When I was a kid, if you had asked me the definition of love, I would have said cookies. In my mind, baking and gifting cookies was just about the most thoughtful thing you could do. After all, who doesn’t love cookies? And it seems I haven’t changed much. For Valentine’s Day, I decided to experiment with Tony’s favorite sweet ingredients, and these Chocolate Chunky Monkey Cookies emerged from our oven.
This post is sponsored by Enjoy Life Foods, but the delicious chocolate chunky monkey cookies recipe, photos, and opinions are definitely my own!
I know some of you will ask, “but can you taste the banana?” Yes, that’s why they’re called chocolate chunky monkey cookies! Banana is so often used as a substitute, but I wanted that sweet fruit to shine through. It pairs deliciously with the double dose of chocolate. In fact, these cookies are so scrumptious, that the double batch I made will be gone long before Valentine’s Day!
As an added bonus, these chocolate chunky monkey cookies are naturally vegan and free of top allergens. What does that mean? There are no substitutes, just everyday ingredients that you can find in almost anyone’s kitchen. There was never any need for egg in this recipe, I like using oat flour (ground oats!) for an extra infusion of oatmeal goodness, and true chocolate is actually dairy-free.
That said, many chocolatiers add dairy for some silly reason. And dairy-free chocolate chunks, the key to the “chunky” in these cookies, aren’t as common as chocolate chips. Fortunately, Enjoy Life makes the most amazing allergy-friendly Mega Chunks. There’s just one problem with them. They’re snacking size, so Tony and I often nibble our way through the bag before I get to making a recipe! So I picked up three bags (they have a detailed store locator here) just to make sure I’d have enough to perfect this chocolate chunky monkey cookies recipe and for our thieving hands!
Reader Raves
From Corrine on Facebook: “I made these a few weeks ago, a great tasting cookie!”
Special Diet Notes: Chocolate Chunky Monkey Cookies
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, vegetarian, and generally top food allergy-friendly.
- 1¼ cups (4 ounces) oat flour (certified gluten-free, if needed)*
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup mashed ripe banana
- ¼ cup grapeseed, rice bran, olive, or melted coconut oil
- 1¼ cups quick oats (certified gluten-free, if needed)
- 1 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chunks (I use Enjoy Life Mega Chunks), plus extra for topping, if desired
- Preheat your oven to 375ºF and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
- Place the oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine.
- Add the sugar, banana, and oil to a mixing bowl and blend with a hand mixer until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Pour in the dry ingredients into the wet, and blend with the hand mixer or a large spoon until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the quick oats, followed by the chocolate chunks.
- Scoop dough by the level tablespoonful and place 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheets. You can shape it a little with damp hands, but it will spread when baked. If you're chocoholics like us, flatten the dough a bit and press some extra chocolate chunks into the tops.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they appear just baked.
- Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- Repeat scooping, baking, and cooling with any remaining dough. Or you can scoop and freeze the remaining balls of dough to bake later!
54 Comments
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These look so yummy! Chocolate banana is always a winning combo. So good!! 🙂
These chunky monkey cookies look sooo perfect and crispy!
Alisa, these look fantastic. We love a good chocolate chunk cookie (OK, who doesn’t?) but these neat chocolate chunks really make these something special. Might have to get a bag! 🙂
You should definitely get a bag Greg! But it will be hard to stop at one!
The name chunky monkey always makes me laugh! Your cookies look awesome. I am a massive fan of chocolate and banana together, and why have I never bought those mega chunks before? I am so seeking them out!
Another chocolate-banana fan! It really is a winning combo. Seriously, locate those chocolate chunks Mel!
Oh my goodness, these look amazing. I’m loving those giganto chocolate chunks especially!
Thank you becky!
These look so good! I’ll take just about anything made with a product called “Chocolate Mega Chunks”!
You and me both Dianne!
We love chunky monkey cookies over here!! Such a good flavor combo!! And enjoy life is the best!
I love chunky monkey anything! The combination of chocolate and banana is so good. My kid’s used to get chunky monkey kiddie cocktails when we traveled to Mexico for spring break, and I have to admit, I often got one too. These cookies look perfect!
That sounds like such a fun drink Linda. Now I’m curious to try one!