Recipe:
Ingredient Notes:
- Bananas. Any ripeness works — from bright yellow to “tired-looking” brown ones. The riper the banana, the more fragrant and sweeter the cookies will be (and the darker their hue). One medium peeled banana typically weighs about 100g.
- Butter. Use high-quality butter (at least 80% fat). Make sure it is softened to room temperature before you start, but not melted.
- Eggs. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you — these cookies are egg-free! Bananas are excellent binders on their own, and this recipe uses enough of them to keep everything together perfectly.
- Sugar. Regular white granulated sugar works great. However, if you want to add a subtle caramel note, feel free to use brown sugar instead.
- Vanilla. You can use vanilla sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, or a tiny pinch of vanillin.
- Flour. Standard all-purpose flour (around 10% protein) is ideal. As with most cookie recipes, avoid bread flour — the extra gluten will make the texture too tough.
- Mix-ins. I used dark chocolate chips (drops) for this batch. You can choose any chocolate you prefer. Alternatively, you can swap or supplement the chocolate with nuts (walnuts, pecans, roasted peanuts, hazelnuts, or cashews) or dried fruit (raisins or dried cherries).
Let’s start cooking!
Thoroughly mash the bananas with a potato masher.

Add the softened butter, salt, and both regular and vanilla sugars. Beat until combined. The mixture may look slightly separated, but that’s normal.

Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, sifted together. Mix the dough.

If you’re using a bar of chocolate instead of chips, chop it up with a knife. Add the chocolate into a bowl.

Knead the dough until the chocolate is evenly distributed.

Divide the dough into pieces weighing 40–45 g each and shape them into balls. Place the balls on a baking sheet and press them down lightly. Leave enough space between them, as they will spread during baking and may stick together if placed too close.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) for about 15 minutes. The longer you bake the cookies and the darker they get, the crispier they’ll be.
Any dough that didn’t fit on the baking sheet in the first batch can wait in the fridge for its turn.
Remove the finished cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack. Let them cool, then serve.

Enjoy!
