Welcome to day 2 of zucchini week! Yesterday I gave you a delish bread recipe & today we’re all about cookies that taste like banana bread. Whoo hoo!
Since I couldn’t remember the last time I gave you a cookie recipe, I decided that today was the day to make it happen. We’re starting off with these BIG healthy VEGAN zucchini oatmeal cookies studded with ooey-gooey chocolate chips, whole grains & banana.
HELL YES!
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Dare I say that these are healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast? That’s how I eat them anyway. Two eggs + a warm banana zucchini oatmeal cookie dunked in vanilla almond milk. Mmmmm hmmmm. Sounds heavenly, right?
I can assure you that it really, really is.
For over a year I’ve wanted to make zucchini cookies but put off baking them because too many other zucchini goodies were dancing around in this brain of mine. Forgive me? They’re here now and ready to be devoured.
SOFT & CHEWY TEXTURE:Â These cookies are soft & chewy thanks to the oats, zucchini and banana. They basically taste like banana bread cookies, which of course who could resist?
NATURALLY SWEETENED: These cookies are sweetened with banana and just two tablespoons of maple syrup. Yes chocolate chips that are added; however, the cookies themselves aren’t overly sweet. If you want you can skip adding the maple syrup. I tested them both ways and liked the version with a tiny bit of added sweetener better.
I’ve included some adaptations in the recipe notes below including how to make them gluten free, if desired.
Hope you love these cookies & are loving zucchini week! I’ll be back with another zucchini recipe tomorrow and every day this week so be sure to check in. xo!
More healthy cookie recipes to try:
Nutrition-Rich Omega 3 Blueberry Breakfast Cookies (gluten free + vegan!)
Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies (made with coconut oil + dairy free!)
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies
Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies (vegan!)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup old-fashoned rolled oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (from about 2 medium bananas)
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture with a paper towel*
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (can also use honey if not vegan)
- 1/4 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, vegan if desired
- Optional: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- Optional: 1 tablespoon of chia seeds
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
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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!
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In a separate large bowl, mix together mashed banana, shredded zucchini, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla extract until well combined.
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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!
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Use 1/4 cup to measure out dough and drop on baking sheet, placing cookie dough 2 inches apart from one another. Slightly flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake for 13-16 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the edges.
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Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 14 cookies.
Recipe Notes
To make cookies 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.
If you have a coconut allergy, feel free to use grapeseed oil or light olive oil instead! A vegan butter would also work well.
Nutrition information does not include chia seeds or walnuts.
Cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Simply place in freezer safe ziploc bag or container. Thaw or reheat to enjoy!
Want to make these cookies more nutritious? Add in 2 tablespoons of chia seeds or a flax egg to increase fiber & protein!
Nutrition
If you make this recipe or any other from Ambitious Kitchen, I’d love to see your creations! Snap a photos, upload it to Instagram and tag #ambitiouskitchen!
57 comments
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? carolself@charter.net. 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!