This post was created in partnership with Nuts.com.
If chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, and banana bread all (somehow?) had a love child, these gluten-free, vegan, and date-sweetened Chunky Monkey Cookies would be it. Combining all those flavors might sound over the top or unnecessary, but I promise it’s not, and the final product is one of the most delicious cookies I’ve ever had. You need these in your life :)
If you look at our recipe index, you’ll notice that there aren’t too many cookies in the Dessert section. That’s because cookie recipes are really, really hard for me to do. I can develop endless cakes, pies, bars, and mousse, but something about the cookie format is forever mysterious and difficult for me to grasp. These Chunky Monkey ones were no exception. I had the idea and really wanted to execute it, but it took me so many tries, that I was wishing I never got myself into this whole mess by the third batch or so. The thing with being that deep into any project is that you’ve already put so much time into it, that you have to persevere. I’m so glad I persevered, guys. These babies are so good that they’ve become an instant classic in our family. I’ll be baking another batch no later than this weekend due to popular demand.
Have you ever baked with sprouted flour? I’m a big fan. Sprouting does so many great things to grains (and nuts, seeds, beans, etc.). It literally awakens the life within them, making them more bioavailable, easier to digest, and better for you in every way. I once read somewhere that sprouted flour digests like a vegetable rather than a starch, which seems to makes sense since vegetables do begin with a sprouted seed, but don’t quote me on that :) In any case, sprouted flours rule. They taste better in my opinion, too. Nuts.com, our awesome partner, offers this amazing item called the Sprouted Super Flour, which is a blend of sprouted buckwheat and sprouted almond flours, as well as mesquite and chia. You don’t have to make these cookies with that flour (I offer alternatives in the recipe), but it is a genius gluten-free mix that’s really worth a try. Nuts.com also offers lots of other sprouted items, like sprouted pumpkin seeds, granola and quinoa. All the ingredients for these cookies (besides the bananas) come from them as well. It’s such a candy shop for anyone who likes to cook/eat!
Hope you give these a try and enjoy :)
- ½ packed cup pitted dates
- 2 tablespoons flax/chia meal (aka ground flax/chia)
- 1 cup old-fashioned gf rolled oats
- 1 cup sprouted super-flour OR ½ cup ground walnuts/almond meal + ½ cup buckwheat flour or ground oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of sea salt - to taste
- 1 cup nut butter like almond, cashew, peanut, sunflower or tahini
- ¼ cup melted neutral coconut oil
- scant 1 cup chopped dairy-free dark chocolate or chocolate chips
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 large ripe banana - chopped into bite-sized pieces
- Place the dates into a small, heat proof bowl and pour hot purified water over them, then leave to soak for 10 minutes. Place the flax/chia meal into another small bowl and add 6 tablespoons purified water. Whisk to combine and let sit to gel for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F(180° C). Combine the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, mix well.
- Combine the nut butter, coconut oil, drained soaked dates and the gelled flax/chia in a bowl of a food processor fit with an S blade. Process until smooth. Add the mixture into the bowl with the oats and flours, and stir to combine. The mixture will be stiff and sticky. Fold in the chocolate, walnuts and banana.
- Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper. Measure about 4 tablespoons of batter at a time and form a ball with oiled hands. Place each dough ball on the baking sheet and flatten it with oiled hands or a spoon into a cookie shape. Leave about 1 inch in between the cookies. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the outside is dry to the touch. Let the cookies cool for about 5-7 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. You will probably need to bake the cookies in 2 batches.
How long can they be stored for? Thank you!
These look and sound yummy! What is an S hook? I have an old Cuisinart w the basic metal and plastic blades.
Thank you.
Hi Debbie,
An S blade is just the basic food processor blade that mixes everything, it’s sort of ‘S’-shaped :)
Hi Elise,
I think they could be stored in the fridge for up to a week :)
Is there a substitute or combination we could use instead of the nut butter? Seems like a lot. Just wondering how to cut some of the calories. Thanks!!! Looks delish.
Hi Zoe,
So sorry for the delay on the answer! Unfortunately, I can’t think of any substitute for the nut butter without changing the whole recipe, which has a pretty fine balance of all the ingredients.
I will surprise my GF friends with your creation ! Thank you so much !
Amazing! Hope everyone enjoys them :)
I made the cookies today and they turned delicious!!! I used almond and buckwheat flour combination. It seems like different batches of the chia seeds need different amount of liquid. Mine chia seeds, when I used them in your recipes, Anya, needed more water. Those cookies and the pancakes from your new book. May be I do not need to ground them into a meal, but instead use them whole. Thanks for the recipe!!! My 5 years old was happy, he helped me to decorate the cookies with the chocolate chips on top.
Hi Anna,
So glad you and your little one liked the cookies! That’s very interesting about the chia, thanks for letting me know. And it does definitely need to be ground for these recipes, otherwise I think it will give too much texture.
I made these cookies yesterday, although I must admit I used all-purpose flour instead of what you mentioned since that was what was available at home. Anyways, the cookies still tasted really yummy! I’m sure yours would have tasted better since you used the right ingredients but i was satisfied with the taste. Next time, i’ll find superfood flour before planning to make these.
Hi!
So glad you enjoyed the cookies and so happy to hear that they worked well with the all-purpose flour! We love it when our readers adapt the recipes to use the ingredients they already have on hand, so inspiring! Thank you so much for letting us know.
Just made these cookies and am thrilled to finally find the perfect cookie! Thank you for perfecting these delicious treats and know they are now a staple in my life!
Hi Lyn,
Your comment made my day! So happy you enjoyed them and hope you are doing well :)
Hello Anya! I really love this recipe! I tried baking these cookies last week. I’ve actually made two batches. I used almond butter for the first batch and then peanut butter for the second batch. I was so happy with the results. They all turned out really good. My kids prefer the peanut butter while my husband love the almond ones. Can’t wait to make these cookies again! Thank you so much for sharing :)
Hi Emily,
So happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the cookies. Thanks so much for the peanut butter tip too, sounds delicious!
Made this morning and yum! Toddler and husband Approved! I used almost all sunflower butter with a little bit of almond and just FYI to other people who use sunflower butter, it will react with the baking soda and powder and turn the cookies a little green! I am accustomed to this, but just a tip for those who are not! No impact on flavor but can be a surprise.
They are delicious, though I might do two things differently next time. First, I would add some vanilla extract. Second, my banana was so ripe that I couldn’t really mix the slices into the stiff batter, they sort of disintegrated and mixed into it almost like banana bread. This caused the cookie’s texture to be slightly more muffin me then I would have liked (affectionately referred to as mookies when this happens, which it did often with 90’s and early 2000’s cookie recipes (I’ve been at the vegan baking game about 20 years!). Next time I would probably just wedge my slices of banana in the cookies once on the baking sheet or use a less ripe banana and drippier seed and/or nut butter.
I made these with 60% dark chocolate chips, but next time for me I think I would try tahini as the seed butter and 85% chocolate with some flaky sea salt on top. Not sure that particular variation would still be toddler friendly, but I know that I would happily eat those!
This is a great base to play around with and I highly recommend giving them a shot!
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for your thorough review and all that great input! I’m sure a lot of people will find this super helpful and so glad your family enjoyed it :)