This *might* just be my favorite cookie recipe I’ve ever made, which is saying something because I have over 50 on my site.
I tested these insanely delicious salted brown butter banana chocolate chunk cookies not once, not twice, but literally 5 times when I first made them because I knew they were going to be something special. And OMG. Truly exceptional is the only way to describe them. They have those perfect edges with a fudgy, chewy middle, and pack in the flavor from caramel-like brown butter, sweet banana, and rich dark chocolate in every bite.
These cookies were love at first bite — my whole team and family instantly became obsessed. They’re truly a MUST bake!
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Ingredients in these banana chocolate chunk cookies
These deliciously fudgy brown butter banana cookies use simple ingredients and pack delicious flavor. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Butter: you already know we’re browning salted butter to give the cookies that rich, nutty, caramel-like flavor.
- Banana: you’ll add real mashed banana right to the dough for moisture and sweetness.
- Sugar: we’re using a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar to sweeten the cookies.
- Flaxseed meal: just a bit of flaxseed meal helps the cookies bake up without an egg. Don’t skip it!
- Flour: you’ll need regular all-purpose flour to bake these cookies.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the vanilla extract, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Chocolate: chop up a dark chocolate bar to get those beautiful, melty chocolate chunks. I like Lindt 70% dark chocolate!
- To garnish: as always, sprinkle your cookies with a little flaky sea salt for that sweet and salty magic.
Wait, there’s no egg?
You read that correctly! The combination of mashed banana and flaxseed meal acts as the binder in these cookies. So they’re completely egg-free! I haven’t tested these cookies using an egg, so I can’t recommend swapping the egg in for the flaxseed meal.
Can I use a frozen banana?
Sure! Just remember to thaw the banana and drain off the liquid before adding it to the recipe.
Can I make them gluten-free or dairy-free?
- To make gluten-free: please note that I have NOT tested these banana chocolate chunk cookies using a gluten-free flour, but I suggest trying it with a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour if you’d like! A few readers in the comments have used this flour with success!
- To make dairy-free: use a vegan / dairy-free butter instead — you’ll simply melt it instead of browning it, as most vegan butters do not brown.
Make these brown butter banana cookies your own
I love the puddles of dark chocolate paired with the sweet banana flavor in this recipe, but you could also:
- Swap the chocolate chunks for chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or even butterscotch chips
- Add 1/2 cup of toasted nuts (walnuts would be delicious)
- Skip the mix-ins and top the cookies with my famous Peanut Butter Frosting, my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, or my salted brown butter cream cheese frosting from this cake recipe (you’ll like need to halve the recipes)
Glorious banana chocolate chunk cookies in 5 steps
- Brown the butter. Start by browning your salted butter in a skillet until it’s amber in color and smells nice and nutty. Scrape ALL of the brown bits into a bowl to cool. Get my tips for browning butter here!
- Mix the wet ingredients. Mix all of your wet ingredients in a large bowl until the mixture looks like caramel.
- Finish the dough. Add the dry ingredients right into your bowl and mix until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Time to chill! That’s right, you’ll chill the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours before baking.
- Bake, cool & devour. Scoop your cold dough into balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then bake at 375 degrees (this temp is important!) Pull them out right when the edges start turning golden brown, then sprinkle with sea salt and cool before devouring.
Don’t forget my cookie-baking tips
Reminder that you’ll find all of my best tips & tricks for making perfect cookies in the Ultimate Guide to Cookie Baking e-book! A few key takeaways for these banana chocolate chunk cookies:
- Substitute at your own risk. Please be sure to follow the recipe as written unless substitutes are noted in the notes section of the recipe. Changing ingredients will likely change the texture and/or flavor of the cookies, so do so at your own risk.
- Use room temp ingredients. After browning your butter, set it aside until it’s cooled to room temperature so that it doesn’t affect the texture of the cookies.
- Use fresh baking soda. Make sure your baking soda is fresh to ensure that these cookies bake up properly.
- Measure your ingredients correctly. In this recipe, it’s VERY important to measure out the mashed banana instead of just mashing and using 1 full banana. I weighed the ingredients for these cookies, as you’ll see in the full recipe below. If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use this method for measuring flour.
- CHILL the dough. I know it seems tedious, but you really do want to chill your dough for at least 2 hours so that the cookies do not come out flat!
Storing & freezing tips
- To store: store these brown butter banana cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.
My favorite cookie-baking tools
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Cookie dough scoop
- Cooling rack
Get all of my kitchen essentials here!
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Taylor Swift’s Soft Chai Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
- The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat
- Vanilla Brown Sugar Oatmeal Latte Cookies with Espresso Icing
- The Best Bakery-Style Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Teddy Graham Marshmallow Banana Cookies
Get all of my cookie recipes here!
