Delicious & Easy Banana Bread Cookies with Sweet Vanilla Glaze
Welcome to your new favorite cookie recipe! These Banana Bread Cookies are the epitome of comfort food, transforming your beloved classic banana bread into perfectly portioned, soft, and irresistibly sweet cookies. Each bite offers that familiar, comforting flavor of ripe bananas, elevated by a delicate hint of spice and crowned with a luscious, simple vanilla glaze. Imagine everything you adore about a warm slice of homemade banana bread, but in a handheld, delightfully chewy cookie form – perfect for sharing, snacking, or a quick breakfast treat.
These Banana Bread Cookies offer an easy and portable way to enjoy that distinct banana bread goodness. Crafted with real, ripe bananas, they boast a naturally sweet and moist texture that is simply unmatched. Topped with a heavenly vanilla icing, these cookies are not just a sweet treat; they’re an experience you’ll find yourself craving time and again. Forget the fuss of slicing a loaf; these individual cookies are ready for grab-and-go enjoyment, making them ideal for school lunches, office snacks, or a delightful addition to any dessert spread.
Simple & Irresistible Banana Bread Cookies for Every Occasion
While a fresh loaf of banana bread is a classic for good reason, turning it into these delightful little cookies is like creating fluffy, pillowy muffin tops of pure deliciousness. Every bite of these easy banana bread cookies promises a taste of home. The soft, cake-like texture, combined with the rich banana flavor and aromatic spices, creates a truly unique cookie that stands out. The magic truly happens once the smooth vanilla glaze is added, providing the perfect counterpoint of sweetness and moisture. Trust us, resisting these until the glaze sets will be your biggest challenge, but the reward is absolutely worth the wait. They’re fantastic for bake sales, potlucks, or simply as a comforting dessert after a long day.
Key Ingredients for Perfect Banana Bread Cookies
Crafting the perfect banana bread cookie starts with a selection of high-quality ingredients. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need and why each component is crucial for achieving that signature soft, moist, and flavorful result:
- Shortening: You’ll need ¾ cup of butter-flavored shortening for these cookies. Shortening plays a vital role in keeping the cookies incredibly moist while helping them maintain their shape beautifully during baking. While you can opt for a half real butter and half shortening blend, we strongly advise against using all butter. Butter has a lower melting point and a higher water content than shortening, which can significantly alter the cookie’s texture, leading to a flatter, crispier cookie rather than the desired soft, cake-like consistency.
- Brown Sugar: The addition of 1 ½ cups of packed brown sugar is essential. Brown sugar not only provides a deep, rich sweetness but also contributes to the cookies’ moistness and chewy texture, enhancing that classic banana bread flavor. The molasses in brown sugar adds a depth that white sugar cannot replicate, making your cookies exceptionally flavorful.
- Eggs: Three large eggs are necessary to bind all the ingredients together effectively. Eggs act as a leavening agent and an emulsifier, providing structure, richness, and helping the cookies rise and achieve their airy, fluffy interior. Ensure your eggs are at room temperature for better incorporation into the dough.
- Bananas: For an undeniably strong and authentic banana flavor, use 2 cups of mashed ripe bananas. This typically equates to about 4-5 medium-sized very ripe bananas. The riper your bananas, the sweeter and more intense the flavor will be, which is key for a truly delicious banana bread cookie. We’ll discuss how to identify the perfect ripeness further down!
- All-Purpose Flour: The structural base of our cookie dough recipe is 3 cups of all-purpose flour. Make sure to measure your flour correctly by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off with a straight edge to avoid a dense or dry cookie.
- Leavening Agents: To ensure your cookies puff up beautifully and have that wonderfully soft rise, you’ll need 1 tablespoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of baking soda. Baking powder provides initial lift, while baking soda reacts with the acidic bananas and brown sugar to give a further boost in volume and tenderness. Using both creates the ideal airy texture.
- Salt: A mere ½ teaspoon of salt in the cookie dough is crucial for enhancing and balancing all the sweet flavors. It brings out the best in the bananas and spices, preventing the cookies from tasting overly sweet and adding a subtle complexity.
