As many of you know I'm a biologist, and that often means long days in the field, and long times in between full meals.
I've tried many home-made bars in my time, but when I tried these ones, made by my co-worker, I got really excited - they were so yummy, filling, and just the right texture!
This recipe is super loose/adaptable, the most important thing is the general proportions, but feel free to exchange different nuts / seeds / dried fruits as you see fit! If you need to make these nut-free just swap out the walnuts and almonds for more seeds (or chocolate chips, if you’re feeling wild)!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana, fresh or frozen (3-4 large)
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries or blueberries
- 1/2 cup dried cherries, jumbo raisins, or dried chopped apricots
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup flax seeds
- 1/2 cup pepita seeds
- 1 cup almonds, chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with butter or oil
- In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Measure to ensure you have 1 1/2 cups
- In a separate bowl mix the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and any other spices you want.
- Stir the dry spice mixture, vanilla, and honey into the bananas.
- Place the oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped, stir completely into the mashed bananas.
- Stir the dried fruit, walnuts, flax and pepita seeds, & almonds into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish. With a fork or lightly wet hands press down the mixture until even and compact.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until firm and lightly golden along the edges.
- Let the dish cool for at least 10 minutes
- Slice the slab into bars either using a knife, pizza cutter, or bench knife.
- These can be served immediately as a snack or saved a parsed throughout a week.
- Leftovers can be stored in a tupperware in the fridge for about a week, or in a freezer for 4-6 weeks.
Other Ideas:
- Dried fruit can be subbed out for chocolate chips
- You can sub in/out pretty much any nuts used in this recipe
- Hempseed hearts are a great sub for the flaxseed
