Adventures of a Cat Lady

Sometimes your cat likes to give you a gentle reminder to let you know you’re spending too much time on the Pinterest and not enough time with them.  First world cat problems.

I dont really like to eat bananas on their own, I find them just too hard in texture. Having said that, I do like to bake with bananas. I like them to be overly ripe with black patches all over them, which is generally the state in which households let their bananas get to. I found a recipe for flapjacks that is as healthy as they come! As an American I grew up with granola bars, no such things really exist in the UK, you get flapjacks. Whats the difference? Granola bars tend to have more things in them, including chocolate and and lots of nuts, where as flapjacks tend to be more oat based with no extras. So I taken the humble version of a flapjack and utterly pimped it out!

This is a baked no processed sugar or diary, gluten free vegan friendly treat that will leave you coming back for seconds or thirds, assuming you haven’t already eaten them already!

Banana Flapjacks

Makes: 1 9x13in Pyrex dish   Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 25mins  Total time: 35 mins

Required Ingredients:

• 3 1/3 cups (300g) gluten-free oats
• 3 bananas
• 1/3 cup (80ml) olive oil
• 1/3 cup (80ml) honey
• 1/3 cup (50g) pecan nuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup (50g) flaked/slivered almonds
• 1/3 cup (50g) dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup (50g) toasted coconut
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Now how to make these pimped out flapjacks:

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C.
2. In food processor, throw in your peeled bananas and whizz into oblivion (or until smooth), alternatively smash your bananas in a bowl. I choose the easy option as per below.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix the processed bananas, oats, honey, oil, pecans, almonds, cranberries, coconut and cinnamon. *handy trip, measure out the oil first and then the honey and the honey comes straight out without any extra persuasion.

Your mixture should look something like this.

4. Dump the mixture into your lined pan and spread out evenly into the pan, using your spatula to evenly smooth the surface, getting a even thickness throughout. 

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is lightly browned.  Leave to cool, once cooled, cut into bars.

Store in a air tight container and in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 

Edits: you can pimp these out even further by adding not so healthy things such as chocolate chips or you can add even more healthy things like raisins or seeds. Have fun with them and make them to suit your taste.

Remember to share with friends and enjoy!