Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Cream Wet Ingredients: In a separate, large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. This takes about 2 minutes with an electric mixer.

Incorporate Banana: Add the egg and vanilla extract, mixing well. Then, fold in the cup of mashed overripe bananas. The mixture will look slightly lumpy, which is totally normal and adds to the rustic charm of these soft banana bread cookies.

Mix to Form Batter: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this can develop the gluten too much, leading to tougher cookies instead of that beautiful cake-like banana cookie texture.

Fold in the Goodies: Gently fold in the chocolate chips and/or walnuts. I like to leave a few surfaces to press onto the top of the scooped dough later for visual appeal.

Scoop and Bake: Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (or use a medium cookie scoop for consistency, which ensures uniform baking) onto the prepared baking sheets. These soft banana bread cookies do not spread much, especially compared to shortbread, so you can place them relatively close together.

Bake Until Golden: Bake for 10–12 minutes. You want the edges to be set and lightly golden, but the centers should still look very soft, almost underdone. This is the secret to retaining that superior moisture in your soft baked banana chocolate chip cookies.

Cool and Serve: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Allowing them to set on the warm sheet ensures the bottom finishes cooking without the whole cookie drying out.