Banana Bread Cookies

• Unsalted butter, browned: Browned butter gives a far better flavour and a richer texture. You must always start with a larger quantity of butter as compared to what you finally need browned at the end. Read below on how to brown butter.
• Brown Sugar: Adding a higher amount of brown sugar as compared to granulated sugar adds a richer texture, chewiness and moistness to your cookies. I highly recommend using light brown sugar as it has a lower content of molasses and thus give a more well rounded flavour to these cookies.
• Bananas: You will need around 1-2 over ripe bananas to make one batch of these soft banana cookies. You can mash them using a pastry cutter or a hand mixer. Make sure you don’t leave any large lumps in them.
• Egg yolk: Use a large egg and bring it to room temperature before mixing in. Eggs strengthen the binding of your bakes and also add moisture. Having your eggs at room temperature makes it easier to incorporate them and allow them to mix thoroughly in your cookie dough. A good way of doing this is by letting them sit in a bowl filled with room temperature water for around 10 minutes or until they come down to room temperature.
• Vanilla: You must use a high quality pure vanilla extract in your recipes. This helps to add a rich flavor to your baked goods especially when they contain chocolate. Pure vanilla extracts are typically dark brown in color. This enhances the flavour of all ingredients (especially chocolate) and you should never leave it out.
• All-purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
• Ground Cinnamon: You will need ground cinnamon to make this recipe. You can use either homemade or store-bought cinnamon powder. Make sure you there are no coarse particles.
• Ground Nutmeg: I always love adding lots of spices to my bakes. But if this is not something that you prefer, you can always leave it out. However, I highly recommend adding it as it helps to enhance the flavour of cinnamon in these cookies.
• Leaveners: You will need both baking powder and baking soda to make these cookies. Check the expiry date on your baking powder and baking soda to make sure they’re still fresh!
• Salt: Adding a pinch of salt helps to balance out the flavours in the cookies. I have added sea salt for a little extra flavour however you can use normal iodised salt too. However you will need flaky sea salt to top these cookies.
• Chocolate: I highly recommend using good quality couverture baking chocolate chips or chocolate bars (I use callebaut) to ensure the best flavor. Couverture chocolates are made of cocoa butter as compared to regular compound chocolates which are made of saturated fats like oil. This will also help you get those melty pools of chocolate.

Place unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. You will need to start with a few extra tablespoons to account for water evaporation. As it melts, swirl the pan to encourage even cooking. After it is fully melted, it will start to foam up and then it will start to form big bubbles like it’s boiling. You should be able to see the fat solids begin to separate. Then it will foam up again, and the fat solids will start browning. Continue cooking for another minute or so until the butter is evenly golden, the fat solids are brown, and it gives off a nutty aroma and a crackling sound. Transfer the brown butter to a bowl for immediate use, or place in the fridge to solidify again.

To make these soft and chewy chocolate chip banana bread cookies:

These cookies are pretty much round when they come out of the oven. They will of course taste incredibly delicious and you may not want to wait anymore to have them. But if you want to get perfectly round cookies, this is the time to put in those extra 2 minutes of effort. Take a cookie cutter of a slightly larger size than your cookies and place the even edge around the cookies on the baking tray. Round the cookie 2-3 times so that it takes the perfect shape. The cookies are soft at this time and thus take the shape of the cookie cutter.

These chocolate chip banana bread cookies are incredibly soft, chewy and moist at the same time. This is because of a few reasons. Firstly, the amount of brown sugar in this cookie recipe is more than the granulated sugar. This adds softness and moisture to these cookies. Another very important tip would be to take out these cookies under-baked. Yes, you read it right! These cookies continue to bake as they cool. Taking them out when almost done is the best way to ensure that they stay soft. Lastly, chill your cookie dough. This is so important to prevent your cookies from over spreading and instead helping them to rise above and result in thicker cookies.

To freeze the cookies, scoop the dough into balls before you chill it. I like to use a kitchen scale to measure the cookie scoops for perfectly uniform cookies. Line up the cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and freeze flat for one hour. Once frozen, transfer the cookie dough balls to a plastic freezer bag and place it in the freezer. When you have a hankering for a freshly baked cookie, you’ll have these bits of heaven perfectly portioned out ready to bake in the time it takes to preheat the oven. Simply bake the cookies as you normally would, increasing the baking time by about two minutes. It’s that easy!

You can absolutely make these cookies vegan if you want. You just need to replace 2 ingredients. First, replace brown butter with equal amounts of vegetable (canola) or coconut oil. Secondly replace egg yolk with 1 flax egg or 1 tablespoon of aquafaba. These cookies turn out equally scrumptious.

These healthy banana bread cookies are originally soft and that’s how I love them. But if you like your cookies more crisp, I’ve got you! If you would like a more crisp cookie, I recommend swapping out half of the all-purpose flour with bread flour. This will add crispness and chewiness to your cookies. A downside of using bread flour would be that these cookies dry out when stored, so it’s recommended to store them with a slice of bread in your container to help them retain moisture.

• Measure the flour carefully. Too much flour in the mix is the number one reason why cookie recipes fail. Excess flour makes cookies {and most other baked goods} dry and prevents them from spreading in the oven. Carefully spoon your flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with the flat edge of a knife. Whatever you do, don’t scoop the flour directly from the bag or container with the measuring cup as it causes the flour to be packed in too tightly.
• Use high quality chocolate. It is so so important to use good quality bittersweet chocolate chips in these cookies. Not only do they enhance their taste a lot but also help you get those melty pools of chocolate. And I mean who doesn’t love those in every single bite right? I use Callebaut or Guittard chocolate. They’re both amazing. Whatever you do, don’t skimp on good chocolate and reach for one that is at least 60% cacao for the very best flavor. These cookies are as good as they are because they’re basically a 1-to-1 ratio of chocolate to cookie dough. Yes please!
• Do not over bake. For those soft, gooey centers be sure to pull the cookies from the oven when the edges are set and golden brown and the center of the cookie is puffed and pale. The middle of the cookies might seem slightly under baked but the residual heat from the pan will continue to bake the cookies once they are removed from the oven. Once the cookies cool they will have perfectly soft and melty centers.
• Don’t skip the sea salt! Just a little sprinkle of salt enhances the flavor of the massive amount of chocolate found nestled inside the cookies. I could tell you it’s optional, but I’d be lying. The added salted doesn’t make these cookies overly salty. Just a pinch of salt is like a chef’s kiss to these ultimate super soft banana bread cookies.
• Round the cookies. These cookies are pretty much round when they come out of the oven. They will of course taste incredibly delicious and you may not want to wait anymore to have them. But if you want to get perfectly round cookies, this is the time to put in those extra 2 minutes of effort. Take a cookie cutter of a slightly larger size than your cookies and place the even edge around the cookies on the baking tray. Round the cookie 2-3 times so that it takes the perfect shape. The cookies are soft at this time and thus take the shape of the cookie cutter.

All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.

• In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
• Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!

If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back!

I hope you’ll enjoy these banana bread cookies this Fall or Winter and don’t forget to bookmark this recipe for the holidays. These scrumptious cookies are perfect to satisfy your midnight cravings with minimal effort!

Happy baking!

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