Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings small cookies

1 cup mashed very overripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
¼ cup (54g) olive oil
2-4 tbsp maple syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (184g) rolled oats
2 cups (290g) nuts and/or seed mix
¼ cup (37g) hemp seeds optional
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup dark chocolate chunks, chips, or chopped from a bar
Flaky salt optional
These are very lightly sweetened cookies. If your bananas were not super ripe, you’ll want to add 4 tablespoons. I made these with oven-ripe bananas (see tip below) and only 2 tablespoons (I like things less sweet, so increase if you want a sweeter cookie).
Note: For all the cookies to fit, you’ll have to place them snuggly next to each other on the baking sheet (they won’t expand).
Banana ripening hack!
If you don’t have super ripe bananas and don’t want to wait, here's what you can do. Place your yellow (don’t use green ones) bananas on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 300F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until blacked and some juices are bubbly out. Let cool, then use in these cookies or any other banana bread adventure.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
In a high-speed blender, add the oats and blend for a few seconds just break them up into smaller pieces. Transfer to the bowl. Add the nuts/seeds to the blender and blend to chop up into a coarse meal (you want to have a mix of finely ground + small crunchy pieces rather than a fine meal). Transfer to the bowl.
Add the hemp seeds, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix until thoroughly combined. Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the batter and place on the baking sheet. You can also just use a heaping tablespoon amount. You can either leave the cookies thick or press them down slightly to flatten them. Either way, make sure to top with chocolate!
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the bottoms and edges are golden brown. Sprinkle some flaky salt on top of the chocolate, if using.

Substitutions:

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

You can eat these chilled right out of the fridge or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to take the chill off or warm them up.