These are easily the BEST banana cookies! They’re soft and chewy, and baked with brown butter for lots of flavor. Made with simple pantry staple ingredients, no mixer is required for these Brown Butter Banana White Chocolate Chip Cookies.
If you’re anything like me and love cookies, you are going to fall in love with these Brown Butter Banana White Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are chewy with soft centers, and perfectly crisp edges, like any great cookie should be. Served with a cold glass of milk, these banana cookies are going to be your new favorite!
This recipe is one of my go-to recipes when I half overripe bananas sitting on the counter. I developed this recipe a few years ago and have been making it frequently since. It took a few tries to perfect, but once I got the recipe down to a science, these cookies are one of my most requested desserts by my friends and family.
Why This Recipe Works
- The use of brown sugar adds great flavor and moisture to the dough to produce soft and chewy cookies.
- Using browned butter gives these cookies an irresistible nutty and buttery richness.
- Lemon juice prevents the banana from oxidizing and turning the cookies too brown. The acidity of the lemon juice also helps to break down some of the gluten, achieving a chewy yet tender cookie.
- Chilling the cookie dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much during the baking process.
- The white chocolate complements the banana flavor and the nuttiness from browned butter to make an overall delicious cookie.
For more ways to use up ripe bananas, be sure to check out my Whole Wheat Banana Bread, Banana Nut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and Marbled Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter to make the brown butter. If you are using salted butter, you can omit the salt completely from the recipe, or keep it if you are a fan of sweet/salty desserts.
- Banana: You will need one extra ripe banana for these banana cookies. You’ll know the banana is ripe enough when it begins to form black streaks on the peel.
- Lemon juice: The acidity of the lemon juice prevents the banana from turning too brown and breaks down some of the gluten for perfectly chewy cookies. It is such a small amount, that you won’t taste it in the cookies, so make sure that you do not leave it out!
- White chocolate: I always choose high-quality white chocolate chips like Ghirardelli or Guittard for my baking! You can also use chopped white chocolate from a bar with great results!
Pro Tip: If you are not a white chocolate fan, you can swap it out for milk, semisweet, bittersweet, or dark chocolate chips!
How to Make Brown Butter
Don’t be intimidated by browning butter. The process is very simple. Here’s how it’s done:
- Start off by placing the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Once the butter has melted, continue cooking while swirling the pan often until the butter begins to foam. This will take about 5-8 minutes.
- Once the butter has turned a light brown color and smells nutty, remove from the heat and keep whisking until it turns a rich brown color.
- Transfer the butter to a bowl, making sure that you scrape down the brown bits from the bottom of the saucepan. Allow the brown butter to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes before using.
Step by Step Instructions
- Brown the butter. Before you begin making these cookies, brown the butter so that it has enough time to cool.
- Mash banana. Mash the banana with the lemon juice, and set aside.
- Combine the butter with sugars. Place the brown butter into a large mixing bowl. Add the granulated and brown sugar and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients. Next, add the egg yolk, mashed banana, and vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture. Whisk well to combine.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to wet. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Stir in white chocolate. Finally, stir in the white chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
- Chill the cookie dough. Use a cookie scoop (No. 40) to drop 1.5 tablespoon-sized dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Chilling the dough will help the dry ingredients absorb the wet ingredients and prevent the cookies from spreading too much during baking. If you are in a rush, you can chill the cookie dough for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven and bake. Arrange the chilled cookie dough balls 2 inches apart (no more than 10 cookies per tray). Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool and enjoy! Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Accuracy: Measure all of your ingredients accurately. I like to use a kitchen scale to weigh out all of my ingredients.
- Room temperature ingredients: Make sure the brown butter is cool to the touch and the egg yolk is at room temperature before beginning.
- Overripe banana: This cookie recipe will come out best if the banana you use is overripe.
- Chill the cookie dough: Do not skip out on chilling the dough! Chill the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes, if you must. For the best results, the dough should be chilled for at least 1 hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a few factors that play a role in whether a cookie is soft or crispy. Butter adds milk solids and water to the cookies which gives them a softer texture. Alternatively, a lower moisture fat, such as vegetable shortening will produce crispier cookies.
Sugar also plays a big role in the texture of cookies. Brown sugar contains molasses, which adds moisture to the cookies. On the other hand, granulated sugar produces crunchy cookies.
Baking time is crucial in making soft or crispy cookies. Slightly underbaking the cookies will keep them chewy, while overbaking will dry them out resulting in crisp cookies.
Chilling cookie dough prevents cookies from spreading too much once they're in the oven because it allows the fat from the butter to cool. Depending on the recipe, if you don't the dough, you will most likely end up with flat cookies instead of thick, chewy cookies.
Cookies made from chilled dough also have a lot more flavor. As the dough has time to rest in the refrigerator, the flour becomes more hydrated. Hydrating the dough allows the flavors to develop and become more concentrated. This will lead to evenly browned, rich, and decadent cookies.
Store cookies covered in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can also freeze baked cookies in a freezer safe airtight container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months.
Yes! I love to keep cookie dough in my freezer so that I can make fresh baked cookies any time! To freeze cookie dough, scoop out the dough into balls and freeze them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once completely frozen, pack the cookie dough balls into an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Once you are ready to bake, remove the frozen cookie dough from the freezer and bake at 350 degrees F. You may need to add an additional 2-3 minutes to your baking time.
