Brown Butter Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zoha Malik

by Zoha Malik

Updated:

Rated 5.00 out of 5

26 Comments
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These brown butter banana bread cookies have everything I love about banana bread in cookie form. Unlike most banana bread cookies that tend to be soft and cakey, these have crispy edges, and chewy, gooey middles studded with chocolate. My recipe uses more banana than most recipes, brown butter, brown sugar, and a hint of coffee to achieve the perfect texture and a beautiful nutty, toffee-like banana flavor. And they’re so easy to make: one bowl, no mixer, and NO EGGS! And no long chill times either – you have to rest the dough for just 20-30 minutes before baking.

Freshly baked chocolate chip banana bread cookies topped with banana slices, cooling on a wire rack over parchment paper. Cookies are deep golden with crispy edges and chunks of melting chocolate on top

No cakey cookies here!

If I am being honest, these cookies turned me into a mad scientist – I’ve made at least a dozen batches in the last 2 weeks alone… My goal was to add as much banana as possible while still maintaining a chewy texture, but that proved much harder than expected. Bananas add moisture, which results in puffy, cakey cookies (that, frankly, feel more like bread). But I am so thrilled to have finally nailed these, and here’s how:

  • No eggs! I thought I needed to add an egg yolk for richness, moisture and structural integrity. But because we are already getting a lot of that from the banana itself, the cookies kept turning out cakey no matter what. So, we actually skip the eggs altogether, which makes this recipe suitable for those with egg allergies or dietary restrictions
  • More banana than most recipes. Because of the moisture in bananas, most banana cookie recipes add a small amount. But my recipe uses 125g (nearly double of most) and gets away with it because we aren’t using eggs. So there’s no mistaking that these are banana cookies!
  • High ratio of butter to flour. Just like my brown butter chocolate chip cookies, this recipe uses a high ratio of butter to flour for the most buttery, chewy texture
  • The brown trifecta. We use brown butter, brown bananas and brown sugar – the perfect combination for a nutty, caramel-y banana flavor and a beautiful deep golden color
  • A hint of coffee. I love adding a tiny amount of instant coffee to my brown butter desserts (like my brown butter banana bread). You just have to trust me on this one, the flavor is incredible
A stack of gooey banana bread chocolate chip cookies is cut in half, with melted chocolate oozing out, sitting on a cooling rack.

Step by step photos

Let’s quickly go over the steps with photos to help you visualize this recipe.

A light gray skillet with green handles is on a stove, containing simmering brown butter. Foam surrounds darker brown spots in the center of the bubbling liquid.
Cook and stir the butter on medium-low heat until it turns brown.
A glass bowl on a wooden surface contains mashed bananas, browned butter, and brown sugar, ready to be mixed
Add the brown butter, brown sugar, mashed banana, vanilla bean paste and instant coffee dissolved in water to a bowl.
A metal whisk sits in a glass bowl containing a mixture of brown butter, brown sugar and banana, on a wooden countertop.
Whisk to combine until smooth.
A glass bowl with brown liquid and a wire whisk rests on a wooden surface. Baking soda and salt added on top
Mix in the salt and baking soda.
A glass bowl on a wooden surface contains flour, chopped chocolate, and brown batter, ready to be mixed for baking.
Finally, sift in the flour and add the chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips).
A glass bowl filled with banana bread chocolate chip cookie dough sits on a wooden surface. A pink spatula rests inside the bowl, partially covered in dough.
Gently fold with a spatula into a dough. It will be slightly soft – that’s fine!
A baking tray with eight banana chocolate cookie dough balls topped with banana slices, placed on brown parchment paper, ready to be baked.
Scoop the cookie dough onto 2 baking sheets, and rest them for 20-30 minutes.
Eight chocolate chip banana bread cookies with banana slices on top, baked on parchment paper in a baking tray.
Bake until the cookies are set on the edges and soft to touch in the middle.

Let the cookies cool down slightly, then enjoy!

