Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl until they are very creamy.

Add in the almond butter, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract (if adding) and mix until the wet ingredients are combined.

Transfer the oats, cocoa powder and sea salt to the mixing bowl and combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be very sticky - this is normal.

Use a spoon to drop mounds of cookie dough onto the prepared baking pan, making any size cookies you’d like. The dough doesn’t spread and remains roughly the same shape through the baking process so shape the dough according to how you want your cookies to look.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes. For very small cookies, bake for 8-10 minutes, for medium sized cookies 10-12 minutes and for large cookies, 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll know the cookies are ready when they no longer have a glossy look and feel relatively firm when poked.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before serving.