Alisa Fleming ~ This fun recipe is from the cookbook Super Healthy Cookies, written by my friend, Hallie Klecker. Hallie gives these chunky monkey cookies a 2-spoon sweetness rating (out of 3 spoons) indicating what I call a snack-desset hybrid cookie.
These are the cookies I make when I want banana bread in less than 30 minutes. I love their moist and cake-like texture. If you don’t have cacao nibs on hand, simply omit them or swap in dark chocolate chips or raisins
All of the recipes in Super Healthy Cookies are naturally dairy-free AND gluten-free, but if gluten is not a concern for you, and you don’t have brown rice flour on hand, you can use whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour in an equivalent amount for equally tasty chunky monkey cookies.
- 2 medium bananas, mashed well (about ⅔ cup mashed)
- ¼ cup creamy raw almond butter
- 2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (67 grams) brown rice flour (see note above for non-gluten-free if you don't have brown rice flour)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ raw walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup cacao nibs (or dark chocolate chips as noted above)
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, almond butter, maple syrup, flaxseed, and vanilla to combine. In a large bowl, combine the brown rice flour, shredded coconut, walnuts, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the banana mixture to combine. Stir in the cacao nibs.
- Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the lined baking sheets. Use your fingertips to flatten each cookie to about ½-inch thick.
- Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.
21 Comments
My infant twins have dairy and soy intolerances, so I have to stay away from both ingredients while breastfeeding. I make these weekly! They are fantastic and I don’t worry about my 4 yr. old indulging in a few. I subbed whole wheat pastry flour for the rice flour, oatmeal for coconut, peanut butter for almond butter, and Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips for cacao nibs. I also put in slightly more walnuts. Yum!
Can you omit the flax seeds? It’s the one ingredient I don’t have on hand…
Hi Ann, the flaxseeds help a bit with binding and with thickening. This might have a small affect. Personally, I would trial upping the almond butter to about 1/3 cup if omitting the flaxseeds, but I haven’t tested it (just a warning)!
I’m impressed by how good these are. We sprinkled cinnamon on top before baking. Is there something I can replace the baking soda with??
Stephanie, this post will probably help – http://www.livestrong.com/article/500162-replacement-for-baking-soda-in-cookies/
I made these tonight and they are so yummy! I had only had peanut butter and white rice flour on hand and they turned out so so good. This would be a nice sweet treat to bring to a friend/family in need who has a dairy and/or gluten allergy. Great cookie recipe!
I am surprised that there isn’t any xanthum (sp?) gum in your recipe ~ ???
gums aren’t required for all gluten-free recipes, Carol. Nut-based cookies actually work quite well without them.
I need to say thank you for this recipe– I’ve been making it a few times a week at least! They’re really great fresh out of the oven–yummy! We’ve done chocolate chips, raisins, nuts/no nuts, peanut butter, almond butter, and sunflower seed butter. All were great– the sunflower seed butter batch turned green (!) but were still great. Thank you!
I’ve been eye-ing this one from the book 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been making it regularly and the kids love them (we do too). Really appreciate it!
Sounds wonderful! Glad they are GF too! I’m new to the no-dairy life. So glad I found your site…so helpful as I’m learning to live without. 🙂
Hallie’s cookie book is like a dream come true! It’s totally up my alley as I LOVE cookies 🙂 Thanks for sharing this recipe. Happy New Year Alisa!
Thanks I’ll try seeds or raisins. Maybe almonds since that is the one tree nut he can have…..
Do you have a suggestion to replace the nuts? My son is tree nut allergic. Would the recipe work leaving them out? They sound really good!
You can substitute with seeds, raisins, oats, or whatever add-ins that you like!
you could replace the almond butter with sun nut butter or soy nut butter if allergic to tree nuts
These sound yummy–except I’m not a fan of shredded coconut. Is there something I could substitute, or would they be fine just omitting the coconut? I also think they would be good with peanut butter! My mom’s favorite sandwich is peanut butter and banana!
You can substitute the coconut with seeds, more nuts, raisins, oats, or whatever add-ins that you like!
Oh gosh these look good!
Oh, my goodness, Alisa! I am in love with these cookies even before I’ve had the first bite. I make Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies that we all love and these cookies have even more of the “good stuff”!
Thank you!
Shirley