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These Banana Protein Cookies are lazy protein snacks made with just 2 ingredients and perfect if you are after a fat-free, low-calorie, easy chocolate cookie recipe. They are not firm, they are more like fudgy cookie bites, similar to brownies in texture. Low-fat, low-calorie, vegan, and high protein!
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If you buy more bananas than you can eat, do not put them in the (compost) bin! I have dozens of recipes that I have developed specifically for these ripe to overripe bananas because I hate wasting them! I’ve made 3-Ingredient Banana Cookies, 3-Ingredient Banana Bread, or 2-Ingredient Banana Donut Holes, which are my favorite way of salvaging them.
Until now.
These banana protein cookies are my new default banana-saving option, just because of how ridiculously easy they are to make so the deliciousness to effort ratio is through the roof! And since they are bite-sized, they’re perfect to grab one after a work out and recharge with their 14g of plant-based protein.
Banana Protein Cookies
These Banana Protein Cookies are lazy protein snacks made with just 2 ingredients and perfect if you are after a fat-free, low-calorie, easy chocolate cookie recipe. They are not firm, they are more like fudgy cookie bites, similar to brownies in texture.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with cooking oil spray.
In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Measure the amount of mashed bananas by packing them in measuring cups and sweep off the excess to avoid adding too much mashed bananas.
Return the mashed banana to the mixing bowl, fold in the protein powder, and stir with a rubber spatula until it forms a smooth, moist batter similar to brownie batter. It shouldn’t be too runny – if you drop a dollop on a plate it won’t run out. If too runny, stir in extra protein powder up to 2 extra tablespoons.
Now, if you want the cookies to be firmer or higher in protein, you can stir 5-6 tablespoons of oat flour into the batter. For a soft, fudgy brownie texture, leave the batter as is.
Fold in the chocolate chips if you like and stir to combine.
Drop 6 even dollops of dough on the cookie sheet, leaving a thumb of space between each.
Bake on the center rack for 15-16 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are dry. They stay soft in the middle and will firm up as they cool.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes at room temperature. Don’t touch the cookies. They are still fragile, and they firm up as they cool.
When cold, place them in the fridge for an ultra-fudgy texture and to firm them up.
Notes
Note 1: Use ripe bananas with dark skin for sweeter cookies.
Note 2: Use chocolate protein powder. It contains cocoa powder and absorbs liquid more than vanilla protein powder. We noticed a difference in ratio using almond protein powder compared to pea protein powder which is more absorbent. Adjust the dough adding up to 2 extra tablespoons to have a moist batter that keeps its shape when you drop dollops of cookie dough on the baking sheet. If it spreads, you need more protein powder, or your cookies will never firm up.
Measuring Protein Powder: make sure you pack the protein powder in the measuring cup. If you don’t use enough protein powder, the batter won’t firm up in the oven and you’ll have a goopy mess in the oven.
Measure Mashed Bananas: The mashed banana must also be measured in a cup. So pack you measuring cup and level it. If you don’t have enough banana, the cookies will be a bit gritty. If you have too much of it, again, a goopy mess.
Adjust for Texture: You will know you have the right balance by looking at the texture of your cookies. While measurements are crucial, the texture is the judge. You want the cookie batter to be soft and holding its shape, so not spreading when dropped on the baking sheet. Not sure what that is? Check out my video on Instagram!
Test the batter before baking: After adding protein powder, the batter should be super soft, like a brownie batter, but not runny for you to get the perfect fudgy texture. So, if you drop a dollop on a plate, it won’t spread. If it spreads, the batter is too wet, add up to 2 extra tablespoons protein powder.
Flavor with Protein Powder: These cookies can be made to many flavors just by changing the protein powder. Go for a vanilla one for vanilla cookies, strawberry one for strawberry cookies, etc. I prefer chocolate because everything is better with chocolate.
Oven Mode: I use the fan-forced (convection) mode. If you have to use conventional mode, I recommend increasing the temperature by 25°F (15°C). The baking time should be the same, but it might take a few more minutes.
Bananas are such a great ingredient. They can replace half a dozen classic ingredients because they provide:
Sweetness – and you can adjust it by playing with the ripeness of your bananas. Green bananas are bitter, not sweet at all. On the other end of the spectrum, black-skinned super-ripe bananas are full of sweetness. If you pick anything in the middle, you can make your baked treats not-so-sweet to very sweet.
Moisture – Banana puree is naturally quite wet. Is it a dry or a wet ingredient? I don’t know. Should we say both?
Thickening – In many of my recipes, bananas are here to replace the eggs that are present in classic recipes. The texture of mashed bananas works as a thickening agent when baking.
Nutrition – Banana are surprisingly nutritious. Granted they contain quite a few carbs (but to be fair, good ones) but also fiber (3g), potassium (450mg), protein (1g), Vitamin B6, and Vitamin C (source) so they are quite useful on a balanced diet.
How To Make These Banana Protein Cookies (in Pictures)
You can also add the following optional add-ins:
Chocolate Chips: I used dark, dairy-free chocolate chips. You can add some to make these cookies even more chocolatey, because again, chocolate makes everything better (arguably, try my Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread to see what I mean).
Coconut Sugar: If your tooth is sweeter than your bananas, you can add up to a few tablespoons of coconut sugar without throwing the balance of the cookies off.
Oat Flour: If you’re a fan of breadier and crunchier cookies, add a touch of oat flour. It still works. Not my favorite options, but I’m throwing it out there for fans of classics.
Storage Information
Once the cookies are baked, let them cool down on a cooling rack before storing them anywhere. If you were to put them in a box immediately, they would sweat and turn very mushy.
Once cooled, they can be kept for a day or two at room temperature in an airtight container and for another day if you keep them in the fridge.
You can also easily freeze them in the same airtight container or in zipper bags. Once frozen, you can thaw them in the fridge or eat them as a frozen treat. You can also reheat them in the air fryer for a minute.
More Banana Cookies
If you still haven’t used all your ripe bananas, try these recipes:
About Carine
Hi, I’m Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, photographer, and published author of a cookbook and founder of The Conscious Plant Kitchen with my husband Damien.
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