There's no shortage of banana recipes on this site - be it
pudding, slice, pastries, ice-cream, fritters, cake, boozy rum bananas and all sorts of banana bread - I even found a good use for banana chips in these hazelnut and banana chip cookies.
Today I'm using banana in one of the most intriguing ways I've found - in granola. I know that a lot of people have an issue with granola due to the amount of fat it contains - be it oil or butter. This recipe eliminates those fat and replaces it with banana. I spotted this recipe while flicking through a magazine at the hair dresser and while a bit skeptical, it does come from a good source, highly successful Irish chef Chris Bell.
As I can't help it, I have played around the recipe and it does work - it's easily adaptable to include your favourite combination of nuts and dried fruit - in this version I've used raw almonds, slivered pistachio and shredded coconut and gave the granola a little citrus kick with the addition of orange zest and juice.
Banana Granola
200 grams rolled spelt (or rolled oats)
50 grams shredded coconut
30 grams slivered pistachio
60 grams raw almonds
1 banana, roughly chopped
1 small orange, juiced & zested
2 tablespoons golden syrup, approx
Juice the orange and measure - you need about ¾ cup of liquid, if short just top up with water.
Place the banana, zest, juice and water into a blender and process until smooth.
Put the rolled spelt, coconut, pistachios and almonds into a bowl - make a well in the center and pour in the processed banana. Stir and then drizzle in 2 tablespoons of golden syrup - taste and add more golden syrup if desired.
Cover a baking tray with baking paper and spoon out the mixture, spreading it evenly and thinly over the paper.
Place in a 170°C pre-heated oven and bake - check on its progress after 10 minutes, you notice that it's beginning to brown - give the whole thing a stir and return it to the oven. Repeat the process until it's all evenly browned and crunchy. Let it cool on the tray and store in a air-tight container when cold.
I must say that I'm a convert - the banana flavour comes through quite wonderfully and the granola itself is a crunchy as it should be. Easily adaptable you'll never be bored with this breakfast offering.
What a gem of a recipe this is, with a great use of banana! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leaf - I must be careful using the g word in case Sanitarium decides to sue ;)
DeleteThis looks delicious. Can't wait to try it. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks - hope you enjoy it!
DeleteHow funny - I've often thought to myself, while mashing up overripe bananas for a cake or similar, 'I wonder if they'd work to coat granola instead of oil'. Because you often use them to replace fat in a cake or muffin, it seemed to make sense that they'd work in a similar way in granola. Thank you for confirming this for me - can't wait to give the recipe a go!
ReplyDeleteThat makes perfect sense and they do a pretty good job of replacing the oil in granola - it's not exactly the same but I like it, I really liked the banana flavour that came through the granola
Deletevery interesting and suppose it would have a great success in my family, must give a try! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for participating (and thnks to your hairdresser for the magazines' choice :-)
WHB recap will be soon on-line.
Thanks Cinzia!
DeleteThis is brilliant. I'm always ending up with overripe bananas on my counter, so I'm bookmarking this one - I'm sure I'll need it sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteThanks Claire - hope you give it a go!
Delete