Banana Oat Cookies with Blackberries and Fennel

Don't throw out those spotty bananas! Make these blackberry banana oat cookies instead!

You may recognize the base of these cookies as my recipe for 3-ingredient banana oatmeal cookies. Instead of normal toppings like raisins or dark chocolate, I went with a fancy (and prettier, if I do say so myself) version with gorgeous fresh blackberries, raw sunflower kernels, a smear of sunflower seed butter and a tiny sprinkling of fennel seeds.

If you love blackberries, try these blackberry pie overnight oats or blackberry overnight oats with jam.

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

• Ripe bananas - The ripe, spotty bananas offer sweetness and moisture. Use bananas that you would use to make banana bread.
• Rolled oats - Old-fashioned or quick cooking oatmeal will both work.

🔪 Instructions

Mash the bananas

You'll want them be mashed very well, with only very small chunks remaining.

Add oats and cinnamon

Stir your rolled oats and cinnamon in well with a spoon.

Spoon and shape cookies

Drop spoonfuls of batter on a baking tray and then shape them with your hands. These cookies will not spread out, so make them into the shape, width and height you want from the beginning.

Take my advice and use a silicone mat or parchment paper to line your baking sheet, because these will stick without it.

Time for toppings!

Now's the time to get all fancy.

1. Dollop and gently spread a teaspoon sunflower seed butter (or blackberry preserves) on top of the cookie. The nut butter or preserves will spread out a little bit in the oven, so don't feel the need to manually spread it over the entire surface. This helps to stick the berries and seeds to the cookie.
2. Delicately place your halved blackberries on top. Three halves per cookie is so pretty, especially if you do two cut side up and one cut side down.
3. Drop a few sunflower seed kernels on top of each cookie
4. Lastly, sprinkle the fennel seeds on and throw these puppies in the oven!

You can make these cookies any size without adjusting the ingredients. You would only need to adjust the time in the oven. For smaller cookies, reduce the time by 3-5 minutes. For large cookies, increase by 2-3 minutes.

🔄 Variations

If you're not feeling the blackberry/sunflower seed/fennel combo, head over to my basic 3-ingredient banana oatmeal cookies recipe for a whole list of topping ideas! I'm sure one will strike your fancy.

📖 Recipe

Banana Oat Cookies with Blackberries, Sunflower Seeds and Fennel Seeds

Abi Cowell

Don't throw out those spotty bananas! Make these blackberry banana oat cookies instead!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 17 minutes mins

Total Time 27 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Baking

Servings 4

Calories 308 kcal

Equipment

Half sheet pan

Parchment paper

Potato masher

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

0.5x1x2x...

• ▢ 2 ripe bananas mashed well
• ▢ 1 cup rolled oats old fashioned or quick cooking
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ cup fresh blackberries halved
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds raw
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• ▢ ¼ cup sunflower seed butter or other nut butter, optional
• ▢ ¼ cup blackberry preserves jam or jelly, optional

Instructions

 

• ▢
  Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel and mash bananas in a medium bowl with a potato masher or fork. Make sure they are well-mashed, with only small chunks remaining.
  2 ripe bananas
• ▢
  Stir in rolled oats and cinnamon. Set aside for a few minutes to allow the oats to soak up the moisture. If the batter is very wet/thin still, add 1-2 tablespoons of oats.
  1 cup rolled oats, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢
  Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. (Cookies will stick if you skip this step.)
• ▢
  Drop spoonfuls of batter onto baking tray and then shape with your fingers. Cookies do not spread out while baking, so shape them into the width and height you want them to be. This recipe will make about eight medium, 3-inch wide cookies.
• ▢
  Drop a small dollop of sunflower seed butter or blackberry preserves (or both!) on top of each cookie. Then, sprinkle blackberry halves, sunflower seeds and fennel seeds on each cookie.
  ½ cup fresh blackberries, 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ¼ cup sunflower seed butter, ¼ cup blackberry preserves
• ▢
  Bake cookies for 17 minutes. *See notes for adjustments for smaller or larger cookies.
• ▢
  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.

Notes

This recipe makes about 8 cookies.

If making small 2-in wide cookies, reduce cooking time by 3-5 minutes. If making large 4-in wide cookies, increase cooking time by 2-3 minutes.

 

If you prefer, you can use vanilla extract instead of the ground cinnamon.

Nutrition

Serving: 2cookiesCalories: 308kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 7gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 10mgPotassium: 368mgFiber: 5gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 88IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 2mg

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