Welcome to unofficial AK Zucchini Week 2025! I have SO many great zucchini recipes on my site that are perfect for cooking and baking up while this gorgeous vegetable is at its peak. You can check them all out here.
We’re starting off with these BIG healthy VEGAN zucchini breakfast cookies studded with ooey-gooey chocolate chips, whole grains & banana. I first shared this recipe back in 2016 (omg, vintage AK), and almost forgot just how much readers loved it. I know you’re all huge fans of breakfast cookies, too, so I knew I wanted to give this post a little refresh to remind you to bake these ASAP.
Great for getting veggies into your kiddos right away in the morning, and they’re perfect with a side of eggs or my famous breakfast meatballs. Nourish the whole family before school, or send them with your little ones for a wonderful snack!
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Fall in love with zucchini cookies
You likely already know that I LOVE baking with zucchini. It’s such a great way to sneak veggies into your favorite treats and get your kiddos (and yourself) to enjoy them. These zucchini breakfast cookies are:
- Soft & chewy. The combination of oats, zucchini, and banana give them the perfect texture that still holds together well.
- Naturally sweetened. You’ll get natural sweetness from the ripe banana and little maple syrup. Yes chocolate chips that are added; however, the cookies themselves aren’t overly sweet.
- Easily vegan. That’s right, there aren’t any eggs in this recipe! You can also opt for vegan chocolate chips if you’d like.
Ingredients in this zucchini breakfast cookies
These cuties couldn’t be easier to make and use super simple ingredients that you likely have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Flour: feel free to use whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour to get a boost of whole grains.
- Oats: we’re using old-fashioned rolled oats for that perfect chewy texture.
- Banana: mashed, ripe banana adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the cookies.
- Zucchini: boost of veggies? Check. Extra moisture? Check! Shredded zucchini does it all.
- Coconut oil: a little melted and cooled coconut oil also keeps the cookies moist and chewy. Nut allergy? Feel free to use butter or vegan butter.
- Maple syrup: you’ll just need a couple tablespoons of pure maple syrup for sweetness.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt!
Can I make them gluten-free?
I think you could replace the whole wheat flour with gluten free oat flour and get great results. I would probably use 1 cup oat flour. An all-purpose gluten free flour would also work well.
Our favorite mix-ins
These are optional, but I love changing it up when I make these zucchini banana cookies by adding:
- Chocolate chips (okay, I always add these)
- Chopped walnuts
- Chia seeds or flaxseed meal for extra fiber and protein
A sprinkle of sea salt on top of the cookies makes them extra special!
Tips for baking with zucchini
- Use the small side of your grater so that you get perfect shreds of zucchini. That way no one will be able to tell there’s a veggie in these cookies! A simple cheese grater will also work well.
- Shred the zucchini first, measure it out, then squeeze off excess moisture and continue with the recipe.
- Squeeze out your zucchini shreds as much as possible using a cheesecloth, clean dish towel or paper towel to get all of the excess liquid out. This is VERY important so that the cookies aren’t too moist.
- Feel free to shred a bunch of zucchini and freeze it for later! Follow my tips and tricks here.
Choose your cookie thickness
If you want large puffy, thick cookies, do not flatten and bake immediately. Otherwise you can very slightly flatten each dough ball with the palm of your hand. Up to you!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: feel free to keep these zucchini cookies at room temperature for the first day or two, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge to preserve freshness.
- To freeze: make sure the cookies are completely cooled, and then transfer them to an airtight container lined with wax or parchment paper or freezer-safe bag before storing them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy! Get all of our tips & tricks for freezing cookies here.
More breakfast recipes you’ll love
- Peanut Butter Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal
- Kid-Friendly 4-Ingredient Banana Pancakes
- Coconut Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie (with sneaky veggies)
- Blender Banana Spinach Muffins (kid-friendly!)
- Summer Garden Crustless Zucchini Pie
Get all of my breakfast recipes here!
