Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies

After a loooong time of not hanging out with my other teacher friends, we finally made time to hang out on Saturday night. We all work at the same school but we never even get to see each other at work and when we do, all there is time for is a quick hello or a wave. Sad, right? I have missed my friends and am so glad we got the chance to enjoy some burgers, chips, salad, cookies, Bezzerwizzer and Bananagrams.

A couple of hours before hang time, I pulled out loose bags of flour, a sad looking banana, and leftover heavy whipping cream that needed to be used. These items were placed on the counter and after some pondering, a recipe began to develop in my little head. Ingredients and directions were jotted on my cooking notebook and I was ready for action with some queasiness in my stomach. When I’m baking with no basic recipe to start from, I get nervous… cooking is never a problem because it is easy to add spices and herbs and taste as I go. However, it’s different with baking, once the batter is in the oven, there’s nothing one can do but fret and hope it turns out edible (at the least).  

Today I said goodbye to all-purpose flour… the last little bit in the pantry was used up in these cookies. For a while now, I have been baking with whole wheat or spelt flour, not just because they have more nutrients but also because they taste richer, fuller, and nuttier. Please note that I encourage the use of either whole wheat or spelt flour in these cookies rather than all-purpose, I would have done the same except for I hate being wasteful and just really needed to use up all the leftover all-purpose flour.

These cookies only contain a half cup of sugar, a small amount of chocolate chips, and some coconut flakes. Cookies do not have to be laden with sugar… cutting back on unnecessary evil here. There is no butter in these cookies either… there is, however, some coconut oil, which has 35% more fat calories than butter but is supposedly better for us than butter (who knows?). I also used heavy whipping cream, which (on the bright side) has 50% less fat/per serving than butter. Too much thinking there already, I will stop. Really, I just used the coconut oil because of its nice tropical aroma and the wonderful coconut flavor that it adds to the cookies.



Each cookie resembles a chocolate chip banana bread. Plain, simple, comforting, and delicious! Of course! Who does not like banana bread with chocolate chips? Especially if they’re made a little more special by being turned into teeny-tiny cookies? My friends loved it! I may suck at trivia games, but I can make semi-healthy cookies that are delicious and almost guilt-free. Ever heard of Bezzerwizzer? If you are awful with trivia, call me and I will send DFJ your way so he can save you. We won and I can’t take any credit for our points because it was all him. (Beware though, he takes his sweet time thinking…)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Cookies (Makes 46-50 small cookies)

1 and ¼ cup all-purpose flour

generous 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 overripe banana, mashed
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
4 tbsp coconut oil
½ cup sweetened coconut flakes
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
a tad of coconut oil, for greasing the baking sheet


In a large mixing bowl, whisk together well the all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the mashed banana, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on low just until combined. Add the egg and coconut oil and mix on low until well-combined.

Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture while mixing on low until everything is well-combined and the batter is smooth.

Beat the coconut flakes into the batter on low until well-combined. Fold the chocolate chips and oats into the batter.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using the palms of your hands, grease the baking sheet with a bit of coconut oil. Using a cookie scoop, scoop one ball of dough at a time and plop onto the baking sheet evenly. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, make small dough balls (make sure to grease your palms because the dough is quite sticky).

Bake for 20 minutes until the edges and the tops of the cookies turn slightly brown.

Love!