I love using a cookie cutter or cake ring to “scoot” the cookies into perfect circles while they’re hot from the oven. Cookies are malleable at this stage so you can easily fix them and even make them smaller and thicker if they’ve spread too much. Any burnt/overdone edges? You can use the same ring to cut them off. See the last picture above?! 😉

You can adjust the thickness to your liking

A great thing about these cookies is how customizable they are!

  • If you like your cookies to be thin and crispy, you can bake them straight away without any rest time. They will spread more than pictured
  • For regular cookies (as pictured), rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes
  • For thicker cookies that spread even less, rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before baking

The baking time is quite similar for all 3 options, just keep an eye and stop baking once the edges are set. They will continue cooking from the residual heat of the baking sheet as they cool down.

brown butter banana bread chocolate chip cookies with banana slices on top cooling on a wire rack. The cookies are golden brown with melted chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt.

A few more tips before you make them

  • Measure with a weighing scale for accuracy. This is especially important for the bananas – bananas come in various sizes and adding even a little less or a little more will impact the flavor and texture of the cookies
  • Make sure your banana is extra ripe and brown. This is how you can maximize the banana flavor in these cookies!If in a pinch, bake the bananas at 350F for 5-8 minutes to caramelize them first
  • Use a light colored baking sheet. A dark pan will brown the cookies too fast and is likely to burn the bottoms
Print
brown butter banana bread chocolate chip cookies with banana slices on top cooling on a wire rack. The cookies are golden brown with melted chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt.

Banana Bread Cookies (Chewy & Gooey!)

by Zoha Malik

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 stars from 6 reviews

The perfect banana bread cookies with crispy edges, chewy and gooey middles, and a nutty, toffee-banana flavor. The secret is more banana than most recipes and no eggs!

Yield:16 cookies

Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
10 mins
Rest time:
20 mins
Total Time:
50 mins

Ingredients

  • 12 tbsp unsalted butter (170g)
  • 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp light brown sugar, packed (163g)
  • 125g extra ripe banana (about one and a quarter medium-sized banana, and around 1/2 cup once mashed)
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon water – optional
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour (210g)
  • 4 oz dark chocolate, chopped (113g)
  • 4 oz milk chocolate, chopped (113g)

Instructions

  1. Line 2 light colored 18″x13″ baking sheets with parchment paper (you can also use one sheet and bake the cookies in batches if you don’t have two)
  2. Add the butter to a light-colored saucepan. Place on the stove on medium-low heat, and cook until the butter has melted. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the butter has turned brown. First it will melt and become very frothy, but then it will stop sizzling and you will see brown specks and a nice, toasty smell. Be careful not to overcook, as brown butter can burn very quickly
  3. Add the brown butter to a mixing bowl (scrape in all the brown specks on the bottom of the pan, too!). Add the brown sugar, mashed banana, vanilla bean paste and instant coffee dissolved in water. Whisk until the ingredients are combined and smooth (almost like a caramel)
  4. Mix in the salt and baking soda until just combined
  5. Sift in the flour and add the chopped chocolate. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the ingredients together until you see no more streaks of flour, and the chocolate is evenly dispersed. Avoid over-mixing the dough
  6. Use a 2 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, keeping at least 2-3″ between the scoops. Level off the cookie scoops so the cookie balls aren’t too big, and you should have 16 cookies divided between the two sheets
  7. Optionally, you can press in some more chocolate chunks on top of the cookies, and sprinkle some flaky sea salt. I also like adding a thin slice of banana on top of each cookie
  8. Rest the scooped cookies for 20-30 minutes at room temperature (or the fridge if you want thicker cookies)
  9. Pre-heat your oven to 370F (conventional / no fan) while the cookies are resting
  10. Bake the cookies in the pre-heated oven for ~8-10 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers are still slightly soft to touch
  11. Remove the cookies from the oven, and use a 4″ cake ring to “scoot” the cookies into perfect circles while they’re still hot. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets until they’re set
  12. Serve and enjoy!