I hope you love these zucchini breakfast cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Vegan Banana Zucchini Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- ¾ cup (85g) whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup (95g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (from about 2 medium bananas)
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture with a paper towel*
- 1 to 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (can also use honey if not vegan)
- ¼ cup (56g) melted and cooled coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (90g) chocolate chips, vegan if desired
- Optional mix-ins & toppings:
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds or flaxseed meal
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Prep your pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Before you mix your wet ingredients, make sure you have squeezed your shredded zucchini of excess moisture with a paper towel or cheesecloth. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate large bowl, mix together mashed banana, shredded zucchini, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Make the dough. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. The dough will seem wet and sticky, but that's okay -- don't worry!
- Scoop the dough & bake. Use ¼ cup to measure out dough and drop on baking sheet, placing cookie dough 2 inches apart from one another. If you want large puffy, thick cookies, do not flatten and bake immediately. Otherwise you can very slightly flatten each dough ball with the palm of your hand. Bake for 13-16 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.
- Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 11 to 14 cookies.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on August 23rd, 2016, and republished with new photos on August 16th, 2025.
This is basically the best week EVER. Loving all of these easy and delicious recipes! 🙂
Thank you so much, Marina!!
I just made these because I found a couple of zucchinis in the fridge and was looking for something that wasn’t too sweet. I made them exactly as in the recipe except I only had white flour – turned out great, like a muffookiecake. I might add almond butter to the mashed banana if I make them again.
Oh my gosh, how awesome is it that it’s Zucchini Week on your blog and I just so happened to have scored a zucchini the size of a small dog at my local farmers market on Sunday?! 😀 I made your chocolate chunk zucchini bread last night (but into muffins instead of a loaf) and it’s amazing, but I still have SO much zucchini – I just might have to make these tonight!
Whoo hoo — hope you do!
Do you think this will bake well in a toaster oven? This looks amazing and so yummy looking!
Great question! I’m honestly not sure but you could give it a try!
This recipe is so simple and delicious. Thanks for introducing me to these delicious cookies. Yum!!!
It looks healthy and tasty. Thanks Monique for sharing such an inspiring recipe.
Ooh! I was looking for a recipe like this! Switch up chocolate chips for raisins, add pumpkin seeds instead of nuts and I can send the kids to school or sports with these! (no chocolate or nuts allowed at schools or arenas/community centres here) Hearty, healthy, yummy! Thank you!!!
I loooooove these!!!! I sub the regular flour for almond flour and leave out the maple syrup and they are delish!! My toddler and hubby love them!!! I cook them about 5 minutes longer because of the density of the almond flour, but they are perfect! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Oh wow! I just made these and was blown away at how great they were! I followed the recipe exactly, they were like a delicious mix between banana bread, cookies and muffins. Chewy, light, and just the perfect amount of sweet, you wouldn’t even know there was zucchini in there. I’ll be making these for as long as I can get zucchini this summer. Even my picky boyfriend loved them. Great, great recipe!
Whooo hoo! Glad you loved the cookies, Erin!
Could you use almond or coconut flour? These look delicious!
I just made these- subbed gluten free flour and a little ground flax for the flour- delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Didn’t have zucchini, so I added one egg in place of it! Obviously this does not make it vegan, but they were still delicious!!
Is it possible to sub shredded carrots for the zucchini of which I have none?
Made these today for school lunches. Kids loved them so much I had to quickly individually wrap and freeze or they would have disappeared for sure. Will definitely go in lunch kit baking rotation.
do you think I could form this into say an 8×8 dish & bake into bars? obviously my cooking time would vary but Its just a thought I was having…
I think that would be great! I haven’t tried it out, so just be sure to check the cooking temp & time.
Do you think you could substitute applesauce or something for the oil? I’m trying to be oil free.
Hi Debbie! Unfortunately applesauce won’t yield the same results here as the consistency will be off.
I could not find anywhere in the recipe that gave nutrition values like calorie, carb, etc counts. as a diabetic and weight watcher person I need these to figure into my very important insulin and calorie and point value tracker. Can I have these emailed to me please because I will never figure out how to get back to where I am now to read it? [email protected]. I would really appreciate it please. I am making these today so going by guess and golly for my insulin.
