/2 cup sugar and they are perfect. They don’t look picture perfect but they taste good. Thank you!
Lily says
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I love banana bread so this is amazing. Thank you again 🙂
Francesca says
SO SO SO delicious and so moist! I didn’t have dairy free butter on hand but used refined coconut oil instead (literally a direct substitution—so instead of 1/2 cup butter I used 1/2 cup of coconut oil). My husband is floored at how amazing they are and definitely prefers these over banana bread!
Jane says
Seriously so good I have never left a comment on a recipe until today !
Crystals says
Absolutely, a family favorite!!!
Maria says
I just made them and they are awesome! Even my husband who doesn’t do gluten-free loves them.? I’ve had to hide them from him. Yum!
Audrey says
Thank you so much Maria for the awesome 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you and your husband loved the banana cookies. Thee cookies are one of my personal favorites too. Thank you again!
Kiwi says
Wow 😍 I even loved eating the raw batter!! Haha awesome recipe thanks for sharing
Kristy says
I’m obsessed with this recipe! The cookies rival any with gluten and they don’t crumble to pieces like some gf cookies.
Audrey says
Thank you so much Kristy for the awesome 5-star recipe review, this really made my night! I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana cookies, they are one of my family’s favorites too. Thanks again!
Jessica says
These were delicious! I just found out that I’m very intolerant to gluten and it’s flaring up my autoimmune disease really bad. So lately I’ve been replacing all my favorite recipes with gluten free ones and this one was perfect. I tweaked it slightly and used 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 Brown sugar. I used a big tablespoon amount of batter to make my scoops and got 36 perfectly 1-2 bite cookies from it. My husband says they taste great too. I did 1/2 with chocolate chips.
Audrey says
Thank you so much Jessica for the awesome 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana cookies. I’ll have to try it with the 1/2 sugar and 1/2 brown sugar sometime. Thanks again!
Rob Ellis says
Such fabulous cookies Audrey ! Have made 3 batches so far and each had an enthusiastic reception ! Im making them dairy free and subbing coconut sugar for the sugar. The only thing I’m not seeing in my cookies is the spreading you are getting with yours. Mine stay more or less in their ball shape from my cookie scoop and puff out a bit. Any thoughts as to why? And on last compliment. I’ve been eating banana bread as long as I can remember (gradma’s recipe) but only at 54 did I discover these cookies. They’ve been so wonderful to bring that same feeling in a cookie 🙂
Great sight you’ve got here!
Audrey says
Thank you so much Rob for the amazing 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoy the cookies and they bring back memories of your grandma’s recipe. That makes my heart so happy to hear! I’m not sure as to why the cookies are staying in a ball shape. Mabey the coconut sugar is not reacting the same way as granulated sugar. I’ll have to try the recipe with coconut sugar. It could also be the brand of gluten-free flour you are using. Can you please tell me which brand of flour you are using? Thank you so much for your kind words and for the wonderful review!
Kristi Cooke says
Just thought I’d say that I used coconut sugar, too, and my cookies did not flatten out, either. Must be the coconut sugar substitution. I will try to flatten them out a little next time. Still delicious, however!
Audrey says
Thank you so much Kristi for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana cookies. The coconut sugar may have changed the texture a bit. Thanks again!
Lorraine Boyle says
Whow. Lovely. Mine look more like a dollop of cake than a cookie but taste amazing. Maybe the batter is just a little thick. Will thin it out next time to see the difference. Had no nutmeg or chocolate so added extra cinnamon. Easy recipe. My 14 year old daughter making another batch tomorrow for her school lunches. Many thanks for sharing ????
Audrey says
Thank you so much Lorraine for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you and your daughter enjoyed the banana bread cookies. You are so welcome I love sharing what I make for my family. These cookies are always one of their favorites and one of mine from childhood. Thanks again!
Marcia says
Made these yesterday, another amazing recipe that will be a keeper! Love that your recipes are so easy to follow that my teenager can make them. The are soft a and delicious! This treat will be great to have her take to school.
Audrey says
Hi Marcia thank you so much for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you and your daughter enjoyed the banana cookies. I am glad that you have found my recipes easy to follow, I try and keep it simple in the kitchen. My daughter also likes to bake, it’s great to hear that your daughter likes to bake too. Thank you so much!
Robert Edgar says
I have to be honest and say i thought you were bananas when claiming these cookies would stay moist and delicious for days.,
I have been gluten free for 6 years and very early on in my transition to a GF lifestyle I made the decision to bake for myself. It wasn’t easy and it meant a lot of trial and error. One thing. I have failed to achieve was a truly soft and fluffy cookie that would stay soft and fluffy. Thanks to you i now have one and I have to say it’s been such a delicious discovery that I may never bake anyone cookie other than Banana Chocolate Chip again.
A few things I did were different, like my flour of choice, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 and I added the salt to the banana baking soda mixture and whisked rye mixture before setting it aside.
I also chilled the dough for 30 minutes before scooping it out and baking. I also sprinkled some shaved. coconut into half the mix which was and interesting taste sensation with the banana and chocolate chips ( ofvwhuch I choose to add a full cup). My next batch I will most definitely be adding chopped walnuts.
I am still trying to find the best was to keep my cookie scoop from becoming caked up with dough and find that chilling the dough and spraying the scoop with cooking spray helps but can have negative effects on the doughs And hot water never seems to work for me. Any suggestions?
It’s been three days since I baked and they cookies are still moist and as fresh as the minute I took them from the oven. That fact alone has made your Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie the all time winner in my quest for the perfect soft and fluffy gluten free cookie.
Thank you !
Audrey says
Thank you so much for the amazing 5-star recipe review Robert! I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana chocolate chip cookies. They are one of my family’s favorite cookies, and they are a favorite of mine from childhood. I spray my cookie scoop with coconut oil cooking spray and I’ve never chilled the cookie dough. Adding shaved coconut sounds divine. Thank you again and happy baking!
Robert Edgar says
Coconut oil did the trick. My cookie scoop is now my friend again. Thank you.
Audrey says
I am glad to hear that the coconut oil worked Robert! I use the coconut oil spray every time I use my cookie scoop. You are so welcome I am happy that my tip helped. Happy baking!
Alexx Newton says
I really liked this recipe. I used some m&ms instead of chocolate chips being that we had some for halloween. They taste amazing! So fluffy and yummy
Audrey says
Thank you so much Alex for your wonderful 5-star recipe review! What a great idea about the M&Ms! My kids would love that. I am so happy that you enjoyed the banana bread. Thank you again!
Sonjia says
OMG!!! I made these just now and used dark chocolate morsels and walnuts. I also used Truvia sugar blend and it turned out amazing. I didn’t have a cookie dough scooper so mine are more of a large fat fluffy cookie but I don’t care. My mom loved it and didn’t know it was gluten free. My question is what is the best way to store them? My batch yielded 18 cookies. Thank you for this recipe!!!
Audrey says
Thank you so much, Sonjia for the wonderful 5-star recipe review! I am so happy that you are enjoying the banana cookies. My kids like them with chocolate chips too. I would store them in an air-tight container or zip lock bag. YOu are so welcome! I love sharing what I make for my family.