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Banana Bread Bear Paws

Banana Bread Bear Paws

Super soft banana bread bear paws that are made with whole grains and are much healthier than the store-bought ones. Plus, the kids love ’em!

Super soft banana bread bear paws that are made with whole grains and are much healthier than the store-bought ones. Plus, the kids love 'em!

I have a healthy cookie for you today!  Basically, it’s banana bread in the form of a super soft, almost cake-like cookie.  And shaped like bear paws.

Because my kids incessantly ask for those bear paw cookies every. single. time. we see them at the store.  And I get sick of saying no.  So I made them some bear paws.

It’s not like I never buy snacks at the store.  Let’s be honest, it’s awfully convenient and easy, and some of that stuff is just plain tasty.  But cookies?  I hate to buy cookies.  I make so many of them anyways, and I like doing it, so why buy them?  They’re rarely better than homemade ones anyways.  Except oreos.  I will always make an exception for oreos.  Some things just can’t be duplicated exactly.  It’s true.  I’ve tried.  Homemade oreos are good, but they’re not the same.

Super soft banana bread bear paws that are made with whole grains and are much healthier than the store-bought ones. Plus, the kids love 'em!

Anyways – bear paws.  Now I’ll be honest, I’ve never actually had a bear paw cookie.  Cake-like cookies just aren’t my thing.  But the kiddos like them, and have had them, and they told me these were pretty close.  In fact, when I made them a second time so I could get some pictures, my 7 year old ran over and hugged me he was so happy.  Either that means they’re amazing, or I don’t make things more than once often enough.  I’m going with the former!

At any rate, I think I can say that these are close to the banana bread bear paws you get at the store.  They’re soft, cakey, banana bread cookies that are definitely healthier than the store-bought ones.  They’re still cookies, so there is butter and sugar in them, but there’s a whole lot less than a regular cookie has, so that’s a win.  Plus these are made with whole wheat flour and oatmeal.

They are quite large, I used a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to make giant bear paws, and then scooped about half a tablespoon of dough to make mini bear paws.  You could certainly play with the amounts of dough used to make them the size you would like, just watch the baking time then.  We added a few chocolate chips, cause everything is better with chocolate, but you could certainly leave them out if you want them to be healthier.

These were a great snack for the kids, and the perfect addition to their lunch boxes.  And, even though my “bear paw” shaping wasn’t amazing, they were just happy that they got the banana bread bear paws they’d been wanting for so long!  I’m going to have to work on the other flavours now!

Super soft banana bread bear paws that are made with whole grains and are much healthier than the store-bought ones. Plus, the kids love 'em!

Tips for perfect Banana Bread Bear Paws:

I also shared this banana bread bear paws recipe over on Food Fanatic.

 

 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission. 

Britney

Wednesday 29th of November 2023

These were delicious!! Part of what influenced me to choose this recipe is that I wanted to use up some bananas, and the comment by Andrea that says "The texture is spot on." I agree - well, I'd say the texture is even better! I have a kid who thinks he doesn't like oats, so I decided to blend them in my Ninja until they looked like flour, but turned out they were still visible as little flakes. Not really noticeable when you eat them though (I'm trying to convince him - lol!)

I substituted molasses for less than a 1/4 cup of the brown sugar because I'd seen other similar recipes call for molasses and I'd gotten excited about using this neglected pantry item, and was happy with the not-overly-sweetness and with the depth of flavour.

I have only a 1.5 Tbsp ice cream scoop so I made two balls and shoved them together and then flattened them, but the scissors worked well and they still weren't too much effort to shape.

My 3 kiddos ate a box of 20 packs Dare brownie bear paws (so, 40 paws...!) in less than a week but I am sketched out by the oils in them (thus how cheap they are), plus they left awful black crumbs around my whole house. So I am so pleased to have found your delicious, adorable recipe! :) I'll probably just sub a mix of flours in for the oats next time to get all the kids on board, lol.

Stacey

Thursday 7th of December 2023

So glad you liked it!

Andrea

Saturday 30th of April 2022

Love these! The texture is spot on. I swapped the butter for applesauce and for some reason I added molasses (might have been looking at 2 different recipes at the same time?) But they're tasty!

Stoyan

Saturday 21st of August 2021

Great recipe! My daughter adores bear paws and those are the best ones I've ever made. I think with recipes like this one you gonna ruin Dare Foods' business... LOL

Shelley

Tuesday 27th of February 2018

My daughter, albeit 17 years old, loves store bought bear paws....I keep on buying them, though I hate the fact that they contain Palm oil. She just finished off another box, and I'm thinking....I need to find a healthier version...and voilà! I found your recipe...Haven't made it yet, but can't wait to try...stay tuned lol....

Stacey

Tuesday 6th of March 2018

Hope you like them!

Emilie

Friday 3rd of February 2017

Thanks for the recipe it's a perfect pairing to the original melasses version I already make regularly. I took a picture for you but can't seem to post it.

stacey

Sunday 5th of February 2017

Glad you liked the recipe Emilie! I don't think you can post photos in the comment section, but if you want to post it on Facebook or Instagram, just tag me and I'll see it that way! Also - molasses version?! I might need you to email me that recipe! :)