These healthy and hearty blueberry banana breakfast cookies are packed with 9 wholesome ingredients to power you through the day. This simple 1 bowl recipe is easily adaptable and comes together in minutes. They taste like really dense and delicious baked oatmeal!
Good morning sunshine!
Don’t these cookies look a little bit like blueberry muffin tops? They don’t taste like muffin tops at all, but the resemblance makes me happy. You know what else makes me happy? These cookies are actually pretty good for you—with zero refined sugar, plenty of wholesome oats, almond butter, and fruit. In fact the only thing missing is a cup of coffee and bowl of yogurt because, like blueberry muffins, these cookies are most definitely breakfast-worthy (just like my original breakfast cookies).
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Today’s blueberry banana breakfast cookies are super chewy, hearty, thick and taste like really dense baked oatmeal. They’ve got major staying power, too! You only need 9 ingredients and some can easily be substituted. I list substitutions in my recipe notes if you’re curious. Here’s what else you’ll love about them:
- Super healthy
- Quick and easy to make
- 1 bowl recipe
- No cookie dough chilling
- Egg-free (I have a growing collection of egg-free recipes here)
- Loaded with berries
- Adaptable with different add-ins and flavors
- Freeze beautifully
- Perfect make ahead recipe
- Delicious for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert
How to Make Blueberry Banana Breakfast Cookies
This is an easy 1 bowl recipe—cookies are ready in just 45 minutes. It’s perfect for busy days and I highly suggest making a double batch because these disappear QUICKLY!
- Mix everything together in 1 bowl.
- Scoop mounds of cookie dough. I use about 1/4 cup of dough per cookie—they’re massive! The recipe makes 12 cookies, so place 6 big cookies on each baking sheet. Slightly flatten the cookies out because they won’t spread much in the oven.
- Bake until lightly browned. These cookies bake at a lower temperature. They’re so thick that anything higher could burn the tops rather quickly. Because of the lower temperature, the cookies will take about 20 minutes in the oven.
- Cool before enjoying.
These cookies stay fresh all week in the refrigerator and they freeze wonderfully, too. I like to freeze them individually and stick one frozen cookie in the refrigerator before bed. It’ll thaw out by morning. They are *so good* cold.
How to Easily Mash Bananas
Banana is a main ingredient in this recipe.
Did you know you can use your electric mixer to mash bananas? Break or slice your peeled spotty bananas into large pieces and place them in the bowl of your stand mixer—or use a regular mixing bowl and your hand mixer. Begin beating on low, then gradually increase to medium-high speed as the bananas break down into mashed banana. You can use this bowl for the rest of the breakfast cookie ingredients. I do this for my banana muffins, too!
Are These Cookies Gluten Free?
These cookies are gluten free if you use certified gluten free oats.
If you’re craving more gluten free recipes, here’s my section for all gluten free recipes. A few of my favorites are: apple cinnamon baked oatmeal cups, healthy berry streusel bars, and blueberry almond snack bars.
Possible Substitutions
This cookie recipe is easily adaptable to your tastes and preferences. Here are a few substitutions I’ve tested with delicious results:
- Bananas: Ripe bananas not only sweeten the cookies, they help bind the ingredients together. In place of bananas, I suggest using 1 egg plus 1/3 cup applesauce instead. The cookies won’t be as sweet, so feel free to add 1 more Tablespoon of honey.
- Sweetener: Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup or brown rice syrup (both substitutions are vegan options).
- Nuts: You can leave out the nuts or use any chopped nut you like best. Or substitute dried cranberries, raisins, or sunflower seeds.
- Blueberries: Leave out the blueberries and add dried fruit, seeds, unsweetened coconut, or extra nuts. I love dried cranberries in these cookies!
- Nut Butter: Instead of almond butter, try peanut butter, cashew butter, cookie butter, or sunflower seed butter for a naturally nut-free option.
If you do love the combination of blueberry and banana flavors, try these banana blueberry muffins next!
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes
- Baked Oatmeal
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Whole Wheat Banana Bread
- Blueberry Almond Power Muffins
Blueberry Banana Breakfast Cookies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Blueberry banana breakfast cookies are packed with 9 happy and wholesome ingredients to power you through the day.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (173g) mashed bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas)*
- 2 and 1/2 cups (213g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats*
- 1 cup (250g) any nut butter (I use almond butter)
- 1/2 cup (60g) chopped pecans or walnuts*
- 1/3 cup (113g) honey*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (190g) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw frozen)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Add everything to a large bowl and mix together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until combined (or use a hand-held or stand mixer).
- Scoop mounds of dough, about 1/4 cup each, onto baking sheets. 6 cookies per baking sheet since they are so large. The cookies won’t spread much in the oven, so gently press the mounds down to create a flatter shape.
- Bake for 18-21 minutes until lightly browned on the sides.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cover and store cookies at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Baking Sheet | Cooling Rack
- Bananas: Instead of bananas, use 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce and 1 large egg. The cookies will not be as sweet, so feel free to add 1 more Tbsp of honey.
