Cinnamon swirl banana bites
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Makes 12 bites
- Dietary
- Nut-freePregnancy-friendly
These easy banana bites are a riff on banana bread with a delicious sweet cinnamon paste swirled through. Combing ripe bananas, rolled oats and 0% yoghurt, they are a nutritionally balanced treat that you can batch cook and store for when you need a snack that will keep you going.
For this recipe you will need a 23x15cm/9x6in baking dish.
Each serving provides 247 kcal, 4.7g protein, 30.9g carbohydrate (of which 13g sugars), 11.1g fat (of which 2.2g saturates), 2.2g fibre and 0.4g salt.
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 2 medium free-range eggs
- 80ml/2¾fl oz olive oil (see recipe tips)
- 60g/2¼oz runny honey
- 100g/3½oz 0% fat Greek-style yoghurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g/7oz plain flour
- 100g/3½oz rolled oats
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
For the cinnamon swirl
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a 23x15cm/9x6in baking dish with baking paper.
Mash the bananas in a large bowl until mostly smooth. Whisk in the eggs, olive oil, honey, yoghurt and vanilla until combined.
Add the flour, oats, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt. Fold together until there are no pockets of dry flour.
To make the cinnamon swirl, stir the cinnamon, honey and olive oil together in a small bowl.
Spoon half the batter into the prepared dish. Drizzle over half the cinnamon mixture, then gently swirl it through the batter using a skewer or table knife. Repeat with the remaining batter and cinnamon mixture.
Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the dish for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Cut into 12 squares. You can eat them straight away or store the bites in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days (or in the fridge for up to 1 week). See the recipe tips, below, for how to freeze them.
Recipe tips
You can use melted coconut oil or another neutral oil, such as avocado oil, instead of olive oil.
Make sure your bananas are properly ripe for this recipe – they will be sweeter and easier to mash.
If the honey is very thick (or even crystalised), warm it gently to make it easier to swirl. You can just pop the bottle in a mug of hot water and let it sit for a few minutes or measure out the honey you need and heat it for a few seconds in a microwave.
Store the bites in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Warm an individual bite in the microwave for 15 seconds before serving.
To make this recipe gluten free: ensure the oats and bicarbonate of soda are suitable (they are naturally gluten free but often produced in factories where there is a risk of contanimation), and swap the plain flour for a gluten-free plain flour.