Related Recipes
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Brown Butter Banana White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup banana mashed (about 1 medium banana)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 oz white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Place the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, continue cooking, swirling the pan often, until the butter begins to foam. This will take about 6-8 minutes. Once the butter has turned a light brown color and smells nutty, remove from the heat and keep whisking until it turns a rich brown color. Transfer the butter to a bowl, making sure that you scrape down the brown bits from the bottom of the saucepan. Allow the brown butter to cool for about 30 minutes before using.
- Place the brown butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the granulated and brown sugar and whisk to combine.
- Next, add the egg yolk and vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture. Whisk well to combine.
- Mash the banana with the lemon juice, and then add to the rest of the ingredients. Mix well to combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the brown butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Finally, stir in the white chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
- Use a cookie scoop (No. 40) to drop 1.5 tablespoon-sized dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. (If you are in a rush, you can chill the cookie dough for a minimum of 30 minutes).
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled cookie dough balls 2 inches apart (no more than 10 cookies per tray). Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they are golden and centers are still soft. Remove from oven and cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
- Accuracy: Measure all of your ingredients accurately. I like to use a kitchen scale to weigh out all of my ingredients.
- Room temperature ingredients: Make sure the brown butter is cool to the touch and the egg yolk is at room temperature before beginning.
- Overripe banana: This cookie recipe will come out best if the banana you use is overripe.
- Chill the cookie dough: Do not skip out on chilling the dough! Chill the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes, if you must. For the best results, the dough should be chilled for at least 1 hour.
- Storage: The best way to store cookies is covered in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can also freeze baked cookies in a freezer safe airtight container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months.
- Freeze: To freeze cookie dough, scoop out the dough into balls and freeze them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once completely frozen, pack the cookie dough balls into an airtight container or freezer bar and freeze for up to 3 months. Once you are ready to bake, remove the frozen cookie dough from the freezer and bake at 350ºF. You may need to add an additional 2-3 minutes to your baking time.
Meghan says
This recipe is one of the most popular ones I have made (…and I make multiple things a week) Everyone who has tried them asks for the recipe! I don’t often leave reviews but I thought this one deserved it.
My favorite part is that these come out like actual cookies and not cakey like every other banana cookie I’ve ever found. I have even used heaping measurements of banana and it still works perfectly. Baked until browned and they didn’t spread at all after chilling properly.
The white chocolate also pairs very nicely with the browned butter to add some extra sweetness. I don’t think I’ll ever opt for regular chocolate just because it’s perfect as is.
Thank you for the recipe! I plan on using all of yours I can find now!
Rachel says
Have you tried making these without the white chocolate chips? I'm going to attempt this recipe tonight but I'm all out of white chocolate. I hope they end up like banana sugar cookies I will report back, send thoughts and prayers.
Angelina Papanikolaou says
Hi Rachel! I haven't tried these cookies without the white chocolate! Let me know how they turn out!
Sydney Smith says
Made these today and they are delicious, even substituting regular chocolate chips for the white chocolate. I broke out the kitchen scale and followed measurements to the T but they still flattened like crazy in the oven and while cooling.
Angelina Papanikolaou says
Hi Sydney! Did you make sure to chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes before baking. For the best results, I recommend chilling the dough for 1 hour. This will prevent any spreading.
Ashley says
My family was so skeptical when I told them I made this recipe 2 weeks ago! They were the first of 3 types of cookies I made to be gone! I use lime instead of lemon because I keep that on hand more often... also added craisens to the recipe! We’re making this again today but a double batch this time!!
Angelina Papanikolaou says
I'm so happy your family enjoyed these cookies! The addition of craisens sounds delicious!!
Rachel says
I adore cookies, but these are easily some of the best I’ve ever made. I share this recipe anytime someone is looking to use up bananas. The browned butter is my favorite part, I use it anytime I can in my blog recipes, too! Absolute genius recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Angelina says
Thank you, Rachel!! I'm sooo happy you enjoy these cookies! 🙂
Anonymous says
The butter is melted when added? and also when do you add the butter?
Angelina says
The browned butter should be slightly cooled when you begin making the cookie dough. It is added in Step 2 with the sugar.
Vera says
The best cookies I have ever made in my life!!!! Thank you so so much for this recipe!
Angelina says
Thank YOU, Vera!
Sidney says
Is the butter weight before or after it is browned? I’ve been weighing the 170g after it’s browned... is that correct?
Angelina Papanikolaou says
Hi Sidney, yes, you have been doing it correct! Weigh the butter after it is browned.
Alene says
These sound delicious but I have to be gluten free. Have you heard of anyone making them gluten free? Thanks.
Angelina says
Hi Alene! You can substitute the flour for a 1:1 gluten free flour. I always have great success using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour.
Alex says
So when do u put in the lemon juice? You forgot to put it in your directions.
Angelina says
Hi Alex! You add the lemon juice with the mashed banana. The recipe has been updated 🙂
Shiv says
So made these and 5 stars for flavour but they were so thin and hard to keep together post bake (easy to eat all the broken cookies though haha). Any advice for reducing the spread? I even put the dough in fridge for a bit ... thank you!
Angelina says
Hi! The best way to ensure that your cookies come out perfectly is to weight out all of your ingredients for the most accurate measurements. 🙂
Beatrice says
The cookies were very tasty. I skipped the lemon juice though.
Angelina says
Thank you!! The lemon juice is just to prevent the banana from oxidizing and turning brown.
Dawna says
What is the lemon juice for?
Angelina says
Hi Dawna, the lemon juice prevents the bananas from turning the cookies too brown.