I hope you love these banana chocolate chunk 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
Salted Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113g) salted butter
- ⅓ cup (95g) mashed banana (from 1 medium ripe banana) YOU MUST MEASURE THIS OUT
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53g) packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (DO NOT SKIP THIS!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ⅔ cup (200g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3.5 ounces dark chocolate (Lindt 70% dark chocolate melts beautifully in these!), coarsely chopped into chunks
- To garnish:
- Flaky sea salt (I like Maldon)
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk constantly; the butter will begin to crackle, then eventually foam. After a few minutes, the butter will begin to turn a golden amber color. As soon as the butter turns an amber brown brown and gives off a nutty aroma, 5 to 8 minutes total, remove from the heat and transfer to a medium bowl to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. MAKE SURE YOU SCRAPE ALL THE BROWN BITS INTO THE BOWL WITH A RUBBER SPATULA! Every little yummy bit counts!
- Mix the wet ingredients: Measure out ⅓ cup (95g) mashed banana. If you have excess mashed banana, you can discard it. It is important to not use any more than ⅓ cup or these cookies will not bake up properly. (Trust me, I tested the recipe 5 times!) After it is mashed, beat the banana in the bowl with the brown butter using a fork for 30 seconds until virtually no lumps remain. Next, add in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flaxseed meal and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and the mixture resembles caramel.
- Add the dry ingredients: In the same bowl with the wet ingredients, add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the dough with a wooden spoon until well combined. Next, gently fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Chill the dough: Cover the bowl with the dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Once ready to bake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (Again, I want to make sure we know the proper temp is 375 degrees F.!) 🙂 Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Bake: Once the oven is preheated, make your dough balls (you want to have cold dough going onto the baking sheet). Measure about 1 ½-2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball, placing dough balls at least 3 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown. Mine were perfect at 10 minutes every time. Remove from the oven, immediately sprinkle with sea salt, then allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on December 6th, 2024, and republished on March 7th, 2026.
Hi! Would we be able to use frozen and then thawed banana, or would that mess it up?
That should work!
Oh my God these look to die for! Monique, do you have a suggestion for a gluten-free version of this baby?!?
They’re incredible! I haven’t tested a gluten-free version, but feel free to try using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour and let me know how it goes.
Instead of the flax egg, can I just use a regular egg? How many eggs?
I’ve only tested the recipe with the mashed banana and flaxseed meal, so I wouldn’t recommend changing it!
Hey Monique! Thank you for this recipe! I’m making these today to bring into work tomorrow! I just wanted to point out that your written recipe does not mention where to use the browned butter. I am assuming that it goes in with the rest of the wet ingredients in the first step of the recipe, but I just wanted to double check?
I am hyper tempted to add peanut butter into this batter but I know you said not to make any modifications or else it wouldn’t come out with the right consistency. So I’m going to go ahead and bake these as written 100% and I will maybe add the peanut butter frosting like you suggested. I might do a second batch with some peanut butter added in, or maybe ground up some peanuts to make my own peanut flour and mix that in with the all-purpose flour to give a peanut butter taste as well. I’m a huge fan of the damn good banana chocolate peanut butter cake on your website and I was really excited because I thought this might be like a cookie version of that! They still look and sound amazing though, so I’m really excited to try these.
Hi Kate! Thanks so much for your note — I’ve updated for clarity 🙂 Let me know if you gave these a try with peanut butter frosting!
I made these today and suspect it will not be the last time- they are DELICIOUS. Love the addition of banana…it vaguely tastes like banana bread but feels more decadent. And the Maldon salt is exactly what any good cookie needs to balance the sweetness. This was my first time making brown butter too and I can say with certainty that I’m a convert! A++ recipe. Thank you, Monique! You strike yet again.
The best combo! So happy you loved these!
These are incredible! I used the weight measurements and they turned out perfect.
Amazing! Glad you loved them 🙂
I had a banana to use up so I made these cookies and they are to die for! So soft and chewy – my husband also loves them 🙂 we also love the addition of the salt on top for a sweet and salty kick!
Amazing! So glad you both loved them!
If banana bread and chocolate chip cookies had a baby, this would be it. So damn good!
The best!!
Delish ! I was skeptical about the flaxseed meal- and they got really hard after refrigerating (I did for almost 24 hours) but turned out great. Tastes just like banana bread.
So glad you enjoyed!
Holy moly! These cookies are aptly named – they are truly exceptional. I would give more than 5 stars if possible. I bake cookies pretty often and my husband said these are the absolute best cookies I’ve ever made. But I do have to warn you, they are very addicting. I am eating my fourth as I write this, so beware of the deliciousness!
So glad you loved them!! My new favorites 🙂
Great cookie! I used 1:1 gluten free flour and they came out great.
