Have you ever had a banana cookie? A pillow-y soft cookie topped with a sweet vanilla buttercream frosting. If you haven’t, you’re in for a treat! My mom loved using her overripe bananas to make her famous banana bread, but on occasion, she would make these cookies instead. And they are truly The Best Banana Cookies!
One small difference between the way my mom made these delicious banana cookies and the way that I make them is in the frosting technique. My mom liked to frost them while they were warm, so the frosting sort of melted down the cookie and became more of a glaze. I prefer to wait until they are cooled to frost them, so the frosting stays creamy and more traditional. Either way, they are a superb cookie.
More awesome recipes to use up your overripe bananas…
- Best Ever Banana Bundt Cake
- Toddler Muffins with Bananas, Cream Cheese and Oatmeal
- Amish Banana Bread
- Banana Bundt Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Ganache
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Whole Wheat Grapenut Banana Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Banana Zucchini Bread {Bikini Bread}
Step-by-Step Photos for How to Make The Best Banana Cookies
Frequently Asked Questions about How to Make The Best Banana Cookies
How can I tell when these cookies are done in the oven?
The cookies stay quite light in color. You can watch for a very slight darkening around the edge, but the best way to tell when they are done is to gently touch the center of one of the cookies. If it feels like it bounces back from your touch, it is done. If not, the cookies need another minute or two in the oven.
What’s the best way to scoop these COOKIES onto the baking tray? A cookie scoop?
This is a great question. If you have a cookie scoop, use a cookie scoop. It is probably the easiest way. If you don’t have one, no worries. You can use a soup-sized spoon and place approximately 2 tbsp of batter down for each cookie. When I do it that way, I like to use a second spoon to help scrape the first spoon out as I drop the batter onto the prepared cookie sheet. Prepare your cookie sheet by spraying lightly with cooking spray, covering it with parchment paper, or putting a silicone silpat mat on it.
How many cookies will this recipe make?
This recipe makes 36-48 cookies depending on how large you make the cookies. You need to consider how many cookies you made when determining how much frosting to spread on each cookie.
How many ripe bananas do I need to make this banana cookie recipe?
The recipe calls for one cup of smashed overripe banana. Depending on the size of your bananas, this will take 2 or 3 bananas. I usually use 3 bananas, and if the amount of smashed banana is a little more or a little less than one cup, don’t worry, the recipe will still come out perfect.
Can you freeze Ripe Bananas?
Yes, you can even freeze them still in their peel. That is my favorite way to freeze them. You can just take them out of the freezer the night before you want to use them…or if you forget, you can just defrost them in the microwave. So easy and convenient to not have to put them in baggies or anything before freezing.
If you want to freeze bananas for other purposes than baking, like to add to smoothies or something, you need to take the bananas out of the peel and cut them in half or smaller pieces before putting them in an airtight freezer bag or container.
Can I use Cream Cheese Frosting on top of the cookies instead of Buttercream?
Yes. I use cream cheese frosting on this Best Ever Banana Bundt Cake recipe, and it’s delicious. I am sure it would be just as delicious on these cookies. However, I am a big fan of the traditional buttercream on these cookies because that’s the way I grew up eating them.
Baker’s Tools:
More recipes with delicious frostings
- FOR COOKIES:
- 1 cup shortening or (1/2 cup softened butter, ½ cup canola or vegetable oil)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup ripe mashed bananas (approx 2-3 bananas)
- ½ cup buttermilk or sour milk (For sour milk, use regular milk plus one tsp lemon juice or white vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes.)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- FOR FROSTING:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp evaporated milk or heavy cream (You can use milk in a pinch.)
- ½ cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare two cookie sheets with cooking spray, parchment paper, or a silicone mat.
- In your stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the shortening (or butter and oil), the sugar, and the eggs.
- Add in the mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix well.
- Next, add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, put about 2 tbsp of batter down, making sure to place the batter scoops 2 inches apart on a large cookie sheet. You should be able to fit 12 cookies on one cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes.