- Spices: To infuse our cookies with that quintessential banana bread aroma and taste, we incorporate ½ teaspoon of ground cloves and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. These warm spices complement the banana perfectly, adding a depth of flavor that makes these cookies truly special and reminiscent of their loaf counterpart.
Ingredients for the Simple Vanilla Glaze:
No banana bread cookie is complete without a smooth, sweet glaze. This vanilla icing adds the perfect finishing touch, both in flavor and aesthetic. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Melted Butter: You will need 2 tablespoons of melted butter. This adds a rich, luxurious flavor to the icing, making it more decadent than a water-based glaze. Make sure it’s fully melted but not boiling hot.
- Vanilla Extract: To imbue our icing with a delightful aroma and taste, use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. A high-quality vanilla will yield stronger, more fragrant results, but any vanilla extract you have on hand will work wonderfully.
- Hot Water: Approximately 2-5 tablespoons of hot water will be needed to achieve the perfect consistency for your icing. The actual amount can vary based on your preferred thickness; start with less and add gradually until you reach a smooth, pourable but not watery consistency.
- Powdered Sugar: The base of our icing is 4 cups of powdered sugar (also known as confectioners’ sugar). This fine sugar dissolves easily, ensuring your glaze is perfectly smooth and sweet without any granular texture. Sift it if you prefer an even smoother finish.
How to Make Delicious Banana Bread Cookies: Step-by-Step
Get ready to bake a batch of these incredible cookies! Follow these simple steps for a truly rewarding baking experience:
- Prepare Your Oven and Baking Sheets: Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Parchment paper is crucial here, as it prevents sticking and ensures easy removal of your soft cookies. Set these prepared sheets aside.
- Cream Wet Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and butter-flavored shortening. Using an electric mixer, cream them together until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. This process incorporates air, contributing to the cookies’ soft texture.
- Add Bananas and Eggs: Next, add your mashed ripe bananas and eggs to the creamed mixture. Mix again until all ingredients are well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Whisk Dry Ingredients: In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt. Whisking ensures an even distribution of the leavening agents and spices throughout the dough.
- Combine Wet and Dry Mixtures: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Start by adding about one-third of the dry mixture, stirring gently until just combined. Then, add the remaining flour mixture in two more intervals, stirring after each addition until no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to tough cookies. The dough will be quite soft, almost like a thick pancake batter – this is exactly what you want for a tender cookie!
- Scoop and Bake: Using a 1 ½ tablespoon-sized cookie scoop (or two spoons), drop rounded portions of dough onto your prepared baking sheets. Remember, these cookies will spread, so leave enough space between each scoop – aim for about 10 scoops per standard baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are set. The cookies will be very soft when they come out of the oven.
- Cooling: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. This prevents them from breaking and helps them firm up slightly.
- Prepare the Icing: While the cookies are baking or cooling, prepare your vanilla glaze. In a clean bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vanilla extract, and hot water until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing until a smooth, spreadable consistency is achieved. If the icing is too thick, add more hot water (a teaspoon at a time); if it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. The goal is an icing that’s thick enough to coat the cookies nicely without running off entirely.
- Glaze and Set: Once the cookies are completely cooled, spoon or drizzle the icing generously over each cookie. You can use the back of the spoon to gently spread the glaze for even coverage. Allow the icing to set for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or until firm to the touch, before serving. This ensures the glaze doesn’t smudge. Enjoy your delicious homemade Banana Bread Cookies!
Banana Bread Cookies
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Ingredients
- 3/4 cup shortening butter flavored
- 1 1/2 cups golden brown sugar packed
- 3 eggs
- 4-5 bananas ripe (about 2 cups)
- 3 cups flour
- 1 TBSP baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Icing ingredients:
- 2 TBSP melted butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-5 TBSP hot water
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
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Cream brown sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add in mashed bananas and eggs and mix again.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
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Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, then stir. Add remaining flour in 2 more intervals, stopping to stir ingredients together between additions. Dough will be very soft; more like a thick pancake batter.
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Scoop dough in 1.5 TBSP balls onto prepared cookie sheet. Cookies will spread, so place only 10 scoops of dough on each sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes on the pan before transfering to a cooling rack. Cookies will be soft.