- Gluten Free: These cookies are gluten free if you use certified GF oats.
- Nuts: You can leave out the nuts or use any chopped nut you like best. Or sub in dried cranberries, raisins, or sunflower seeds.
- Honey: Instead of honey, you can use maple syrup or brown rice syrup.
- Add-ins: If desired, leave out the blueberries and add dried fruit, seeds, unsweetened coconut, or extra nuts. I love dried cranberries in these cookies!
- Nutrition Information: Using SparkRecipes calculator and following the recipe as written, each cookie contains 260 calories, 12g fat, 28g carbs, 6g fiber, and 6g protein.
Keywords: healthy cookies, breakfast cookies
I’ve made this w/blueberries and dried cranberries. Both are delicious.
I replaced the almond butter with PB2 (with water added to reconstitute) to save a few calories. They turned out super yummy! I will be making these over & over!
★★★★★
What ratio of PB2 and water did you use to replace the peanut butter?
What is the function of the nut butter? How necessary is it to this recipe? Is there a non-nut substitute? ….Love so many of your recipes, particularly the flourless chocolate cake.
Hi Beth, We would recommend using something like sunflower seed butter to approximate the texture of nut butter.
Love these and I’ve made them a million times! But I guess they were renamed, and I couldn’t find the recipe right away!! Make these, you will love them!!!
I don’t usually leave reviews for recipes but this one turned out so amazing I had to chime in! I doubled the recipe and used frozen bananas, maple syrup, wild Alaska blueberries, and two different flavors of peanut butter from Wild Friends- sugar cookie and pumpkin spice. Based on my experience I would recommend having fun with the nut butters you use in this to give them a unique kick! I will be making these again for sure.
★★★★★
Love these! Could fresh cranberries be used instead of dried?
★★★★★
Hi Stephanie, That should be fine. let us know if you try it!
These were truly delicious and came together in a snap! Didn’t have honey on hand so I used maple syrup and they turned out so good. Definitely a keeper – I have an awful sweet tooth and having a cookie for breakfast is so perfect.
★★★★★
These are easy to make and so delicious! When they first came out of the oven, the texture was slightly “banana-gluey” in the center, but after 2-3 hours, the texture improved dramatically. This recipe is a keeper! I used natural unsweetened peanut butter, agave instead of honey, pecans, and frozen blueberries. Next time I’m going to try adding orange zest and/or maybe use frozen cherries i/o blueberries. Love how versatile this recipe is. Thank you, Sally!
★★★★★
Sally, Can you use quick oats instead of old-fashiooned whole rolled oats?
Hi Debby, Quick oats are a little powdery and could dry out the cookies as they absorb more liquid. You can try them with quick oats if you add extra wet ingredients – Try about 1/4 cup extra of mashed banana. Let us know how they turn out.
I am baking a batch as I write this.. smells so yummy in the house. I made exactly as written, except for subbing blueberries for raisins as that’s what I have. Just took out of oven, and of course had to taste..these are amazing. Will be making on a regular basis. Thank you for sharing 🙂
★★★★★
I haven’t made these yet but would strawberries work instead of blueberries?
Hi latonya, we haven’t tested them with strawberries, but if you used frozen chopped strawberries, I think they should work. Or if you have dried strawberries, you could try those too. Let us know how they turn out!
My husband has nut allergies so can you use regular butter instead of nut butter and replace pecans with dried cranberries ?
Hi Diane, we haven’t tested it with regular butter, but would recommend using something like sunflower seed butter to better approximate the texture of nut butter. And you can definitely replace the pecans with dried cranberries!
I haven’t actually tried it yet, but I know just reading it that it will be delicious! Could I use muesli — the kind made with raw oats — instead of just the oatmeal? I use Familia brand most often — the kind with no sugar added. It’s a wonderful cereal, especially made with yogurt and fresh fruit. But I would love these cookies for the days I don’t have time to eat cereal! Thanks so much…
★★★★★
Hi Joan, we haven’t tried that, but let us know how they turn out if you do!
I made this recipe, but only baked some of it. I need some “fix-it” (or toss it) assistance, before I finish baking the rest.
1st, shouldn’t have on a 1x recipe, but I doubled it, as I wanted to make extra to share.
Instead of bananas, I used the applesauce as directed.
I added extras, but tried to keep in mind the comment re, keeping add-ins to 1.5 cups total. Mine was maybe ~ 2 cups (4 doubled). Add-ins: craisins, blueberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and some coconut.
The cookies mostly tasted like very dry oatmeal and peanut butter, with just some add-ins.
I wanted to add some brown sugar and a little cool water, but thought it best to ask you what might possibly be done now to try a fix.
I had some Nuttzo, and mixed it 50/50 with Skippy. While trying to fig out what I had done, I read in your recipe, Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, that the oily pb might cause a dry cookie.
For now and later, thank you, and I look forward to your frank reply!
