Soft, gooey banana bread cookies stuffed with a cardamom walnut-caramel center. The ultimate cozy treat that’s easy to make. No eggs required!
Why You’ll Love These Stuffed Banana Bread Cookies
- Soft, gooey, and filled with little surprises. Each bite is like biting into the best part of the banana bread, the center. You get the warm spices, melty chocolate, and the chew of a walnut-caramel filled center. It’s magical.
- Naturally egg-free. The banana doubles as a flavor agent and a natural egg substitute.
- Perfectly cozy flavor. There is honestly nothing cozier than the warming smells of banana, cinnamon and cardamom filling up the corners of your kitchen.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Banana: A ripe banana is ideal for this cookie as it will be more flavorful when ripe.
- Flour: This recipe was only tested using all-purpose flour, so experiment at your own risk. I highly recommend following the recipe or finding a different recipe that uses the ingredients you want to use instead. The only option I would recommend you try is using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour if you need a gluten-free alternative.
- Sugar: I used a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar. To make this truly vegan, I recommend using organic versions of both. Do not swap the brown sugar as it is meant to react with the baking soda in the recipe.
- Butter: To keep this diary-free, I used vegan butter. The brands I recommend are Earth Balance, VioLife or Country Crock’s plant-based butter. They tend to have the most similar fat% and flavor to yield a classic cookie flavor.
- Walnuts: You can also use pecans or for a nut-free alternative, try this with sunflower seeds.
- Maple Syrup: If needed, try with other liquid sweeteners like agave syrup. This will help achieve a more gooey center.
- Spices: I used cinnamon in the dough and cardamom in the filling. It’s a great balance of warming spices.
- Chocolate: I personally like a chopped up semi-sweet chocolate bar for this cookie. This also lead to a cheaper cookie overall. You can also use chocolate chips or wafers based on your preference.
How to Make Banana Bread Cookies
Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 1–2 minutes.
Add the banana, and vanilla and mix until smooth.
Combine dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt), then fold into the wet mix just until combined.
Stir in chopped chocolate and chill the dough for 1–2 hours.
Make the filling by mixing brown sugar, walnuts, cardamom, salt, and syrup until evenly coated.
Assemble the cookies. Scoop the dough, flatten slightly, fill with 1–2 tsp of the walnut mixture, then seal and roll into smooth balls.
Bake at 350°F for 13–15 minutes, until golden on the edges. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Expert Tips
- Chill the dough. This will allow the flavors in the dough to properly meld together while also making the dough easier to handle when stuffing.
- No need to stuff. Stuffing the cookies gives you a pocket of a delicious ooey gooey center when you bite into it. Alternatively, you can fold the brown sugar nut crumble into the dough, making sure you leave streaky chunks throughout. Chill as instructed then scoop, roll and bake for 13-15 minutes.
- Use a scale. This will give you the most accurate results as it can be very easy to measure dry ingredients incorrectly.
- If not using a scale, spoon and level. To properly use this technique, fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon your flour into your measuring cup without packing it in and level the top off using a flat edge. This will help avoid over measuring your flour and ending up with a dense and dry cookie.
- Tap your pan on the counter after the cookies have finished baking. This will compress the cookies so that they maintain a lovely chewy center and help them fall into a traditional cookie shape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once the cookies have completely cooled and set, you can place the cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days. To freeze, stack the cookies between squares of parchment paper to prevent them from getting stuck together. Freeze for up to 2 months.
Once the dough balls have set in the fridge, stuff as recommended, then roll into balls. Transfer to a freezer safe bag and freeze. Transfer the dough balls to a freezer safe bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to use, transfer the cookies to the fridge overnight then bake when ready.
This sounds like the result of measuring too much flour. For most accurate results, use a scale to properly measure your dry ingredients.
In place of the nuts, consider adding some finely chopped sunflower seeds or pepitas.
Vitamin J
Some notes about enjoying sweet or indulgent foods and how that fits with your nutrition goals. Follow the recommendations that works best for your specific life situation. In many cases, enjoying a cookie in between all the other nutritious foods you eat isn’t going to cause harm. What matters overall is what you are doing regularly. So enjoy foods and cozy moments with loved ones when it makes the most sense to.
If you are still concerned, one of the best things you can do after a more indulgent treat is to go for a walk afterwards. Doesn’t have to be long, generally 15-30 minutes can make a big difference in improving the glucose response afterwards. (Study)
More Holiday Treats to Try
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Description
Soft, gooey banana bread cookies stuffed with a cardamom walnut-caramel center. The ultimate cozy treat that’s easy to make. No eggs required!
Banana Bread Cookies
Cardamom Walnut Filling
- Add the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar to a large mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to whip the mixture together until light, fluffy, and paler in color, about 1-2 minutes.
- Place the banana on a cutting board and mash it thoroughly with a fork. Transfer the mashed banana to the mixing bowl along with the vanilla. Mix again using the hand mixer until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then use a rubber spatula to fold everything together just until mostly combined. It’s okay if a few streaks of flour remain.
- Add the chopped chocolate, and continue folding gently until evenly distributed and no visible pockets of flour remain. Avoid over mixing. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Prepare the filling by combining the brown sugar, walnuts, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl. Pour in the syrup and fold together until evenly mixed.
- Use a large cookie scoop (1.5 oz/3 tbsp scoop) to portion the dough into your hands. Gently flatten the dough into a disk, then curl the edges up to form a small cup shape.
- Scoop about 1-2 teaspoons of the walnut mixture into the center of the dough cup. Bring the edges together over the filling, pinch to seal, and roll gently between your palms to form a dough ball then place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart.
- Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are golden (I normally do 15 minutes or until the tops or mostly not shiny in appearance). Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray for at least 10 minutes before transferring or serving.
Notes
Chill the dough. This will allow the flavors in the dough to properly meld together while also making the dough easier to handle when stuffing.
Stuffing optional. Stuffing the cookies gives you a pocket of a delicious ooey gooey center when you bite into it. Alternatively, you can fold the brown sugar nut crumble into the dough, making sure you leave streaky chunks throughout. Chill as instructed then scoop, roll and bake for 13-15 minutes.
Use a scale. This will give you the most accurate results as it can be very easy to measure dry ingredients incorrectly.
If not using a scale, spoon and level. To properly use this technique, fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon your flour into your measuring cup without packing it in and level the top off using a flat edge. This will help avoid over measuring your flour and ending up with a dense and dry cookie.
Tap your pan on the counter after the cookies have finished baking. This will compress the cookies so that they maintain a lovely chewy center and help them fall into a traditional cookie shape.
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