3 ingredients are all you need to make these soft and delicious vegan banana oatmeal cookies. Made without egg, flour, dairy, or added sugar, they are allergy-friendly and the perfect breakfast or snack for babies and toddlers!
Combining banana and oats to make no-fuss cookies is not a new concept. But the recipes I’ve tried were either too crispy or chewy. I thought they were delicious bc I love all textures, but I wanted to come up with the perfect baby cookies!
So I set out to find the perfect ratio of banana to oats and the best type of oats to produce the desired soft texture for babies.
Basic Baby Banana Cookies
Ingredients
Rolled oats: This is my favorite variety of oats for these cookies. You can also use quick oats. More on this below.
Banana: Need 1 cup mashed, about 240 grams, or 2 medium bananas. The riper they are, the sweeter the cookies will be. I personally don’t like them too ripe.
Instructions
The recipe calls for 1 cup rolled or old-fashioned oats. You’re going to pulse 1/2 cup in a food processor/blender and grind into flour. The other remaining 1/2 cup you’re going to stir in with banana along with the oat flour and cinnamon.
Tips on Achieving Desired Texture
The Different Types of Oats
Finding the perfect type of oats and how much to use are what took the most experimentation! Before I get into the nitty gritty, I know there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the different types of oats so hope this is helpful!
For more infographics like this one as well as baby/toddler feeding tips, head on over to my Instagram page @kidfriendly.meals.
Which Type to Use for these Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Now, here’s the rundown of what I discovered:
Let’s move through texture from softest to chewiest.
Quick oats: These will soak up the banana more so will produce the softest cookies. Most ideal for babies who are just starting solids.
Rolled oats:
- Using 1/2 oat flour and 1/2 rolled oats: This produced my personal favorite texture and firmness. Will make for a great teething cookie too. You can certainly purchase oat flour but buying oats in bulk and making it yourself (super easy to do!) is more economical.
- Using all rolled oats: Perhaps you don’t have oat flour and want to skip the extra step of making it yourself. This is fine but the texture will be crispier and denser. What you can do is mix with banana and let the batter sit for at least 20 minutes or so to help the oats soften up.
- Using all oat flour: What I don’t recommend is blending the entire amount to make oat flour. You’ll end up with a sticky, gummy texture.
Steel cut oats: will not work here but they’re great to have in your pantry!
Baker’s Tips
- No need to mash the bananas completely. You might enjoy having some chunks throughout the cookies. We sure do!
- Control how sweet you want the cookies to be by using the right bananas. The more ripe they are, the sweeter they will be. You can also use frozen bananas. Either thaw on the counter or reheat for 15-20 seconds until they’re mashable but not completely thawed.
- After you mix all the ingredients, let it sit for 5 minutes or so. This will help soften the rolled oats.
- Using a large spoon is easiest to scoop the batter and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
- The cookies will not change shape much during baking, so create the cookie shape you desire. Don’t flatten them too much.
- The basic banana oatmeal cookies are going to be the softest. The more add-ins, the firmer the cookies will become.
Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
Peanut butter and banana. Need I say more? These are my husband’s favorite out of the 3 cookies shared here. They are more filling than the basic banana oatmeal cookies is a wonderful way to incorporate more healthy fats into your baby/toddler’s diet.
Ingredients and Instructions
To the basic banana cookie recipe, you’re just going to add in 1/4 cup peanut butter (or any nut or seed butter of choice). Tahini would work really well here too!
Carrot Banana Oatmeal Cookies
And here’s C and my favorite version! The grated carrots add texture, sweetness, and moisture making the cookies softer, chewier, sweeter, and more nutritious!
Ingredients and Instructions
To the basic banana cookie recipe, you’re going to add 1/2 cup grated carrots, ground walnuts (or other nuts/seeds of choice. Here’s a tutorial), and vanilla extract. You can also add in some coconut if you’d like!
For older babies and children, you can add finely chopped walnuts.
As you can see, the cookies don’t spread during cooking so be sure to shape them the way you want them to come out.
How to Serve to Babies
They don’t need any teeth to enjoy these cookies. They can easily be sucked/gummed.
I would count these cookies as a high-calorie food. Here’s how to build a well-balanced plate to help meet their nutritional needs.
For younger babies, you can start by offering 1/3-1/2 of the cookie and then serve more following your baby’s lead.
Storage Suggestions
The cookies are gorgeous when they first come out of the oven. And as they cool, will shrink and become darker in color. It’s just the nature of how the oats and banana interact with each other.
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Once you refrigerate, the cookies will become wetter. They won’t be much of a looker at this point, just wanted to warn you ;). But still delicious!
Can also freeze for up to 3 months. Here’s how I like to freeze all my baked goods.
Other Baby Oat Recipes
- Healthy Blueberry Blender Baby Muffins
- Banana Date Bread
- Zucchini Bread Breakfast Cookies
- Sweet and Savory Overnight Oats
- Southwestern Oat Muffins
Did you make this baby and toddler-friendly 3 Ingredient Banana Cookies for Babies? Follow me on Instagram post a photo and tag me, post a photo on my Facebook page, or save it to Pinterest. I love to see what you’re making!
3 Ingredient Banana Cookies for Babies
Ingredients
BASIC BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES
- 1 cup (100g) rolled oats total – 1/2 cup (50g) ground into flour, and 1/2 cup (50g) stir in to the batter
- 1 cup (240g) ripe banana, about 2 medium banana
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
PEANUT BUTTER BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter, natural-style
CARROT BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES
- 1/2 cup (48g) grated carrots
- 1 tablespoons chopped walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a cookie sheet by either lining with parchment paper or lightly greasing it. Set aside.
- Add 1/2 cup of rolled oats to a food processor or blender and blend into a flour. You can also use oat flour if you have it.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.
- Scoop the batter using a large spoon and transfer to prepared cookie sheet. They won't change shape during cooking so be sure to form into the shape you want them. You'll end up with 8-9 cookies.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- No need to mash the bananas completely. You might enjoy having some chunks throughout the cookies. We sure do!
- Control how sweet you want the cookies to be by using the right bananas. The more ripe they are, the sweeter they will be. You can also use frozen bananas. Either thaw on the counter or reheat for 15-20 seconds until they’re mashable but not completely thawed.
- After you mix all the ingredients, let it sit for 5 minutes or so. This will help soften the rolled oats.
- Using a large spoon is easiest to scoop the batter and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
- The cookies will not change shape much during baking, so create the cookie shape you desire. Don’t flatten them too much.
- The basic banana oatmeal cookies are going to be the softest. The more add-ins, the firmer the cookies will become.
- Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Once you refrigerate, the cookies will become wetter. Can freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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I made them today – so good! My 1yo loved them. Would it be possible to make then with applesauce instead of banana?
So glad you guys enjoyed these! I haven’t tried but I imagine it’d work. Unfortunately am unable to tell you exactly how much you’ll need. Let me know if you try!!
Me and my boy loved them!!
I’m SOO glad to hear!! Amazing how easy it is to whip up too, right?!
we made the carrot version and my little guy (7 months) loved them! so fast and easy. we will try the peanut butter version next.
That one’s C and my fav too version too! Hope you guys love the pb one as well ;). Going to make it with almond butter soon!
Hi Min these look great!
Question – do you squeeze excess liquid out from the carrots?
I normally do but for these I didn’t and they turned out great!
How do you reheat the cookies out from fridge?
I normally don’t. Just take it out several minutes before. But you can reheat in the microwave for no more than 10 seconds