Perfect! I’m glad that worked out well 🙂
I have made these 3 times this month. I cannot get over how effing delicious they are. Perfectly soft yet chewy. So much chocolate which is incredible imo. They require a little patience but soooo worth it. Follow the recipe notes. I made them gluten free by using 1 cup gluten free 1-to1 flour and 2/3 cup oat flour. Like I said, I’ve made them 3 times and it has worked every time. THANK YOU for this incredible recipe.
So good!! Glad you love them as much as I do!
These cookies are VERY appropriately named. They are exceptional! I’ve been making chocoalte chip cookies for my family for DECADES and typically any time I make any variation I am met with a few comments and grimaces and questions about why I didn’t make my “usual ones”. Both my husband and (adult) son said they were delicious and wanted me to make them again. I plan to make a GF batch for my daughter with the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour. Thanks for always creating delicious things for us to eat, Monique!!
Came back to add that I’ve added a (generous) 1/2 cup of toasted walnut pieces and they were delicious!
Amazing!! So happy you gave these a try, and the toasted walnuts sound delicious!
These cookies are delicious! The banana added great flavor, and you couldn’t tell that there was no egg. I used half chocolate chunks and half chocolate chips.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!
Followed the recipe exactly. Cookies were amazing. Cannot describe how delicious and satisfying they were. Found a new family favourite!
So happy to hear that!
my favorite cookies ever. add in more cinnamon, I do an egg instead of flax, and be careful to measure the flour correctly and not overmeasure,
Absolutely! Glad these are a favorite!
This cookie batter tastes amazing. The banana and cinnamon flavors really come through after chilling the dough for a few hours. I ended up using one regular egg and only about 2.5 oz of 85% Ghiradelli brand chocolate. Everything else was to recipe specs and I weighed the ingredients. I baked a few cookies and put the rest of the dough is in the freezer for another day. Cookies baked perfectly at 13 minutes. The taste is unique and perfectly delicious. Really happy I tried this recipe.
Amazing! So happy you gave this one a try!
I made this with gluten-free flour (King Arthur’s 1-1) and they were amazing! I did measure by weight as recommended & let the dough sit over night in the refrigerator. What a fabulous recipe!
Oops – forgot to click 5 stars!
So glad you loved these!!
Absolutely delicious!! Perfect banana cookies. Everytime I’ve made it before turned out soft/muffin like but this is PERFECT. Nice and gooey with perfect amount of crunch. DELISH
So good!! Glad you loved them!
O. M. G…. 🤤
I’m so excited to try these! I love all of your recipes. Would granulated date sugar work instead or regular sugar?
I haven’t tested it, so I’m not 100% sure how the flavor will come out. Let me know if you try it!
Is flaxseed meal and ground flaxseed the same thing?
Thanks!
Yes, it should be! Linking it here so that you can see what flaxseed meal is.
These were AMAZING! Best cookies I’ve ever made. Followed the recipe as written and everything turned out so great!
So happy to hear that!!
I must say I did not like this recipe and i usually love all your recipes but these were soooo sweet. Make sure to not overtake or you are going to have rock hard cookies
Sorry to hear that you didn’t love these! They are a more indulgent cookie, but everyone’s sweet preferences are different.
This is my first recipe from Ambitous Kitchen but after this success, I’ll definitely be coming back for more! I was looking for a recipe to use for my browning bananas and I wanted something different from banana bread. My period had me craving a chewy, gooey cookie and boy did this recipe not disappoint! I was shocked at the ease of the ingredients, especially that I didn’t need an egg. Also I couldn’t believe the deep banana flavor came from only one banana!
After browning the butter, I chucked all the wet ingredients into my stand mixer for probably a lot longer than necessary (6-7 min?)- my hands were full making dinner simultaneously. Then I added the dry ingredients and barely mixed. Instead of mixing in the chocolate, I rolled the balls in chopped chocolate chunks and shards. The result was perfectly caramelized, chewy, slightly crispy, PERFECT cookies!
For the rest of the cookies, I’ve decided to roll them in other ingredients and freeze them for another day. I have some rolled in praline rose (from Lyon) and some rolled in raisins and oatmeal.
I’m sure these will be just as delicious when baked because the base cookie is absolutely delicious.
Amazing! So glad you loved these!!
These look incredible! Your recipe for brown butter chocolate chips is my favorite so I know I’ll like these. I’m trying to eat fewer eggs whenever possible, so this swap is great.
One question: if I want to add oatmeal, how much would you suggest, and would I need to adjust the flour? (I guess that was two questions.) Thanks in advance!
