These soft and chewy oatmeal cookies taste like flavors you would find on a tropical island. The cookies are just 4 ingredients and they don’t contain any flour, eggs, added sugar or dairy butter. The cookies are flavored with pineapple, coconut and bananas.
We recently returned from a trip to Hawaii which inspired me to make these tropical oatmeal cookies.
Ingredients
- Rolled Oats
- Crushed Pineapples
- Coconut Butter (or shredded coconut)
- Bananas
Rolled Oats: This recipe works best with rolled oats which are also known as old fashioned oats. The recipe does have a lot of moisture and rolled oats will help absorb all the excess moisture.
Crushed pineapples: I used canned crushed pineapples with no added sugar. This is the kind that is contained in pineapple juice. I find that using canned crushed pineapples work best because the pineapple pieces are the right size and using canned pineapples ensures that you have the right sweetness. Fresh pineapples can be difficult to find and aren’t always sweet.
Coconut butter or shredded coconut: Adding coconut butter or unsweetened shredded coconut gives the cookies a delicious coconut flavor while also adding some necessary fat to the cookies. Both of them will also help absorb the moisture from the bananas and pineapples. I personally love using coconut butter, but if you don’t have coconut butter available, you can add unsweetened shredded coconut. Please note that the unsweetened shredded coconut cookies will be a bit chewier from the coconut shreds.
Bananas: Bananas act as a binding agent in place of eggs. They also are a natural sweetener for the cookies. You will want to use very ripe bananas and you will need to mash them for the recipe.
How to Make Tropical Oatmeal Cookies
- Mix the mashed bananas and crushed pineapples until evenly mixed. Add in the rolled oats and mix until the oats are fully coated. Stir in the melted coconut butter or shredded coconut.
- Use a 1.5 tablespoon scoop to scoop out cookie dough. Release it onto your prepared baking pan. Then use the back of a spoon to flatten the oat mixture until it becomes a thin round disk, about 1/4 inch thick.
- The cookies will need to bake for about 25 minutes or until edges are browned and tops are starting to brown.
Cookie Texture
These are meant to be healthy cookies and they do not have the same texture as classic oatmeal cookies. The cookies are soft and chewy and taste similar to baked oatmeal but in cookie form. If you make the coconut butter version, the edges will be slightly crispy if you eat them soon after they are baked.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
- 4 Ingredient Crispy Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
- 4 Ingredient Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Crispy Honey Oatmeal Cookies
4 Ingredient Tropical Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (115 g) mashed very ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup (56 g) no sugar added crushed canned pineapples drained (see note)
- 1 cup (85 g) rolled oats
- 2 tbsp (31 g) melted coconut butter or 1/3 cup (30 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Add mashed bananas and crushed pineapples to a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spatula until the ingredients are evenly combined.
- Add in the rolled oats. Stir with spatula until the oats are fully incorporated and evenly coated.
- Stir in the melted coconut butter or the shredded coconut. Mix until the coconut is evenly mixed in.
- Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop out cookie dough. Release cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the dough balls about 1.5 inches apart. Use the back of a metal spoon to press down on each cookie dough ball so that it forms a thick round disk (about 1/4 inch thick). Smooth and round the sides of the cookie disks if desired. The cookies will not spread or rise during baking so you want to shape the cookies to how you want the final outcome to be.
- Bake cookies for about 25-30 minutes (20-25 minutes for the shredded coconut version) or until the edges are browned and the tops are starting to brown. For the coconut butter version, the longer the cookies bake, the crispier the edges and surface will be so I would lean towards a longer bake time if you aren't sure if they are ready. Let the cookies cool on their baking sheet until they are cool enough to touch before removing them. The cookies should peel off easily once cooled. Cookies are best enjoyed soon after baking. Store uneaten cookies in the fridge or freezer. I recommend reheating stored cookies in the air fryer or toaster oven before eating.
Notes
- This recipe was made with no sugar added canned crushed pineapples. This is the kind that where the pineapple pieces sit in pineapple juice and not syrup. When measuring out the pineapples for the recipe, scoop up 1/4 cup of crushed pineapples, trying your best to avoid the liquid. Then put the crushed pineapples into a fine mesh strainer with a bowl underneath to remove excess liquid. You do not need to crush the pineapples further to strain out all the liquid. You are just lightly straining out the excess liquid the pineapples sit in so that your cookie mixture isn't too wet. When the strainer is done removing the excess liquid, place the strained crushed pineapples in with the bananas. You can drink or discard the pineapple juice collected in your bowl.
- If you make the unsweetened shredded coconut* version you will have about 13 cookies instead of 11.
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- Coconut oil is not a substitute for coconut butter.
- Nutrition is calculated for the coconut butter version of these cookies.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Can you use apple sauce instead of banana?
Yes but your cookies may not be sweet enough and you may need to add a few more tbsp of oats!
Good snacks for the aged
We’re so glad you enjoy this recipe!
Very delicious.
Thank you!!
Can you use quick oats in this recipe
We don’t recommend quick oats because the batter is so wet. Rolled oats will absorb the excess liquid better.
Guilt-free (well, almost) treat as a regular ‘go to’ for everyone in the family. So glad I found this!!!
So glad you’re loving these cookies!!
I rated this 5 stars even tho I haven’t made them yet because all of your recipes are delicious.
I’m not a fan of coconut anything, so I’m wondering if sugar-free applesauce can be subbed.
Thank you Frank! You could use applesauce instead but your cookies may not be sweet enough and you may need to add a few more tbsp of oats!
Don’t like coconut what could I substitute. Maybe crushed macadamia nuts?
You could try using regular dairy butter but we haven’t tested it!
I must be blind because this is the first recipe I’ve ever seen with ingredients and no measurements.
Hi Madeline! If you scroll to the bottom of the post or hit “Jump to Recipe” at the top it will take you right to the recipe with all of the measurements!