Hi Carol! The nutrition info is right in the recipe here 🙂 Just scroll down to the instructions and you’ll see the nutrition on the side!
I have a garden and lots of zucchini. Will try this for sure
Perfect! I hope you love them!
These were wonderful, will definitely make again.
Glad you enjoyed!
Mine turned out amazing.. I used the nuts and chia!
Yum!!
I added an egg and reduced the chocolate to 1/3 cup and they were excellent! 🙂
Perfect!!
These are amazing. I followed the recipe exact. The best part is that I don’t feel bad giving it to my kids! Thanks for sharing..
So happy to hear! The perfect healthy treat for kiddos 🙂
Oooh I just made these!!!! I added sweet potato instead of banana and the sweetness was perfect 🙂 Also added cocoa powder to hide the zucchini in case my friends freak out. Love this recipe and thanks for sharing!!
Yum!! So glad you loved these!
These cookies are delicious! I doubled the batch so I did 3/4 cp almond flour and 3/4 cp white whole wheat flour. Followed the rest of the recipe exactly as written and they are delicious! I feel like I could’ve gone less on the maple syrup because they were super sweet, not complaining, but my next batch of them I will lighten up on the maple syrup and continue to make this recipe for sure.
Glad those adjustments worked out! Love these for a healthy treat or snack <3
Delicious and nutritious. I toasted the walnuts, used a generous teaspoon cinnamon, added the chia and used Trader Joe’s 72% cacao bar (chopped), which added depth of flavor rather than extra sweetness. Even if you don’t have an abundance of zucchini in your garden, these cookies are so good it’s worth getting a zucchini from your local farm stand just to make the recipe.
That sounds fabulous! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I just made these because I had a zucchini that was needing to be used up. You were not exaggerating when you said they’re the best ever. I made them exactly as you wrote the recipe, and I can’t think of any way I could improve them. Thank you! I’m saving this one!
So happy to hear that Paula! Perfect way to use up zucchini 🙂
Love these! I’ve started playing with the flours. I use 3/8 cup of coconut flour and 3/8 cup of whole wheat flour. Changes the texture a little bit imparts nice flavor. Also using zest from one orange. I make some version of these cookies every week.
Changing the flours will definitely change the texture, but glad those swaps work out for you! Love the idea of adding orange zest.
Blown away by how delicious & moist these are! They are an amazing cross between a banana muffin, bread and cookie. I subbed almond flour for the whole wheat flour because it’s what I had on hand and added a few tablespoons of ground flax. Will definitely make these again!
Glad that swap worked out for you! The perfect healthy treat.
Delicious!! Love these cookies!
So happy to hear that!
LOVE these cookies and have been making them forever. Do you think I could add a bit of peanut butter or nut butter to the batter for extra protein for a picky toddler?
These cookies are amazing! I added the walnuts per the recipe and also threw in a tablespoon of flax meal. They turned out great. Will definitely make them again. I also shredded some extra zucchini in my food processor to squeeze out and freeze in one cup portions so I can make them easily in the future!
Delicious and so easy to make! My kids loved them. Had to make a second batch immediately. Didn’t have the right four, so I followed suggestion for oat flour (1 cup). Worked great!
These have quickly become one of my new favorite cookies. They’re super easy to make, delicious, and healthy. I often add one to my savory breakfasts. I also use the new Trader Joe’s 1:1 GF flour and they come out perfectly. Highly recommend!
Soft goey oatmeal cookies! These are sooo good! I made mine a bit thicker (so without pressing down the dome) and it makes it even yummier 🙂
Nice! I’m so happy they turned out well!
Such delicious biscuits! Have the most amazing texture and taste, can’t stop eating them!
Hi! Do you think I can add a scoop of protein powder without affecting texture? (Nuzest)
It might cause it to be a bit dense, but it all depends on the protein powder. Let me know how it turns out and enjoy!
So perfect! So good! Everyone loves these!..small and big children, toddlers and grown alike..and the husband.
I have only been able to get 11 cookies out of these both times i have made it…even with all the add-ins listed and everything measured correctly. Who knows why!..but they are delicious all the same.