Hi Irene, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. As you mention, the additional add-ins could be the culprit for the overly dry cookies. Try keeping them to just 1.5 cups for your next batch and that should help quite a bit. Your brand of peanut butter and may also naturally be more dry than others. Finally, doubling these cookies can be tough just because of how heavy the mixture is, making it hard to fully mix the ingredients together. Hope these tips are helpful for next time, and thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Are these vegan? Gluten free? Dairy free? How could I make them nut free?
Sorry for all the questions! I am looking for a great vegan, nut free, gluten free, dairy free cookie for teacher appreciation week at my child’s school.
Hi Amanda, these are gluten free if using certified GF oats and you can omit the nuts. You might be interested in our Breakfast Cookies post (very similar to these!) where we list lots of substitutions so that you can create a cookie to meet those specific needs. Hope they’re a hit!
I made these last night and they are delicious. I substituted dried cranberries for blueberries and 3/4 cup canned pumpkin for almond butter. Is it ok to leave them on the counter for 4 days (they’ll be gone in 2 days!), or should I refrigerate them after cooling. Thanks for any advice you can give me on using canned pumpkin.
Hi Gail, Cover and store cookies at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can swap out the 3/4 cups of banana with the same amount of canned pumpkin. Enjoy!
Has anyone modified this recipe by using granola rather than rolled oats? What does Sally think of this?
Hi Mark, granola would not soak up the wet ingredients in the same way that oats do. We recommend sticking with rolled oats here!
These are so good! I have a question. Are they supposed to be soft? It was hard to tell if the edges were brown because they are dark with blueberries/oats. I cooked them for 23 minutes. The bottoms are brown, and the edges seem brown, but the cookies are soft (not gooey) and kind of break when I pick them up. Should I have cooked them longer?
★★★★★
Hi Beth! These are a denser, soft cookie. Yours may benefit from a couple more minutes in the oven next time. Glad you’re enjoying them!
Thank you. I think they hadn’t cooled down enough when I commented. They seem perfect now!
These sound great! We freeze our very ripe bananas – could I just defrost some to use in this recipe or do I need to adjust the other liquids since the banana were frozen? Thank you.
Hi Sue, frozen bananas should work fine, but keep in mind that they may have a bit of excess moisture from thawing. You may want to blot them before using. Hope you enjoy the breakfast cookies!
The recipe looks promising for grandchildren’s snack but would need to substitute something in place of the “nut butter”. What do you suggest? Thank you
Hi Trish, sunflower seed butter could work here as well. Let us know if you give it a try!
Do you list calories and other stats??
Hi Nan, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients, and many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients. However, there are many great online calculators where you can plug in your exact ingredients like this one: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
This is my third time making these. We are expecting our third baby, and I love to have these in the freezer for quick breakfasts and snacks. Such a great, reliable recipe. I added unsweetened coconut for this last batch. Sooo good, and quite filling, too!
★★★★★
Hi there, can i make this in a pan to cut up in bars?
Hi Emmy! We’re unsure of the exact bake time for bars, but bake until the center looks set and the edges are very slightly browned. We’re guessing a 9×9 inch square pan would be best. They’ll be thick bars. Enjoy!
So, so good! I’ve made this recipe twice: once as written and just now, tweaked with the ingredients I had. Sally, you always knock it out of the ballpark with the recipes, instructions and explanations – and suggestions! Thank you!
★★★★★
Hi, I tried this recipe with some substitutions. Even though the flavor was great but unfortunately the texture wasn’t. They came out a little dry. What could I have done wrong? I ran out of honey so I added whatever honey I had with some brown sugar, I use rolled oats, and added dried cranberries, flax seed powder, peanut butter and toasted walnuts. The batter was a little too stiff so I added 1-2 tbsp of milk to loosen it. I liked how healthy they were and want to make it right the next time. What can I do for that?
★★★
Hi Ridhi, You likely lost a little moisture from the honey. Next time try using the full 1/3 cup and keep whatever add-ins you are using to about 1.5 cups total.
Another fab recipe that I have mixed up! Used what I already had- peanut butter instead of almond butter, dark chocolate chips instead of pecans, golden syrup & demarara sugar instead of honey, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 50g dried cranberries, 50g golden sultanas, 90g frozen blueberries. Very versatile recipe- thanks Sally- your recipes always work- although I’m yet to use one as written- I just have to mix up recipes in my own image!!
★★★★★
Could I add an egg and some flour?
Hi Elaine, instead of bananas, you can use 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce and 1 large egg. We don’t recommend adding flour.
Would it work if I cut the honey to 1/4 cup? Thanks in advance!
Hi Kim, that should work in a pinch if you do not have enough honey — the cookies will be a little less sweet.
This was my first time doing a baking challenge and making lemon curd. In short, the Citrus Sunshine Cake was joy on a plate! The cake was moist and the lemon curd was rich and flavorful without overpowering the cake and buttercream. Baking success!
I used chopped frozen cranberries in place of blueberries and added orange zest. We thought they were too sweet so wondered about cranberries. Even better.