Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookies (3 Ingredients)

Looking for an easy high protein cookie? Try my 3 Ingredient pumpkin seed banana cookies! Made with finely ground pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas), they have 4 grams protein per cookie. Perfect for snacks, sweet treats, or breakfast, the cookies are vegan, grain-free, gluten-free and oil-free.

Ready for a new pumpkin cookie favorite? This one does not have pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie spice. Instead, these three ingredient cookies are made from pumpkin seeds (and very little else!). They make a perfect fall treat that can be enjoyed as healthy snacks, dessert, or breakfast cookies. 

You do not need to buy pumpkin seed flour to make these healthy,  delicious cookies. It is better if you do not, because it is so easy (and inexpensive) to make your own pumpkin seed flour in a blender or coffee grinder.  It only takes a few minutes.

Recipe Benefits

These pumpkin seed banana cookies are:

• High protein (4 grams per cookie)
• Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
• Grain-Free (no wheat flour, oat flour, or old-fashioned oats or quick-cooking oats)
• Gluten-Free
• Oil-Free
• Nut-free (no cashew butter, almond butter, or almond flour)
• Contain no refined sugar
• Free of additional binders (such as chia seeds or flax seeds)
• Paleo

Ingredients

The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.

The basic recipe is made with:

• green pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas), ground into a fine flour (pumpkin seed flour)
• mashed ripe banana
• coconut sugar (see recipe card notes for other options)

I like to add a bit of salt (table salt, or fine sea salt), too, to enhance the sweetness of the cookies. It is entirely optional, but recommended.

Adding Extra Ingredients

These simple cookies are a blank slate for all kinds of add-ins, such as spices, chocolate chips, vanilla, and so much more! Look in the FAQ section, and the recipe card, for suggestions of what to add.

Important Tip for Your Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookie Recipe

First, it is essential that you use very ripe bananas, i.e., ones with ample brown spots on the peel, but not ones that is so far gone that it is starting to ooze/weep in any way.

Under-ripe or just-ripe bananas are still fairly starchy, which will work against success in two ways: 

1. The dough will be too dry (because the banana is stiff and starchy)
2. The cookies will not be sweet enough (the stiff starch has not converted to sugar)

Second, you need to give the banana a vigorous mashing with a fork. I mean it. Work it with the fork until it is almost liquid.

How to Make Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookies

Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.

Step One: Grind the Pumpkin Seeds into a Flour

Place the green pumpkin seeds (pepitas) into a high speed blender and process into a fine flour. See the complete instructions for making pumpkin seed flour HERE.

Step Two: Preheat the Oven and Prepare the Baking Sheet

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Step Three: Combine the Dry Ingredients

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the pumpkin seed flour, coconut sugar, and optional salt. 

Step Four: Add the Wet Ingredients

Add the mashed, very ripe banana to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until completely blended into what appears as a sticky dough.

Step Five: Portion the Cookie Dough

Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon measure, drop the pumpkin seed flour cookie dough in rounded mounds, spacing 2 inches (5 centimeters) apart, on the prepared cookie sheet.

Dip your fingertips in water to smooth, and flatten, the tops of each dough portion. 

Step Six: Bake the Cookies

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 11 to 12 minutes until golden brown at edges and the centers of the cookies feel firm to the touch. 

Step Seven: Cool the Cookies

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely. It’s cookie time!

Happy baking, everyone!

FAQ

• How Should I Store the High Protein Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookies? Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at (cool) room temperature for 2 days, the refrigerator for 5 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months.
• What is the Taste and Texture of the High Protein Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookies? The cookies have a a great flavor that is slightly nutty and with a mild banana flavor. The cookies have soft texture (not a chewy texture). 

• My Cookie Dough was Hard and the Cookies are Not Very Sweet. Why? The bananas were not ripe enough. In order for this recipe to work well, it is important to (1) use a very ripe banana to create the mash (softer, higher sugar content than less ripe bananas); and (2) very finely mash the banana with a fork so that it is almost liquid (see photo above).

Flavor Variations & Substitutions

• What Can I Use in Place of the Coconut Sugar? An equal amount of brown sugar, cane sugar, or the granulated sweetener of your choice, can be used in place of the coconut sugar.
• Can I Omit the Sugar in the High Protein Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookies Recipe? Yes, you can. The cookies will be less sweet, but still delicious.
• What Can I Use in Place of the Banana? The cookies will likely work with unsweetened applesauce in place of the banana. I have not tested it, but I do suggest using slightly less unsweetened applesauce than banana (if the applesauce is particularly runny).

• What are Some Ways I Can Vary the High Protein Pumpkin Seed Banana Cookies?
  • Simple Additions: Add 1 teaspoon of lime zest, vanilla extract or almond extract to dough, or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, allspice or pumpkin pie spice.
  • Sugar Sparkle: Gently roll dough into equal balls. Gently press the top of each dough ball in a shallow dish of turbinado (raw) sugar.
  • Coconut: Gently roll the dough into equal balls, Gently press the top of each dough ball in a shallow dish of finely chopped unsweetened flake coconut.
  • Peanut Butter Thumbprints: After scooping the portioned dough onto cookie sheet, make a shallow indentation in each dough mound and fill with about 1/4 teaspoon peanut butter before baking.
  • Cinnamon: Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the dough along with the mashed banana.
  • Chocolate Chip: Add two to four tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips to the dough. Alternatively, prepare dough as directed and press the chocolate chips into surfaces of scooped dough.

Related Recipes

• 3-Ingredient Pumpkin Oat Cookies {vegan, oil-free, GF}
• Vegan Chickpea Flour Pumpkin Cookies (oil-free)
• Vegan Oat Flour Banana Bread (Oil-Free, Nut-Free, GF)
• Pumpkin Almond Flour Cookies {Vegan, Grain-Free, Oil-Free}
• 2-Ingredient Banana Oat Cookies (V, GF, oil-free)