Great question, I haven’t tried an oatmeal version but I think you could sub 3/4 cup of oats and do 1 cup of flour. If you do so, please report back on how they turn out — and definitely use old fashioned rolled oats 🙂
Being completely honest here, I’ve never been a big banana fan. But dang it Monique, you may have converted me with these cookies! I ate three as soon as they were cool enough to handle 🙈 and I’m thrilled I now have a recipe besides banana bread that I can make with extra ripe bananas!
So good! The banana is subtle in here 🙂 I’m glad you loved them!
These taste exactly like banana bread but in cookie form – delicious!!
Absolutely! Glad you loved them!
Hi! For the butter measurement, is that for the butter before you browned it or the amount of browned butter you need? I know for experience that when you brown butter you lose a little bit of it.
Hi! I measure the butter before I brown it 🙂
These are delicious! I found out by accident that you can double the butter and banana and still make a delicious cookie. They turned out more cakey but crispy because of the butter. I was making them with my 3-year-old and intended to double the recipe and we doubled the banana and butter but then got distracted and followed the rest of the recipe without doubling it. I thought the batter looked thin but after refrigerating it it looked okay. When the cookies came out of the oven I realized our mistake but let them cool and they actually turned out great anyway!
Whoops! I’m glad they still turned out delicious!
These are the BEST chocolate chip cookies. I’ve made them at least 10 times since Christmas (whoops haha!). Follow directions exactly and pull out of oven around 9-10 mins. They are moist, flavorful and absolutely delicious! I started adding allspice and a little cardamom because of love those spices. The original recipe is 10/10 though. My Mom is even obsessed and she’s a homemaker with her own cookie recipes! Very, very well done AK!!
So good!! Glad to hear they’re a favorite!
These are fantastic and super easy to make. Will definitely be making these again. I didn’t have oat flour so used rice flour instead.
I’m glad that worked out well! Perfect dessert 🙂
These were absolutely delicious! For anyone else who is GF, I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour and they turned out perfectly.
Love it! Glad you enjoyed!
Just made and these truly are incredible!! Followed directions exactly and measures ingredients and they came out perfectly! The flavor is SO GOOD! Thank you!
Love it! So happy you enjoyed!
Do we use dark or light brown sugar please?
Either will work! Dark will have more of a molasses flavor.
Take it from me: quadruple the batch. Freeze the dough in batches. Amazing cookies whenever you want them. It’s our family’s favorite cookie recipe.
YES great idea! So happy to hear it’s a favorite 🙂
I made these for a friend and his response was “Those were the best freaking cookies I’ve ever eaten” , except he didn’t use freakin 😉 . wow. wow. wow. Thank you!!!!
These cookies were delicious, I’ll definitely be making them again. I subbed chocolate chips for the dark chocolate because it’s what I had on hand. The whole family loved them.
Perfect! Glad they were a hit!
Hi, could you do similar to your brown butter chocolate chip cookies in that you chill the dough for 10 minutes, then scoop them into balls, and then let chill the 2+ hours? Thanks.
Yes!
There is something magic about these…the banana flavor is odd at first, but I can’t stop eating them lol. They may have the PERFECT cookie texture- crisp edges and an incredibly chewy center. (I’ve made these 3 times and for each of twox9 cookie trays I go about 10 min and 30 sec).
I’m always looking to reduce sugar and I’ve cut the granulated sugar by 1/4 cup and to me the cookies were perfectly sweet.
I always do a mix of dark and semisweet when I bake and that worked well in these. The batch with the guittard super cookie chips in them was my fave…puddles of chocolate.
Also make yourself wait till they’re cool although they are delicious warm they get better as they cool!
Agreed on the magic! So happy you love them!
These were an instant hit among my friends + great new addition to my baking rotation!
So happy to hear that!
I am always looking for recipes to use up old bananas and this one if my new favorite. So good jd so easy to make with my toddler’s “help”
The perfect treat!!
So, as a (mostly) savory food blog photographer, I chose to make these cookies because of three things: the name, the photos, and how incredibly simple the directions were. Making and shooting really complicated recipes every week makes you crave simple but solid. I also LOVED all of the extra notes about how many times you tested the recipe and basically all the yelling at us to follow your recipe exactly. I can 100% appreciate and relate to this. I just want to say that these cookies are f***ing phenomenal and if calories weren’t a thing that could destroy your health I would eat these with every meal. If I could bathe in these cookies, I would. If I could barter these cookies to receive automotive services, I would. Basically, these cookies are almost the equivalent to winning the lotto. Thank you for this recipe and I will definitely make them 4 million more times.
YES love that! So glad you enjoyed (and got to have something sweet to pair with your savory work!)
WOW!!! I had these on my list to try for a long time and finally got around to it today. Your recipe notes are perfection! These cookies are so incredible! I think they get even better with time. I will definitely be making these again.