Bake up a nourishing snack to share with the littles with this super easy Baby Cookies recipe. With a few flavor options—and a chance to use up lingering baby food purees including sweet potato, apple, and banana!—these cookies are both nutritious and yummy.
Made with just a few wholesome ingredients, these healthy oatmeal cookies are a great baby snack. They’re also a perfect way to use up homemade baby food purees, which can be handy if you find yourself with extra.
I have three main flavor options—banana, sweet potato, and apple—but you can really use any flavor of puree that you or baby likes.
With a simple method and quick cooking time, you can meal prep this snack to have on hand (in the freezer, even) for babies and one year olds.
I even recently bought the “wrong” flavor of applesauce pouch for my kids and used them up in these cookies. Hooray!
(You may also like Baby Pasta, Baby Oatmeal, Homemade Granola Bars, and Baby Muffins as more easy baby meals.)
Table of Contents
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Ingredients You Need
To make this Baby Cookies recipe, you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand and ready to go.
- Mashed banana, sweet potato puree, or applesauce (or other baby food puree) to add moisture and naturally sweet flavor.
- Quick oats: The finer texture helps the batter hold together better. Or you can grind up rolled oats in the food processor.
- Egg: Or you can use almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or peanut butter.
- Baking powder, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
TIP: You can really use any baby food puree, pouch, or flavor of applesauce you want. As long as it’s about the same consistency as applesauce or mashed banana, it will work.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make this baby cookie recipe. Scroll down to the end of this post for the full information, including the amounts and the timing.
Step 1. Mash the banana or sweet potato, if needed. Stir the dry ingredients together.
Step 2. Stir the dry ingredients together with the wet ingredients.
Step 3. Portion out batter into balls and press flat.
Step 4. Bake until the bottoms are lightly golden brown.
TIP: These cook quickly but don’t brown much, and they remain pretty soft to the touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can really use any puree that you like the flavor of, as long as it’s about the same consistency as applesauce or mashed banana. You can use leftover baby food pouches or flavored applesauce pouches too. (We prefer them with sweet flavors.) Try Sweet Potato Puree, Apple Puree, Pear Puree, and Applesauce.
Place them into an airtight storage container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the batch and pull out one or two, and let them thaw at room temperature as you need them. They soften a little as they’re stored too.
If you want to serve them to a BLW-baby starting after 6 months, I’d recommend that you flatten them a little more or make each one with 2 tablespoons of batter so they’re larger and a safer size. You can serve to a baby over 9 months and encourage them to take bites and/or cut them into small pieces. And they’re great for one year olds too.
Sure, just grind them briefly in the food processor or blender to great a finer texture. (You can likely use them whole if you want to save a step, but the overall texture will be much less smooth—which may be fine!)
How to Store
Store these Baby Cookies, once fully cooled, in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge or at room temperature. Alternatively, let cool to room temperature, then freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer bag; thaw at room temperature.
Best Tips for Success
- Be sure to use very ripe bananas with a lot of brown spots for the best flavor.
- If you’d like to make these cookies a little sweeter, you can add 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup to the batter.
- You can use an egg OR nut or seed butter that’s at room temperature (or warmed very briefly so it’s easy to stir). The only difference is that the egg version is slightly softer.
- If you have only old-fashioned rolled oats, you can grind them briefly in the food processor or blender to make quick oats.
- Serve cookies with a drink and dice them up if needed for your child if they need help taking bites.
- See the Notes at the end of the recipe for allergy swaps.
- Try my Sweet Potato Teething Biscuits and Healthy Pumpkin Cookies as other great cookies for littles, too.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback if you try this recipe, so please comment and rate the recipe below!
Favorite Baby Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium very ripe banana), mashed sweet potato, or fruit puree
- 1 egg (OR 2 tablespoons or almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or peanut butter at room temperature so it's easy to stir)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mash the banana or sweet potato as needed.
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and blend well with a fork.
- Scoop and drop 1-tablespoon-size balls of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Press slightly to flatten to about 1/2-inch thick.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly golden brown around the edges and firm to the touch. (Do not over bake.)
- Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
- Serve immediately or store.
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
Video
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge or at room temperature. Alternatively, let cool to room temperature, then freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer bag; thaw at room temperature.
- Be sure to use very ripe bananas with a lot of brown spots for the best flavor.
- If you’d like to make these cookies a little sweeter, you can add 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup to the batter.
- You can use an egg OR 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter that’s at room temperature (or warmed very briefly so it’s easy to stir).
- Substitute sweet potato or applesauce for the banana. You can also use pumpkin puree, but if you do, add a little maple syrup to ensure it’s sweet enough.
- If you have only old-fashioned rolled oats, you can grind them briefly in the food processor or blender to make quick oats.
- Gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free rolled oats.
- Nut-free: Use sunflower seed butter.
- If you want to serve these cookies for baby-led weaning after 6 months, make them a little larger by flattening them a little more or using 2 tablespoons of batter per cookie. You can serve to a baby over 9 months and encourage them to take bites and/or cut them into small pieces. And they’re great for one year olds too!
Nutrition
This post was first published September 2021.
What would you change to make these with rolled oats?
If you have only old-fashioned rolled oats, you can grind them briefly in the food processor or blender to make quick oats.
Can I skip baking powder? If so, what to replace it with?? Thank you in advance …😊
You can skip it, though they might be a little less tender since they won’t rise. Should be okay though
How many cups if I will use all purpose flour instead of oats?
I haven’t tested them that way so I can’t say for sure. I might try them with the same amount to start.
If I wanted to add something to increase the fibre, what would you suggest? (constipated toddler who would love these for breakfast)
I would actually recommend serving them alongside a smoothie so that there’s liquids and fats in the mix—fiber on it’s own may not help and fat and liquids often help a lot. You can check this smoothie out: https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/constipation-smoothie/ OR a side of blueberries or strawberries could help too. (There is some fiber in them already from the oats—I think if you added something like flaxseed they might be too dense.) I hope that helps!
These look lovely! How much almond butter would you use instead of the egg? The recipe doesn’t specify that (unless I’m not seeing it?)
2 tablespoons— I just clarified the recipe to make sure it was more visible!