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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 went on a mission to find just the right banana-to-oats ratio and figure out which type of oats give that soft, baby-friendly texture. And let me tell you—so many families have tried these cookies, and their little ones LOVED them! I’m willing to bet yours will too!
Table of Contents
Basic Baby Cookies with Banana
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.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: The recipe uses 1 cup of rolled or old-fashioned oats. You’re going to blend 1/2 cup into flour, or swap with oat flour if you have it. I like to make my own since I always have rolled oats on hand and it’s more cost-effective.
Step 2: Add the oat flour to a mixing bowl along with 1/2 cup rolled oats, mashed banana, and cinnamon.
Tips on Achieving Desired Texture for Baby
Best Oats to use
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. However, it works perfectly for these banana protein pancakes!
Steel cut oats: will not work here but they’re great to have in your pantry!
Tips for Success
- 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 Baby 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.
And if want to switch things up, you can swap out oats with almond flour to make the most delicious 3 ingredient almond flour peanut butter cookies!
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 my son’s and my favorite version! The grated carrots add texture, sweetness, and moisture making the cookies softer, chewier, sweeter, and more nutritious!
To the basic banana cookie recipe, you’re going to add 1/2 cup grated carrots, ground walnuts.
How to Serve to Babies
These cookies can be offered to your baby as early as 6 months. They don’t need any teeth to enjoy these cookies. They can easily be sucked/gummed. Here’s another super soft and moist cookie to try! Sweet Potato Chickpea Cookies
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.
Is your baby 6 months old and up?
Learn all the secrets to starting solids safely while optimizing nutrition!
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.
More Baby Oat Recipes
- Banana protein pancakes
- Microwave Egg Oatmeals
- Vegetable Baby Oatmeals
- Healthy Baby and Toddler Muffins
- Banana Date Bread
- Zucchini Bread Breakfast Cookies
- Sweet and Savory Overnight Oats
Do you want to minimize picky eating and set a solid foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating habits?
Check out this 3 month mastering self-feeding program! It’s the closest thing to me being in your kitchen
3 Ingredient Baby Cookies
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
Optional add-ins
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter, natural-style, OR
- 1/2 cup (48g) grated carrots
- 1 tablespoons finely 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.
We used quick oats and added peanut butter. Was so easy, used ingredients we had on hand, and my 4 year old loved them. I love that I can feel good about serving them to him. Quick and easy, great to have on hand for school mornings.
I like your comment about being a Christ follower. I am a grandmother Christ follower. We must teach the children well and feed them well. God bless you as you raise your babies!
These are the easiest snacks- take less than 10 min, healthy, adaptable ingredients, and packable for outings. I’ve been making a double batch every week.
Used the quick oats idea and these were perfect ! Will definitely be making again 🙂
I love this recipe! I’ve been making for at least 4 months now and it’s so versatile and easy to blitz up in a Ninja/nutribullet.
I do something different everytime.
This time I added an egg and did ½cup oats and ½cup GF SR flour and turned them into mini carrot cake muffins for my 12month old.
I love this so much thank you for helping a lazy Mumma out!
My kid loves all foods…but I don’t. These were actually delicious! I made it with no cinnamon and added the carrots. Definitely recommend.
Yay!!! So happy to hear that you loved these too!!
These cookies turned out really good! I added in some chocolate chips for my picky girl and she loved it.
Hi! My baby has a banana allergy. Would this work if I use apple sauce instead of banana? Or another sub you would recommend?
Would definitely work with apple sauce!!