Ahh yay! I am so glad these are a hit for the whole family, Tara. I am not sure why you only got 11 cookies? What size did you make them?
I made these cookies tonight and they are delicious! I don’t bake with refined sugars so these cookies are perfect. I only used 1 tablespoon of maple syrup and no chocolate chips. I like hiding vegetables in cookies because they’re that much more healthy . I will make these again. Thank you.
I strongly dislike bananas, but these sound so good! Is there anything I could replace the banana with?
I’ve only made them as is, sorry! I’m not sure what I would replace the banana with.
There appears to be a discrepancy between the cup and weight measurements given for the flour. 38g would be about 1/4 cup, but the recipe calls for 3/4 cups?
Thank you for the catch! It is 85g – I’ve updated the recipe.
I made these with one cup of oat flour, and added one TBSP of flax meal. They were fantastic! I love how big and thicky and fluffy they were! I really hate dealing with squeezing out the zucchini, but trust me, this recipe is worth it!
Definitely worth it! Glad you loved them!
If I don’t have white whole wheat or pastry flour can I do half all purpose, half Whole wheat?
Also, can the banana be replaced with applesauce?
Yes that flour swap will work! I haven’t tested these with applesauce, so I’m not sure how it will change the texture.
These were absolutely delicious! I used butter as I didn’t have coconut oil, and added the tablespoon of chia seeds, along with using mini choc chips (probably could use less than 1/2 cup with the minis!) I’d like to try using applesauce instead of the oil or butter next time because there absolutely will be a next time! I appreciated that these did not have a nut butter in them, as it kept them a bit lighter and just what I was looking for. If you are debating making these, you definitely should, you won’t regret it! Simple ingredients, quick to make and absolutely delicious!
So happy you loved these! Let me know if you give it a try with applesauce and how it turns out 🙂
I was searching for a breakfast cookie recipe during my first trimester and came upon these, and WOW! I didn’t have zucchini but substituted dates and they worked fantastically. This is going to be a repeat for me from now on, thank you!
Perfect! So glad you found these ones!
My daughter made these when I was visiting, I didn’t expect to like them but loved them and have made a batch myself now I’m home. I added the chia seeds as an extra, they are so tasty. I think they would be nice to swap the chocolate out for blueberries too.
Amazing! Perfect breakfast or snack 🙂 Try out my blueberry breakfast cookies, too!
SOOOOOOOOO good and easy to eat en route to work, or as a snack on the way home lol. Looking forward to adding all kinds of different goodies, like dried blueberries and hemp seeds and more! Prep time was longer for me cuz, well, it usually is, but that’s ok. I’m no chef. Will be meal prepping these and freezing for dang sure. Thanks again!
Absolutely! So glad you loved these!
Ive tried this and LOVED! But im starting my sourdough journey and wondered how or if i could incorporate discard in this. Anyone tried that before?
So glad you love them! I’ve never tried using sourdough discard in here!
Due to a job change and a long commute, grabbing breakfast has been a challenge & I’ve been skipping it entirely. I’m also not much of a baker, but I took a chance on these and WOW!!!!! SO SO good!!! And easy to chomp en route ! So moist & gooey that a napkin is necessary, & that’s not a bad thing. Thanks again for a healthy yummy option! AK has become my GO-TO for tasty, easy-ish recipes. Thank you SOOOOOO much!!!
I’m so glad you found these! The perfect on-the-go breakfast 🙂
Can you use regular all purpose flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour?
That should work fine!
Deeelish!!!! Thank you for sharing. The only change I made was substituting gluten free flour (1:1) and added a tad bit of hemp seeds. So good… we will make them again and again. 🥰
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
Delicious. Soft and just the amount of sweetness. Perfect to eat alongside my protein shake for a satisfying breakfast.
So happy you enjoyed these! They’re one of my favorites 🙂
My daughter and I love these! I used oat flour in place of any other flour and add some chopped pecans or almonds for added texture. Great for breakfast or an afternoon snack for anyone, but especially great for those on a dairy and gluten free diet.
Yum!!!!
Perfect! I’m glad they’re a favorite!