Banana chocolate peanut butter cookies; soft and chewy cookies with that perfect sweet and salty balance, easy to make in a matter of minutes!
One of the best kinds of recipe is the kind of recipe that’s barely even a recipe. Shall I say “recipe” again?
Today’s banana chocolate peanut butter cookies spring from an example of one of those that would have come word-of-mouth in the years before the internet. Something your auntie or your neighbour maybe kept scrawled on a piece of paper somewhere, but most likely kept tucked away in her subconscious for whenever necessary.
What it really is, is a mixture of everyday store cupboard ingredients, rolled together and baked into something delicious.
These cookies are the product of having a minimal amount of ingredients in my kitchen, thanks to the fridge in our shared apartment being on the fritz (for at least a month). Eggs, butter, milk, and other fresh things are being bought and consumed as and when necessary, rather than being kept for eventual use.
They also take obvious inspiration from a recipe for easy peanut butter cookies posted back in 2021. The banana chocolate peanut butter cookies before you today differ in their use of leftover Easter chocolate, and utilisation of banana in place of an egg for both flavour and texture (and necessity).
Sweet and salty make perfect partners here, as they so often do. Savoury peanut butter and that pinch of flaky sea salt working wonders with honey, banana, and melting pieces of chocolate. Whether they lean towards the more grown-up feeling of dark chocolate and natural runny peanut butter, or sweet milk chocolate and creamy crunchy peanut butter, is entirely up to you.
In using a dark chocolate or plant-based milk chocolate in these banana chocolate peanut butter cookies, they can be completely vegan and dairy free by happy accident. You’ll have all of that gorgeously rich chewy texture without missing the butter or eggs. And that’s coming from a raving butter addict.
I’m not teasing when I use the word “easy” to describe the baking process either. No extensive shaping, chilling, or cooking is required. Simply mix together your ingredients, roll the dough into however many wee balls you like (anywhere between 12 and 20 should do fine), and bake!
These banana chocolate peanut butter cookies will only need 10 minutes or so in the oven. Give them a couple more to cool down and then you can happily scoff. In fact, I’d recommend eating these on the day they’re made. They’ll still be delicious in the days that follow, but the best texture is guaranteed in those first few hours after conception.
To make these banana chocolate peanut butter cookies, simply follow the recipe below.
Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 150g (½ cup) peanut butter, ideally crunchy
- 1 mashed medium-sized banana
- 80g (⅓ cup) caster sugar, soft brown sugar, or honey
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 35g (¼ cup) plain flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 100g dark or milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- Pinch of flaky salt, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven – 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 4 – and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Weigh out your peanut butter, banana, sugar/honey, and vanilla and mix together to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to your wet ingredients and mix together to form a fairly stiff cookie dough.
- Stir through the chocolate pieces to incorporate evenly.
- Use your hands to roll pieces of the dough into little balls and place them on your prepared baking tray. You should get 12-16 cookies from this recipe.
- Once you’ve used up all the dough, grab a fork and push the balls down gently to flatten them, making a criss-cross pattern as you do so.
- Pop the tray into the oven for 8-10 minutes until the cookies are just slightly darkened at the edges, and firm to the touch.
- Cool them on their trays for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not stir a handful of desiccated coconut through the dough before baking?
These banana chocolate peanut butter cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 3 days but are best enjoyed fresh!
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