Video Tutorial

Notes

  • Baking time: Baking time on these cookies can vary depending on your oven or baking sheet. I highly recommend baking one cookie as a test first so you know exactly how long you need to bake for in your environment
  • Storage: These cookies are best enjoyed fresh, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. I like reheating my cookies in the air fryer or oven so they are crispy again
  • Freezing cookie dough: You can keep the extra cookie dough balls in the fridge (for up to 5 days) or freezer (for several months), and bake straight from the fridge/freezer. In this case, I recommend a baking temperature of 360F, and adding 2-4 minutes to the baking time. Rather than follow a time, check for doneness

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Comments

  1. Amina Shahbaz

    (This was an addition to my previous comment)

    Also, I just got bananas for my next batch. So excited!

    Is there something I can do to make them a bit more crunchy?

    Nothing was wrong with the previous batch I’m just craving a bit of crunch at the moment

    1. Zoha Malik

      You can try baking 1-2 min longer!

  2. Fatima b

    10/10, blown away, jaw droppingly good!!!! Will make again often!! Thanks for another amazing recipe, these are better than banana bread!

    1. Zoha Malik

      AWW made my day!!!

  3. A. Malik

    Perfect cookies i was looking for, will definitely make again.

    1. Zoha Malik

      WOOO!

  4. Fatima Siddique

    Love your recipe 😍😍

    1. Zoha Malik

      Thank you!

  5. Sowmya

    Thank you for sharing an eggless recipe. This turned out so good. It was exactly like having a slice of banana bread. Everyone at home loved it too.

    1. Zoha Malik

      Awww i am glad you liked it!!

  6. Pooja

    Omg! I made them as soon as I saw your Instagram post. These are delicious and I am not even a fan of desserts made with bananas. Will be making these everytime I have super riped bananas to use up. Super hit with kids as well.

    1. Zoha Malik

      WOOOO thank you!!

  7. Shanzay

    Hi! Can I substitute vanilla essence for the vanilla bean paste? And if so, how much should I use? Also, I don’t have a kitchen scale, so would exactly half cup of mashed banana work? Thank you so much! Can’t wait to make this 🤍

    1. Zoha Malik

      Yes, that should be ok, and the same quantity!

  8. Sobia Zuberi

    These look amazing!! Maximum, By how much can I reduce the sugar 😬😬
    You’re not helping me with my weight loss journey ahhaha

    1. Zoha Malik

      haha sorry I don’t recommend reducing sugar! it helps with the texture of cookies, not just the flavor 🙂

  9. Bina C.

    OMG!!!
    My list of all your recipes that I want to make grows every day!!
    Just added this one!! I was going to make one of the the banana breads… but now might have to make this one..

    1. Zoha Malik

      AWW that’s to sweet!! Please try these, they’re amazing!

  10. Sayyedah

    Hi Zoha !! Thank you so much for this recipe !! Can we make these a day ahead and bake day off

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi there! Yes, you can keep the scooped cookie dough balls in the fridge and then bake them!

      1. Ayesha Abdul Qadir

        Absolutely DELICIOUS ended them in a day 🩷✨

        1. Zoha Malik

          YAY!!

  11. Fiza Mamoon

    OMG!! I had been waiting for this for sooo long, and today I finally tried it. NO WORDS. 😭

    There is genuinely NOTHING better in this world for banana bread lovers than these cookies!!! They are LEGIT SOOO GOOD—so gooey in the middle, perfectly crispy around the edges, and just absolutely DIVINE. 🤌🏻

    I’m OBSESSED. These might honestly be one of the best cookies I’ve ever had. 😭💗

    1. Zoha Malik

      :’) Girl you MADE MY DAY. Thank you SOOOO much!!!!

      1. Fiza Mamoon

        Hehe no problem! They were genuinely soo good🎀✨💗

        1. Zoha Malik

          Wooo!

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Chocolate chip cookies on a white background

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