- Frost while warm if you want them to be glazed, or wait until they have cooled if you want them to look like the cookies in my pictures.
- TO MAKE THE FROSTING:
- Using your hand mixer, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 2 tbsp of evaporated milk or heavy cream. Mix until fluffy, adding up to two more tablespoons of the evaporated milk or cream if needed.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting on each cookie and ENJOY!
If you love to bake, try these:
Look yummy. Do you have the nutritional information for these?
Hi Leslie, unfortunately I do not have the nutritional information.
Hi I can’t wait to make these yummy cookies!!! I have a question: does this recipe call for both butter/or shortening and canola/or vegetable oil, or 1 of the 4 items??
Thank You!!!
Stacy
Hi Stacey, sorry for the late reply. The recipe uses either 1 cup of shortening or if you don’t have it you can sub 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup oil, veg or canola.
I like recipe i bake for my family
I am so glad you like it and make it for your family! Thank you for coming back to leave a comment.
Made these this morning before church. I live in Idaho so I needed to let them bake 12 minutes. I made cream cheese frosting instead and added a little red food coloring to make pink frosting for Valentine’s day!💘 They were delicious! 😋
Yum! Great idea with the cream cheese frosting and so fun to make them pink for valentine’s day!
Can I add walnuts to this recipe?
Yes, if you like nuts you could add them in the batter or sprinkle them on top of the frosting.
These cookies are delicious! I have made them 3 times and they always turn out big, fluffy and moist! I use the half butter/half oil variation. I make them just as directed. The batter is a little bit moist but I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop it up and drop it in a circle. They are not all perfectly round but it adds to the character of these cookies. I fit 11 on my cookie sheet and bake 11 min. They are slightly brown on the edges. Sometimes I frost warm for a glaze and other times I add frosting cool for buttercreamyness! My family loves this recipe! Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you! They really are so dang good! I’m so glad you like them!
Greetings… my experience with this recipe was not good! The batter was VERY wet.
I think 2 eggs plus 1/2 cup of oil, 1/2 cup milk was way too much liquid.
I added more flour and still it was not what I would call edible as far as cookies go.
Very wasteful and disappointing day in the kitchen
I am so sorry to hear you had a bad experience with this recipe. It is one that has been passed down in my family and made successfully for years. My mom always used shortening which made for a slightly fluffier cookie. I use the butter/oil combo and still get great cookies like the ones in the picture. they are a little flatter then my moms with shortening but very delicious. If you decide to try it again use shortening and I am sure you will have a better outcome.
Can I use 1/2 c shortening, 1/2 cup butter?
Yes!
I just made these. I only had one banana, for 1/2 cup of mashed, so I halved the recipe. I also halved the sugar in the halved recipe. I used shortening only. Instead of frosting I added some chocolate chunks to batter. The soft cookies are delightful. They cooked in 11 minutes and I used a 2 tbsp cookie scoop. They came out perfect, slightly more domed than your picture, but tender, just sweet enough, delicious. The chocolate offsets the sweetness of the banana nicely. I am bookmarking this and will make them again!
Awesome Josee, I am so glad you like the recipe!
Best cookies, ever!!!! I will never make a banana cake again!! Thanks!
Awesome! So glad you loved them! They are a family favorite over here for generations!
These cookies are so soft! My kids liked mini chocolate chips on them! Great way to use ripe bananas! Thanks again Maria!! #Septembergiveaway
what a great idea with the mini chocolate chips! So glad the kids liked them!
Delicious! Made these this afternoon, including the frosting. Great way to use up bananas and buttermilk. Definitely a wet batter, but they bake up soft. I’ll be making them again. Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you liked them Kathy. These are a long time family fave in my extended family.
Tried these banana cookies out for the first time. The batter was quite thin for cookies so I was very skeptical with how the cookies would turn out. But they were absolutely delicious. I would make them again.
Great! I love hearing that Jenny!