Loaded with tender oats, soft dried cherries, and lots of banana flavor, these banana cherry oatmeal cookies are an unexpected yet delightful twist on oatmeal cookies!
Banana, cherries, and oatmeal may sound like an unconventional trio, but I’m here to tell you that it works to utter perfection in these cookies!
I’m talking soft and chewy oatmeal cookie base with tart cherry bits and tons of banana flavor in every bite. It’s a glass of milk’s best friend and soon to be your new cookie addiction.
The absolute best part about these cookies is that it’s a SUPER low maintenance recipe! No dough chilling or mixer required, it’s just a simple dough that comes together in minutes and bakes up in only a few minutes more.
Truth be told, there’s only about 20 minutes standing between you and these cookies and that’s either a major blessing or a major problem.
These Oatmeal Cookies feature…
- A soft and chewy oatmeal cookie texture
- Lots of banana flavor and tender dried cherries
- An easy dough that comes together in minutes with no dough chilling
Making the Oatmeal Cookies
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Banana
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Old-fashioned rolled oats
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Dried cherries
Choosing Your Oats
Make sure you use old-fashioned rolled oats NOT quick-cooking oats in these cookies as this will give the cookies that signature chewy oatmeal cookie texture.
Tips for Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Use stand mixer or mix dough by hand – this recipe is both mixer-friendly and old-fashioned-bowl-and-spoon friendly.
- Cream butter and brown sugar together – make sure your butter is softened to room-temperature and cream well with the brown sugar several minutes until completely smooth.
- Spoon and level flour – we use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
- Use ripe banana – for best results, use ripe banana as this will mash easier and give lots of banana flavor to the cookies.
- Flatten dough balls – use the palm of your hand to slightly flatten dough balls before baking. This well help them spread more evenly.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on these cookies.
- Add nuts – chopped toasted pecans or walnuts would be great additions.
- Top cookies with a glaze – top cookies with a simple powdered sugar glaze.
- Use another dried fruit – try dried cranberries, blueberries, or raisins.
- Add chocolate – add 1/2 cup white chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips.
Storing and Freezing Cookies
Allow cookies to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days. For best results, reheat cookies in microwave 15-20 seconds before serving.
To freeze cookies, allow to cool completely, then wrap well and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw cookies completely at room temperature and store up to 4 days.
One bite of this soft and chewy oatmeal cookie goodness and you’ll be a believer! The dried cherries really work so well with the banana flavor and plus the banana is doing double duty in making these cookies extra soft.
Trust me, you’re not getting away without grabbing that second or third one.
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
Try these other oatmeal cookie recipes next!
Banana Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1-1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a large stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment OR in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. Mix on medium speed or by hand until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add mashed banana and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate medium bowl. Add to butter mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. Fold in dried cherries (dough will be slightly sticky).
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop dough out into 1-in balls. Place balls 1-2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets and very gently flatten balls slightly.
- Bake cookies at 350F 10-12 minutes until cookies are a light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was updated with new recipe adjustments and photos on 4/2/25.
Jennifer S. says
looks good if I could only get my hands on some bananas – they’re gone almost as soon as they come into the house 🙂
Sarah says
I know exactly what you mean Jennifer! I have to go so far as to hide bananas to wait for them to get ripe, otherwise they’ll get eaten immediately!