These strawberry cookies are a healthy and wholesome recipe that needs just four ingredients to make. Thick, chewy, and bursting with berries, they bake in just 12 minutes.
Strawberry desserts are severely underrated.
Adding fresh strawberries to baked goods gives them some lovely fruity notes and added strawberry flavor. They also pair well with tons of flavors, like peanut butter jelly bars, strawberry banana bread, or creamy cheesecake.
Where they truly shine, though, is to use them for a cookie recipe.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
Strawberry cookies are a delicious treat that combines the sweetness of fresh strawberries with the comforting taste of oatmeal cookies. We love making them whenever we want to use up pantry staples or for occasions (like Valentine’s day or baby showers!), and they are always an instant hit.
- Just four ingredients. All you need are oats, peanut butter, banana, and strawberries!
- No eggs or butter. Unlike other cookies, these skip the butter and eggs but turn out just as soft and chewy as you’d expect them to be.
- No chill time. Like the above point, these can be prepped and baked immediately.
- Perfect for breakfast. Thanks to the wholesome ingredients, these cookies would be great for any meal of the day, from breaky to dessert.
How to make strawberry cookies
Adding fresh strawberries and baking them into cookies was a fantastic way to use them up. They also provide extra moisture (perfect for softer cookies!) and natural sweetness. When paired with the mashed banana base, you’d easily satisfy the sweet tooth.
The Ingredients (and substitutions)
- Rolled oats– Gives the cookies a chewy texture, especially compared to quick-cooking oats.
Dietary swap
Use gluten free rolled oats to keep this recipe gluten free.
- Almond butter– Smooth and creamy with no added sugar. You can also use peanut or cashew butter.
Allergy swap
Replace the nut butter with a nut-free alternative, like tahini or sunflower seed butter.
- Banana– Adds moisture to the cookies while also adding some natural sweetness. Unsweetened applesauce will also work.
- Strawberries– Chop the strawberries finely so they are evenly dispersed within the cookies. Reserve a few to top the cookies with!
- Chocolate Chips– Optional, but I love adding a few tablespoons of white chocolate chips because they make a fabulous combo.
- Vanilla extract. Optional, but highly recommended for cookies.
The Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or use a Silpat cookie sheet. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine all your ingredients, except for your chocolate chips, and stir or whisk well. Using a rubber spatula, fold in your chocolate chips into the mixture.
Step 3: Form 16 small dough balls of cookie dough. Place each ball on the lined tray or baking sheet and press each in a cookie shape. If desired, top with extra chocolate chips. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden on the edges.
Step 4: Allow the cookies to cool on the tray/sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Do not overbake the cookies, as the exterior will become overly hard, and the center be rubbery. Start checking the cookies around the 12-minute mark and remember, they continue to cook while cooling down.
- These cookies aren’t overly sweet and rely on strawberries, bananas, and chocolate chips for sweetness. Feel free to add some liquid stevia or maple syrup for extra sweetness.
- Chill the dough if you prefer thicker and chewier cookies. 30 minutes in the refrigerator is plenty of time.
- Add a dash of lemon juice to the batter to enhance the flavor of the strawberries.
- Fold through some nuts, seeds, or even coconut flakes for more texture.
- Press down on each cookie to form a cookie shape before baking them. Because there is no baking powder or soda, the cookies with keep their shape throughout.
- Swirl through some cream cheese, and these will remind you of a strawberry cheesecake.
- Add a few scoops of protein powder to make these filling breakfast cookies.
Storage instructions
To store: These strawberry cookies are eggless and aren’t the best to keep at room temperature. Store leftover cookies in the refrigerator and refrigerate until ready to enjoy. They will keep fresh (in an airtight container) for up to 1 week.
To freeze: Place leftover cookies in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Fresh strawberries are preferred, but frozen strawberries can also be used. I prefer the former as I’ve found the frozen kind tends to be less sweet. If you use frozen strawberries, be sure to thaw them out completely and use a paper towel to remove any extra moisture.
Yes! Other berries or chopped fruits are a fabulous addition.
No, chilling the dough is not necessary for these cookies. Because they don’t have eggs or rising agents in them, they won’t be prone to spreading.
These aren’t the best cookies to make ahead of time as they contain ingredients that may dry out the longer it sits.
More easy cookies you’ll like
Strawberry Cookies (4 Ingredients)
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats gluten free, if needed
- 2 large bananas mashed
- 1/4 cup strawberries chopped
- 1/2 cup almond butter can sub for any nut or seed butter of choice
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a large tray with parchment paper or prepare a Silpat cookie sheet. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all your ingredients, except for the strawberries and chocolate chips. Fold them through at the end.
- Form 12 small balls of dough and place each one on the lined sheet. Press each ball into a cookie shape.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the tray completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have you ever used powder peanut butter to reduce fat? I could add water to it and make the 1/2 measurement of peanut butter for this recipe. I’m wondering how it would work in this recipe…hmmm …any thoughts?
Haven’t tried!
These are amazing! Definitely will make again!!
These cookies look delish. Love the strawberries & chocolate chips. The bananas and peanut butter, not so much. Very not so much. Saw the apple sauce substitution suggestion for the banana. Curious if there’s anything else that could sub as a replacment for the peanut butter besides the almond butter (still tastes nutty) or the sunflower seed butter – seeing conflicting taste reviews – some say it doesn’t taste like peanut butter, but like sunflower seeds, which could be ok. Others say it’s an excellent substitute for those who love peanut butter but can’t eat it. I’m not an experienced baker or familiar with substitutions, so suggestions are greatly appreciated 🙂
You can try tahini or sunflower seed butter.
Could you sub the strawberries for apples and the peanut butter for cookie butter ?
Yes!
I loved this recipe! I added cinnamon and honey for flavor and a scoop of protein powder so they were more filling! They turned out great, I will definitely be making these again, thank you!!
I am allergic to bananas and it seems like every recipe calls for them. Any ideas on what I can as substitute?
applesauce
Finally got around to giving this a go this morning! Kids and parents alike loved them! We substituted strawberries for 1/2 cup of blueberries! Loved them!
Have you ever tried these with other berries, such as blueberries?
Yes
They look delicious, I can’t wait to make them and I can’t wait to try them. A healthy breakfast that I can make ahead of time and eat on the go is always a plus. 😊 I do have to tell you however, that you mention 5 ingredients, not 4.😉
Chocolate chips are optional 🙂 enjoy this 4 ingredient recipe 🙂
Do the bananas need to be “brown”?
Ripe is fine 🙂
Can strawberries be omitted?
Could you add protein powder to these to up the protein a bit?
I don’t see why not.
Going to try these with applesauce instead of banana. Don’t care for the banana taste in cookies. People asking for a sub for the nut or seed butter. I’ve successfully used pureed white beans in place of nut butter in a couple of other WFPB baking recipes.
Please let me know how the applesauce did for you, I too can’t eat bananas?
How much stevia?
These are delicious! I used almond butter and also added an extra 1/2 cup of strawberries and two scoops of protein powder! They are so delicious and my kids loved them! The protein powder gives it extra protein for my husband who is a personal trainer and works out daily!
Maybe I’m just very stupid, but are there like measurements. Because I have no clue how much to use
Check out the recipe card.
These cookies are very delicious! Love the fact they have no sugar. I wasn’t sure how the strawberries would be and they are my favorite part of the cookie. I’m going to add more strawberry in the next batch so I can get a little strawberry in every bite! 😋
Shoot, I only have chunky peanut butter. I know you said smooth, but do you think it’ll be okay??
It should be fine 🙂