Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 25 mins | Total: 45 mins | Quantity: 8 bars
Ingredients
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pecan nuts
3 large bananas
3/4 cup almond milk
2 eggs
1 tblsp coconut oil – melted and cooled
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 level tblsp acai berry powder
1 level tblsp maca powder (see note)
2 cups rolled oats
225g strawberries – stalks removed and roughly diced
Optional:
1 heaped tblsp raw cacao powder
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
Heat oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking dish or tin with parchment
Put both the walnuts and pecans onto a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes till lightly golden
In a large bowl break up the bananas into chunks then mash well with a fork. Crack in the eggs, beat together lightly with the fork then mix in the almond milk, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, acai powder, maca powder and optional cacao powder
Stir in the oats, strawberries and toasted nuts and optional chocolate chips
Pour into the prepared dish/tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden on top
Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting up
Notes
The maca is not essential for flavour in this recipe - it's purely optional if you want to include it for its health benefits
I always use raw cacao powder rather than cocoa powder - cacao is made by cold pressing unroasted beans and the process keeps the living enzymes in the powder and removes the fat. Cocoa looks the same but has been roasted at high temperatures which changes the molecular structure of the bean, reducing the enzyme content and lowering the overall nutritional value. Cacao is also known to have a higher antioxidant content than cocoa.
Allow to cool completely before setting in the fridge then cutting into bars
To freeze simply wrap in foil or place into a container with lid
Recipe by The Cook & Him at https://thecookandhim.com/recipes/baked-strawberry-oats/