These Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and perfectly sweet. They make a satisfying and healthy dessert, snack or breakfast.
Why you’ll love these Banana Oatmeal Cookies:
- they’re undetectably vegan and gluten-free
- they taste like banana bread
- they’re fragrant and fruity
- they’re tender and chewy
- they’re soft and fudgy
- they’re versatile and easily customisable
- they’re a good source of protein and fibre
- they’re filling and satisfying
- they’re oil-free optional
- they’re refined sugar free (and can be made completely free from added sugar)
- they’re super easy to make
- they’re made using a handful of simple ingredients
- they’re ready in 30 minutes
- they’re perfect for meal prep as their taste and texture remains unchanged for a good few days
- they travel well so are great for packed lunches or road trips
- they’re great for breakfast, but also work as an afternoon snack or healthy dessert!
How to make these Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Mash the bananas with a fork in a bowl.
Tip: For naturally super sweet, fudgy cookies, make sure to use ripe bananas.
Mix together all the ingredients in a separate, larger 
glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a 
measuring jug to measure out the right amount of milk: too much will make the cookie dough too wet to shape and too little will make it too dry and crumbly to form into cookies.
Tip: Leave the mixture for 10 minutes as leaving the oats to soak for a bit will make them much easier to bind together.
Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and use your hands to form it into little patties to lay it out onto a 
rectangular baking tray lined with 
baking paper – make sure to grease the baking paper so that the cookies don’t stick.
Then just bake for 15 minutes and they’re done!
Tip: Make sure to leave them to cool completely before storing.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
- you can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
- to make the cookies free from added sugar, omit the maple syrup
- you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
- for an oil-free version, the coconut oil can be substituted with almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter
- if you’re not into cinnamon it can be omitted
- the ground almonds can be substituted with ground walnuts
- for a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds
- the chocolate chips can be substituted with dried fruit such as raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried mango, dried papaya, dried pineapple, chopped dates, chopped dried figs etc
- you can also add chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts or desiccated coconut
How long do these Banana Oatmeal Cookies keep for?
These cookies keep well in the fridge in an airtight container for a good few days.
More gluten-free vegan cookie recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Blueberry Breakfast Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Carrot Cake Cookies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas
- 30 g (1/8 cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil, or nut butter such as peanut butter or almond butter)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup *(or sub any other sweetener
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 60 g (1/2 cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 150 g (1 1/2 cup) rolled oats (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 40 g (1/4 cup) dark chocolate chips ***(ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Peel the bananas and place in a small bowl, then use a fork to mash until you get a smooth paste
- Place the coconut oil in a separate, large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
- Once melted, add all the other ingredients to the same bowl
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
- Leave the mixture for 10 minutes as leaving the oats to soak for a bit will make them much easier to bind together
- Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and use your hands to form it into little patties
- Lay it out onto a baking tray lined with greased baking paper
- Repeat until the rest of the dough is used up - you should be able to make 12 cookies
- Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes until golden brown
- Leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container - keeps for a good few days
Notes
almond flour ***For a refined sugar free or sugar-free version, either omit the chocolate chips or replace with dried fruit such as raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried mango, dried pineapple, dried papaya, chopped dates or chopped dried figsDisclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of the products, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Sophie
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was looking for healthy snacks to keep in the fridge for the kids and this came out perfect! It´s very easy to make them and I add different dried fruits, chia seeds, nuts. to boost nutrition. I already passed on your recipe to friends.
Sisa
I adore this cookies and the way you explain how to make them with helpfull details like easy substitutions for different flavors etc. Really a stapple for me. Huge thanks . You are wonderfull
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you like them!
sandy
Hi Rhian ,I have a friend who has nut allergies can I substitute the almond meal or omit it. Also thank you heaps, I made your cheesecake and had so many compliments and requests for your recipe I now want to try more of your recipes .regards Sandy
Rhian Williams
Hi! You can replace the almond meal with ground sunflower seeds if that would work for your friend! Or you can replace it with ground oats. So happy to hear you liked my cheesecake recipe!
sandy
sorry I did not see that you wrote that higher up on the page. The biscuites were a success thank you again
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked them!
Jen
Hi there! I am trying to replicate a similar cookie but one thats more crunchy than soft. Do you know how to make this more crunchy, kind of like a bar?
Rhian Williams
Hi – you can use the recipe and shape the mixture into cookies if you like! https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/peanut-butter-jelly-granola-bars-vegan-gf/