These Coconut Banana Cookies are easy 3-ingredient healthy cookies packed with coconut flavors. They are egg-free, dairy-free, and have no added sugar. It’s a healthy snack or breakfast cookie for coconut lovers.
I created this new cookie recipe because I was craving my vegan macaroons, but I also wanted to use some of my ripe bananas.
First, I tried to make a 2-ingredient coconut banana cookie by simply mashing the banana with desiccated coconut, a bit like how I created my 2-ingredient banana protein cookies. Let’s face it, this wasn’t very good. The taste was fine, but the cookie dough was way too soft, and it spread. So I made the recipe again, adding a little coconut flour to the mix and the result is fantastic.
Coconut flour is packed with fiber, and it’s the best flour to suck up too much liquid in a recipe and also boost the coconut flavor of the cookies.
The cookies look like little banana coconut macaroons. They are moist in the center, packed with coconut, and naturally sweetened with banana. It’s the easiest cookies to use ripped banana and fix a coconut craving.
Why You Will Love These Cookies
- Quick, easy, and healthy
- No added sugar
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Vegan
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut – This is fine-dried unsweetened coconut, not shredded coconut. Shredded coconut is too coarse and won’t firm up well in this recipe. If it’s all you have, pulse the shredded coconut or coconut flakes in a food processor until it forms fine threads. Expert tip: Use sweetened desiccated coconut if you have a sweet tooth and want a boost of sweetness in the cookies.
- Ripe Bananas or yellow bananas if you prefer a less sweet cookie flavor. Pro tip: always measure the required amount precisely or the cookies won’t form nicely. Too many bananas make the cookie batter loose and they spread on the pan.
- Coconut Flour is the secret ingredient that brings the batter together into a nice cookie dough that firms up in your oven. You may have the same success using 1/4 cup of almond flour instead if you don’t like coconut. It won’t firm up as well, but it should do the trick for a coconut flour swap option.
How To Make Coconut Banana Cookies
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with cooking oil spray and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- First, use a fork or potato masher to peel and mash the banana on a chopping board. Measure the mashed banana in a measuring cup to match the amount listed in the recipe below (scroll to the bottom for full measurement).
- Next, pour the mashed banana to the mixing bowl and add the coconut and coconut flour.
- Stir with a rubber spatula until the dough is moist but easy to shape into balls. It shouldn’t spread when you form an amount of dough, if it’s too wet sprinkle a little more coconut flour 1/2 teaspoon at a time, stir, and wait a few minutes to let the fiber from the coconut flour absorb the liquid in the batter.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out some batter from the bowl and release it on the prepared baking sheet. I recommend shaping small macaroons – the size of a gold ball so they bake quickly and they hold their shape.
- Place each dollop of dough one thumb apart so they don’t touch each other. the cookies won’t spread in the oven.
- Bake the cookies at 350°F (180°C) on the rack just under the center rack so they bake nicely at the bottom and the top doesn’t darken too much. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the edges and top.
- Let the cookies cool down on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before decorating.
Serving The Cookies
I love these cookies, plain or with a drizzle of melted chocolate on top. To make the drizzle, melt 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt in 30-second bursts until shiny and melted.
Drizzle on top of the coconut banana cookies, and then pop the cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up the chocolate drizzle.
Storage Instructions
Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze them in freezer bags for up to 1 month.
Thaw them in the fridge the day before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can double the batch; simply multiply all of the ingredient quantities by two.
You can’t skip it entirely. You need a swap or the cookies won’t firm up. Try 1/4 cup of almond flour, or oat flour. The texture and results will not be similar. Oat flour makes the cookies a bit gritty and dry. Almond flour won’t firm up the batter as well.
Feel free to stir 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or swap 1/3 cup of desiccated coconut for 1/3 cup of ground nuts like almond meal or rolled oats.
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Coconut Banana Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Banana - (note 1)
- ¾ cup Desiccated Coconut - (note 2)
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Flour - (note 3)
Optional drizzle
- ⅓ cup Dark Chocolate Chips - (note 4)
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly oil with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add the banana, mash it into a puree using a fork. Pack the mashed banana in a measuring cup (1/2 cup) and sweep off the excess.
- Return the 1/2 cup mashed banana to the bowl and stir with desiccated coconut and coconut flour until the dough comes together. It should be moist but hold its shape nicely if you form a golf-sized ball with it. If it is too runny, sprinkle more coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, and stir until the dough is easy to shape.
- Using a small cookie dough scoop, grab some dough, pack in the scoop, and release it on the prepared baking sheet to form small mounds of coconut.
- Leave a thumb of space between each coconut banana cookie.
- Bake on the rack just under the center rack for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top and edges.
- Cool down on a cooling rack before drizzling melted chocolate on top (optional, see note 4 for recipe).
So good and easy! My house smells like coconut now Thanks for the tip of putting coconut flakes through the food processor, gave me a good excuse to use the rest of my little bag that I had for some other recipe I did. I poured a little bit of sugar free maple syrup on top in lieu of chocolate, gives it a bit of a breakfast-y taste!
Thank you!!
These sound amazing. How many cookies does a batch make?
Thank you! It makes 8 cookies!
Wec liked them. Easy to make.
Freaking Delicious
Ow thanks!!!
Delish, And I’m not that much of a coconut lover. So if you are one, you need to triple the batch cause they won’t last long. Note: I dipped them fully into melted chocoalte. So good.
thank you!!
I came here to make a statement (after making these cookies and eating them ALL). I LOVE COCONUT!!!!