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Prepare the icing while baking batches of cookies. Whisk melted butter, vanilla extract and hot water together, then add powdered sugar. Add more hot water as needed to get a smooth, spreadable consistency. Icing should be thick enough to not run off cookies altogether, but instead spread and cover the cookies nicely.
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Spoon icing on cooled cookies. Let cool to set. Enjoy!
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How to Tell if Bananas Are Ripe Enough for Baking
The secret to truly flavorful banana bread cookies lies in using bananas at their peak ripeness. You want your bananas to be beautifully deep yellow in color, adorned with numerous brown spots, or even mostly brown. The darker the banana’s skin, the more natural sugars it has developed, leading to a sweeter, more pronounced banana flavor in your baked goods. Not only will the flavor be superior, but overripe bananas are also significantly easier to mash, resulting in a smoother batter. Conversely, green and firm bananas are not suitable for baking. They lack the sweetness and soft texture needed and can even impart a slightly bitter taste to your cookies. If your bananas aren’t quite ripe enough, you can speed up the process by placing them in a paper bag with an apple or simply leaving them on your counter for a few extra days.
Can I Freeze Banana Bread Cookies?
Yes, absolutely! These banana bread cookies freeze wonderfully, making them perfect for meal prepping desserts or ensuring you always have a sweet treat on hand. For the best results, we highly recommend freezing the cookies *before* you frost them. This makes the storage and thawing process much cleaner and easier. Icing can sometimes become sweaty and sticky as it thaws, which can cause frosted cookies to clump together or affect the glaze’s smooth texture.
To freeze your un-iced cookies, simply arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and flash freeze for about 30 minutes until solid. Then, transfer the frozen cookies to an airtight freezer-safe container or a heavy-duty freezer bag, separating layers with parchment paper to prevent them from sticking. They can be frozen for up to 6 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, simply thaw them on the counter at room temperature for approximately 20-30 minutes, then prepare and apply the fresh vanilla glaze as desired.
If you prefer to freeze them already iced, ensure the icing is completely set first. Then, place parchment paper between layers of cookies in an airtight container to minimize sticking. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature until ready to eat. While the texture of the glaze might be slightly different after thawing, they will still be delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions About Banana Bread Cookies
Can I add chocolate chips or nuts to these cookies?
Absolutely! Feel free to customize your banana bread cookies. Chocolate chips (milk, dark, or white), chopped walnuts, pecans, or even a sprinkle of shredded coconut would be fantastic additions. Gently fold about ½ to 1 cup of your chosen mix-ins into the dough during the last stage of mixing, right before scooping onto the baking sheets.
What if I don’t have butter-flavored shortening? Can I use regular shortening or all butter?
While butter-flavored shortening is recommended for its specific texture contribution and flavor, you can use regular vegetable shortening. If you want to use all butter, be aware that the cookies might spread more and have a slightly different, perhaps crispier, texture. For best results with an all-butter substitution, ensure your butter is very cold and consider chilling the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes before baking to help prevent excessive spreading.
How long do these banana bread cookies stay fresh?
Once baked and glazed, these cookies are best enjoyed within 2-3 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. For extended freshness, store them in the refrigerator, where they can last for up to 5-7 days. Remember, the natural moisture from the bananas helps keep them soft and delicious!
Can I make these cookies healthier?
You can certainly make some adjustments! Consider using whole wheat pastry flour for a boost in fiber, or reducing the sugar slightly in both the cookies and the glaze. You could also experiment with adding less butter to the icing and using milk instead of water. For a healthier topping, skip the glaze and sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon sugar before baking, or add extra chopped nuts to the dough for healthy fats.
More Delicious Banana Cookie Recipes to Try:
If you loved these Banana Bread Cookies, you’re in for a treat! We have a whole collection of delightful banana-infused cookie recipes that are sure to satisfy any craving. Explore these other fantastic options:
- BANANA SPLIT COOKIE CUPS
- BANANA PUDDING COOKIES
- BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES
- BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
- BANANA CREAM PIE COOKIES
- BLUEBERRY BANANA COOKIES
Whether you’re looking for a quick snack, a delightful dessert, or a comforting treat, these Banana Bread Cookies are a perfect choice. Their soft texture, sweet banana flavor, and luscious vanilla glaze make them an instant hit with everyone who tries them. Happy baking!
