So yesterday I mentioned two things in my blog post, one my Hubby’s love of Jamie Oliver and also my new passion for Harris + Hoole, the coffee shop that I have discovered and fallen in love with, so continuing with these subjects I bring to you my version of Harris + Hoole’s yummy and healthy Banana Jacks and an update with regards to Hubby, he now hates Jamie Oliver !
Lets start with Jamie Oliver, you may be wondering what on earth has happened to make my Hubby so angry, well after the taco recipe being wrong he then got rather angry whilst making the veggie burgers from the same book. As I mentioned Hubby is extremely good in the kitchen, normally nothing phases him and everything turns out fabulously, even if the kitchen is a disaster area, but again following the recipe step by step he still encountered difficulties. I will be posting the recipe as the burgers were delicious, but once again with amendments so that they hopefully work for you at home.
Now back to these scrummy Banana Jacks, they are beyond delicious, extremely good for you and surprisingly filling, they are great for a breakfast on the run, post or pre work out snack or an after school treat, you all know how important I think it is for Luca to come home to something healthy to snack on. Children always seem to come home from school starving and if there are crisps, chocolate or biscuits handy they will grab them first. We have never had a treat cupboard, I have never brought them fizzy drinks and they have all turned out just fine. I promise !
Luca has just come home, gone straight to the kitchen, made himself a green tea and grabbed a banana jack, followed by him telling me just how gorgeous they are, I rest my case.
At the bottom of the recipe there are a few suggestions for making alternative Banana Jacks and how to make them dairy free. You will see from the photo’s that I used lots of different things that were not in the recipe, instead of the walnuts I used goji berries and dried cranberries, just use what you have in the cupboard, what ever takes your fancy and just keep roughly to the measurements given and it will all be just fine.
Buon appetito
200g porridge oats
100g dried stoned dates, chopped
30g desiccated coconut
50g walnuts, chopped
30g pumpkin seeds, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
30g sunflower seeds, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
100g butter
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 ripe bananas, mashed
Preheat oven to 175C and grease a 20cm square baking tin.
Gently melt the butter and honey either in a saucepan or in the microwave. Leave to cool.
In a large bowl, mix the oats, dates, coconut, walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds together.
Add the vanilla and mashed bananas to the melted butter and honey, and then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
Press the mixture firmly into your tin and sprinkle over the extra seeds.
Bake for 15-20 mins until golden on top and it’s coming away from the sides of the tin.
Take out of the oven and, while it’s still warm, use a knife to score where you will cut. Leave in the tin to cool before cutting.
Variations:
For simpler flapjacks, leave out the seeds, coconut and walnuts
Add some warming spice like cinnamon or ground ginger
Substitute the dates with another sweet dried fruit such as apricots or cherries
Make dairy-free flapjacks by replacing the butter with a dairy-free margarine
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