Saturday, May 12, 2012

Banana Granola

The lovely Cinzia from Cindystar is hosting both the English and Italian editions of Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I'm featuring bananas.

banana© by Haalo


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© by Haalo


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.

10 comments

  1. What a gem of a recipe this is, with a great use of banana! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Leaf - I must be careful using the g word in case Sanitarium decides to sue ;)

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  2. This looks delicious. Can't wait to try it. Thank you!

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  3. How 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!

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    1. That 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

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  4. very interesting and suppose it would have a great success in my family, must give a try! :-)
    Thank you so much for participating (and thnks to your hairdresser for the magazines' choice :-)
    WHB recap will be soon on-line.

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  5. This 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.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Claire - hope you give it a go!

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