Craving the comforting taste of banana bread but want to stick to your keto or gluten-free diet? Look no further! These keto banana cookies offer a guilt-free way to enjoy the flavors you love. These cookies taste like banana bread and are gluten-free, grain-free, and paleo-friendly. This recipe uses simple ingredients to create soft, flavorful cookies that are perfect for a snack, dessert, or even breakfast. They are a delicious treat everyone loves.
Key Ingredients and Their Benefits
This recipe relies on a few carefully selected ingredients to achieve its unique texture and flavor while remaining keto-friendly.
- Almond Flour: A gluten-free and grain-free alternative to traditional flour, almond flour is lower in carbohydrates and higher in fiber. I always recommend using fine blanched almond flour in baking because it bakes up perfectly and has a texture similar to regular flour. It also adds a subtle sweetness, reducing the need for excessive sweeteners. Pack your almond flour just like you would with brown sugar, it makes all the difference!
- Coconut Flour: Similar to almond flour, coconut flour is gluten-free, grain-free, lower in carbohydrates, and higher in fiber. It lends a slightly sweet flavor and a satisfying texture to the cookies.
- Coconut Oil: Coconut oil adds a delicious flavor and contributes to the cookies' moistness.
- Ripe Banana: The star of the show! A ripe banana provides natural sweetness and the authentic banana flavor essential to these cookies. Make sure to measure out the mashed banana.
- Organic Cane Sugar or Coconut Sugar: For a touch of added sweetness, organic cane sugar is preferred for a sugar cookie-like taste, but coconut sugar is a suitable alternative.
- Egg: Be sure to use a room temperature egg in this recipe so that it doesn’t cause the coconut oil to harden.
- Powdered Sugar: The base of the easy cream cheese frosting.
- Cream Cheese: To make the frosting nice and thick and easy to spread.
- Butter: A little bit of butter makes the frosting extra creamy and delicious.
- Toasted Walnuts or Pecans: These add a delightful crunch and nutty flavor, reminiscent of classic banana walnut bread.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Follow these simple instructions to bake your own batch of delicious keto banana cookies:
- Preparation: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, add the melted and cooled coconut oil, mashed banana, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Next, add in almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Chill the Dough: Allow the dough to chill in the fridge for 5 minutes while the oven preheats. This helps to prevent the cookies from spreading too much during baking.
- Shape the Cookies: Use your hands to roll the dough into golf-sized balls (the dough will be soft, but that’s okay). Place them on the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten each dough ball with the palm of your hand, keeping them nice and round. Aim for about 1/4 inch thickness to ensure they remain thick and fluffy.
- Bake: Bake for 9-12 minutes. The cookies are ready when they are lightly golden brown around the edges.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to firm up on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting. This makes about 12-14 cookies.
- Prepare the Frosting: In a medium bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese, softened butter, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too thick, add a teaspoon of milk to make it more spreadable.
- Frost and Garnish: Frost each cookie with the cream cheese frosting and top with chopped walnuts or pecans. Sprinkle the top of the frosting with a little cinnamon for a gorgeous look.
Tips and Variations
- Vegan Option: While not tested, a flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) may work as an egg substitute.
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting: For a vanilla buttercream instead of cream cheese frosting, eliminate the cream cheese and replace it with 2 tablespoons of softened butter.
- Freezer Banana Fudge Cookies: Store these in the freezer after a day for even more deliciousness.
- Nut Butter Substitution: I used almond butter, but you can sub in peanut butter or sunflower seed butter in its place. Just make sure its the stir kind with only the nut or seed as the ingredient listed (and salt if that’s what you prefer). You can leave the base recipe as is or add in chocolate chips and coconut sugar, like I did.
- Chocolate Chips: You can even make them with Chocolate Chips, and PB & J.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
- To store: Feel free to keep these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, then transfer to the fridge or freezer. Cookies will get softer each day.
- To freeze: Make sure the cookies are completely cooled, and then transfer them to an airtight container lined with wax or parchment paper or freezer-safe bag before storing them in the freezer for up to 2 months. I like to place them in a single layer to avoid any cookies breaking.
Important Considerations
- Flour Substitutions: Do not substitute almond flour with any other flour, nor should you attempt to replace the coconut flour. The cookies are perfect as-is!
- Banana Ripeness: Use overripe bananas for the best flavor and sweetness.
- Cookie Thickness: These cookies don't spread much during baking, so flatten them to your desired thickness before baking.
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe combines the flavors of banana bread in a cookie form, offering a soft, chewy texture that's both satisfying and guilt-free. The combination of almond and coconut flour creates a unique base that's gluten-free and keto-friendly, while the ripe banana provides natural sweetness and moisture. The cream cheese frosting adds a tangy and creamy element that complements the banana flavor perfectly.
Other Banana Cookie Variations
- Banana Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies: These cookies are perfectly soft, flavorful, and so easy to make. The base of this recipe is made from almond flour and overripe mashed banana. It is important that you use almond flour in this recipe rather than almond meal. Almond meal will not produce the same texture if used in this recipe. If would like a slightly sweeter cookie, you may add a teaspoon or two of maple syrup to the dough. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Healthy Banana Oat Cookies: These are best eaten right out of the oven! They are soft and chewy, and so delicious!! It’s like a banana bread recipe, only as a cookie! You can even eat them for breakfast or enjoy them as a snack or dessert. Combine the mashed bananas and oats in a bowl. Fold in the walnuts. Place a tablespoon of each on the cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes.
- Coconut Flour Banana Cookies: These coconut flour banana cookies are soft, chewy, and warmly spiced. You’ll need one large, ripe banana to make these cookies (or one and a half smaller bananas works too). I sweetened these cookies with maple syrup. Cinnamon and nutmeg give these cookies their warm, cozy, banana bread flavor. Almond butter gives these cookies their chewy texture.
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