These oatmeal cookies with 3 main ingredients are perfect for a healthy, gluten-free cookie option. All you need are oats, bananas and chocolate chips to make these cookies! With no eggs or oil, these healthy 3 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies are so easy to whip up. These oatmeal cookies bring all sweetness, without any fussy cookie making needed. Make a batch today and have them for breakfast or for an afternoon snack. They're delicious!
The best oatmeal and banana cookies to make are the ones that are super simple like this recipe🍪
You're gonna love these 3-ingredient banana oatmeal cookies because, 1. You can use up your browning bananas on the counter and 2. This is a no-fail, delightfully delicious and gluten-free recipe that packs in a ton of nutrition.
If you're into the classic peanut butter and banana combo but want to keep the 3 ingredients, check out this similar recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies (healthy) too.
Want to use up even more browning bananas?🍌
Try this recipe for Healthy Gluten Free Banana Bread with White Beans, it's super delicious😋
Or this recipe for Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Check out all my recipes for healthy and gluten-free muffins and breads here.
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📝3 ingredients for oatmeal cookies
All you'll need for these cookies are:
- Gluten-free oats
- Bananas - overripe bananas are perfect but you can use frozen too (see tip below)
- Chocolate chips
Optional ingredients are vanilla, cinnamon and a little rock or Kosher salt on top.
🥣Instructions
Doesn't get much easier to make these 3 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies. Pretty much fool-proof.
All you have to do is:
- Mash bananas with fork a until lumpy
- Combine the mashed bananas with the oats and chocolate
- And bake them!
See below for full instructions and some tips.
💃Variations
As options, you'll see there's cinnamon and vanilla.
If you like that combo, try some of each in the recipe.
Also, if you love the sweet+salty combo, get some Kosher or even a few grains of rock salt on top of the cookies before you bake them.
My husband isn't quite as in love with straight-up-in-your-face-salt-taste like I am.
But he does love the chocolate+salt taste combo (who doesn't?) and these banana oatmeal cookies bring all that deliciousness to the table.
🔄Substitutions
For these oatmeal cookies, you can use the over-ripe bananas on your countertop or you can use the frozen bananas in your freezer.
One thing: make sure to add a few tablespoons of extra rolled oats to the batter if you'll be using frozen bananas.
Because the frozen bananas introduce a little more water to the cookies, you need the extra oats to soak it up a bit.
🥡Storage and Freezing
These cookies will last for up to 3 days in an air-tight container on the counter.
Any cookies not eaten up in those 3 days can be popped into the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make an extra batch of these 3 ingredient oatmeal cookies because they freeze so well.
❓Are oat cookies healthy?
Well, this recipe for oatmeal banana cookies definitely are a healthier choice. The 2 main ingredients of bananas and oats are a match made in nutritional heaven.
Bananas are full of potassium, fibre and magnesium and smaller amounts of a whole whack of vitamins and minerals. And you get all that nutrition for only about 120 calories per banana!
As for the oats, they're always a good idea too😄
These nutritional powerhouses are packed full of:
- Beta-glucan, a type of fibre (hello healthy bowels!)
- Manganese, selenium and phosphorus
- Polyphenols, which act as antioxidants in the body kicking butt of any nasty inflammatory processes going on
And let's not forget about the chocolate: sure, too much chocolate we can agree, probably isn't doing you any favours BUT a hint of chocolate does provide trace minerals like manganese, B12 and some antioxidants. A sweet way to get a little more nutrition and really just make these oat cookies perfect for dessert, breakfast or an afternoon snack.
🚫What makes oatmeal cookies dry?
A lot of the time, oatmeal cookies are dry-dry-dry because they're 1. Over-baked and 2. They don't have enough wet or moisture-giving ingredients in them, like mashed bananas for example. Other "wet" ingredients include things like milk, eggs, oil and applesauce. This recipe is only bananas, oats and chocolate chips so they're anything BUT dry.
🥶Should banana oatmeal cookies be refrigerated?
You don't have to keep these banana oatmeal cookies in the fridge (unless you want to.) These cookies will last for up to 3 days in an air-tight container on the counter.
Any cookies not eaten up in those 3 days can be popped into the freezer for up to 3 months.
Hope you ❣️ these 3 ingredient oat and banana cookies like we do.
All my best,
~April
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📖 Recipe
3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups large flake Gluten Free Oats I like Only Oats brand
- 1.5 cups mashed bananas about 3 medium bananas
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon to taste optional
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla optional
- Pinches of rock salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mash bananas in with fork until lumpy.
- Combine bananas with oats and chocolate chips in a large bowl.
- Add cinnamon and vanilla if using.
- Place tablespoon-fulls onto a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper.
- If you're looking for the sweet and salty taste, put 2-3 grains of rock salt on the top of each cookie. A little goes a long way with rock salt! Can use Kosher salt too.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 350F until cookies are still soft but browned on the bottom.
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Diane says
Could I use frozen bananas?
April says
Hey Diane,
Hmmm, good question. I don't recommend it because they have so much water in them so that would change the consistency quite a bit. But doesn't mean you can't experiment with a couple 🙂 You could also use some of those frozen bananas in this banana bread too: https://eatsbyapril.com/healthy-banana-bread-with-white-beans/
Angela says
for frozen bananas, i just added a bit more oatmeal and let sit for a bit to absorb the liquid
April Saunders says
Thank you Angela! I will be doing that too. So many banana in my freezer!
Juanita says
I made these a few days ago and my family devoured them! They are so good. I can’t wait for my bananas to ripen so that I can make more!
April says
Awesome!! Thanks so much for commenting Juanita - so glad the fam loved 'em. I too am playing the banana-waiting game so I can make them again 😉