Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies (Vegan Gluten-Free)
These Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies are healthy, chewy, naturally vegan and gluten-free and so moreish. With the option to make them “dirty” with espresso, these cookies are easy to make in 20 minutes.
These cookies are a little teaser to the banana bread theme for November and it’s one of those flavour combinations that just gets better and better. I am pushing pumpkin spice to the side for now as I embrace all things chai (although they work SO well together, too as shown here) and coffee too. It might sound strange but coffee and chia work so well and are known as “dirty chai” but you can certainly these cookies with only the chai spices and they are just as tasty.
What makes these Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies so special?
These little cookies are amazing for a few reasons. They are:
- Chocolatey and full of chai flavours
- Packed with wholesome ingredients
- Naturally sweetened mainly with banana
- Oil-free
- Naturally vegan and gluten-free
- Thick and chewy
- Require no chilling so they are ready in 20 minutes
- Slightly tender and puffy in the middle
These are pretty special and if you are already hooked you can skip ahead to the recipe card and make these right now. Or, let’s see what goes into these cookies.
What ingredients go into the Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies?
- Ripe banana: the riper the better as this adds a lot of the moisture and sweetness. If you don’t have banana, you could try swapping this for applesauce, pumpkin or sweet potato puree.
- Peanut or cashew butter: both of these lend a delicious flavour to the cookies or you could use almond butter or try a seed butter for a nut-free option. It’s best if your nut/seed butter is runny and smooth.
- Sugar: for this recipe I use both light brown and white sugar for the best taste and texture (a lot of cookies rely on this blend of sugars) but if you want to keep these even simpler, just use all of one sugar or use coconut sugar, too.
- Vanilla essence: for the lovely cookie sweetness that is also perfect for the chai flavours.
- Plain or GF plain flour: this keeps the cookie texture light and chewy and if you are using a GF flour I recommend a 1:1 baking blend or try spelt, buckwheat or even oat flour could work. (I have not tried these flours).
- Ground coffee: this is what turns a chai into a “dirty” chai and it tastes SO good but you can skip it out and these cookies are just as delicious. You can use decaf or regular caffeinated coffee.
- Spices: I use a simple blend of spices to achieve a chai flavour in these cookies. cinnamon, ginger and mixed spice. If you don’t have mixed spice, allspice will also be delicious.
- Chocolate chips: or you can use chopped chocolate. As these cookies are fairly small, the chocolate needs to be quite small and any dairy-free chocolate will be great here.
How do I make these cookies perfect?
There are only a few steps to make these cookies and they are so easy.
- Mix together the wet ingredients
- Stir in the dry ingredients
- Fold in the chocolate chips
- Scoop onto a cookie sheet (no need to chill the dough)
- Bake until golden, puffed up and the chocolate is melting
Are these cookies gluten-free and nut-free?
Yes, to make these gluten-free, use your favourite GF flour and to keep these cookies nut-free swap the nut butter for a seed butter like tahini or sunflower seed butter.
How long will these cookies last for?
Once cool, pop these Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies in a sealed container where they will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge. This is less than other cookies due to the fresh banana in them. You can also keep them at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
If you love these bitesize Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies and are looking for some more cookie ideas, how about my:
- Coffee Walnut Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Vegan Brownie Cookies
- Chocolate Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
- Vegan Monster Cookies
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies (Vegan Gluten-Free)
These Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies are healthy, chewy, naturally vegan and gluten-free and so moreish. With the option to make them “dirty” with espresso, these cookies are easy to make in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana (120g mashed)
- 60g runny peanut or cashew butter
- 30g light brown sugar
- 25g white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 105g plain or GF plain flour
- 1 tsp ground coffee, optional
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 90g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate, plus extra
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mash the banana in a mixing bowl until there are no lumps then stir in the peanut/cashew butter, both sugars and vanilla essence. Stir until smooth.
- Add in the flour, coffee, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking powder and salt and stir to a sticky cookie dough with no specks of flour.
- It will be wet but slightly stiff. Fold in the chocolate.
- Spoon the cookie dough onto the baking sheets using a tablespoon or an ice cream scoop and shape into circles. Allow some space around the cookies as they will spread slightly (aim for 6 per tray). Add a few extra chocolate chips on top, if you like.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown on the edges but slightly soft in the middle.
- Allow to sit on the tray on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes then eat warm or allow to cool. Once cool, store in a sealed container for 2-3 days at room temperature, 3-5 days in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
I look forward to hearing what you think of these Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies so please let me know in the comments below. if you do make these cookies, I’d love to see them so please tag me in your bakes, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With chai banana cookie love x
[…] to go all out and went for muffins instead so that I could add all the buttercream and my delicious Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies – the ingredients and flavours are really similar in both and together they are magic. So, whip […]
Heya Amy. Looks insane and never tried chai before especially in chocolate 🍫 cookies 🍪 definitely the first. I will so enjoy baking these for sure and I will tag you into my bakes using your recipes. Yay 😁 I can use decaf coffee which is great 😊
yes chai and chocolate are delicious together, enjoy them!