Bananas & Breakfast on the Brain

I've been wanting to try this one for a while, and when I had bananas turning brown as Mike and I were packing for a weekend camping trip, I decided it was time to put said fruit to good use. Into the freezer the ailing bananas went, and out came the recipe for Anne's Breakfast Banana Bars. The recipe was easy to stir together and smelled divine while baking. I'm holding off trying them until breakfast tomorrow, but I really don't see how they could be bad, and it seemed a slightly more nutritious option than making Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (which still sound tasty, but I'm trying to exert a little self control here, and they wouldn't help with the banana situation anyway). I used blueberry Craisins for the dried cranberries and almonds instead of walnuts or pecans. Also, I lined my baking pan with foil, then coated with nonstick spray so the bars would be really easy to remove from the pan.


UPDATE: Very tasty indeed. If you cut the entire pan into 12 equal portions, each serving has about 200 calories. I will definitely be making these again, maybe adding dried apples with the current ingredients!

Anne's Banana Breakfast Bars
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1½ cups mashed ripe bananas
4 cups rolled oats
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. (I mixed the applesauce through bananas with a mixer, then stirred in the rest.) The batter will be very stiff. Spread evenly over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes of until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven to cool completely. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container or freeze in resealable freezer bags.


 

Comments

  1. hjoyferg11/19/10, 5:01 PM

    Two things: One - I added a little orange extract for a little extra yummy - Good stuff!! Two - I missed the oven temperature so guessed at 375. Was I close? Thanks for the tasty goodness!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looks like I've got some catching up to do

Image
So, to anyone who was reading this with any regularity, it seemed as though I fell off the face of the earth. Or quit cooking. Or quit eating. I can assure you none of these scenarios is true. Mike and I still cook together all the time, and now it's even better because we moved last summer, and our new kitchen is far and way better than our old one. We've also still been traveling quite a bit — most frequently to Asheville — where the most frequent question that comes up is, "Where are we eating tonight/in the morning/next?" Along those same lines, for our last several birthdays and anniversaries, we've opted to celebrate by dining out at a restaurant (preferably one we haven't tried yet) instead of exchanging gifts. So I figured to help me get back in the swing of things, I'd share our most recent celebration dinner: my birthday dinner earlier this month. If you're not from Nashville, you may not know, but the food scene here has EXPLODED
Read more

Finally Fall

Image
On tonight's menu...Monday Night Football and Moroccan Carrot Soup!  That peeler is one of the cheapest and best kitchen gadgets I own! Nothing says Fall has arrived like football and soup, and since the temps around here finally dropped below the 80s, it was time to break out the soup pot. I first tried this carrot soup at my aunt's house several months ago, and I couldn't wait to make it again so Mike could try it, too. It's really easy to make, and I believe relatively healthful. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, so consider this one, "From the Kitchen of Aunt Sheryl." I used Greek yogurt, and doubled the recipe so we could have leftovers for lunches. The recipe as listed says it will serve 4. Drizzling in the honey... Moroccan Carrot Soup 2 Tbl butter 1 cup chopped white onion 1 lb large carrots, peeled and chopped into ½-inch pieces 2½ cups low-salt chicken broth 1 Tbl honey 1 tsp fresh lemon juice ⅛ tsp ground allspice
Read more

Squash and Carrots, Oh My!

Image
When Mike and I were still just dating, Mike's mom was having us over for dinner and introduced me to a brand new dish: Squash Casserole. It was so very tasty that I asked for the recipe at the end of the meal and have been making it ever since. Granted, it's not the healthiest way to eat your vegetables, but sometimes you've got to go for tasty and leave the healthy to someone else. Most recipes I've found call for a full cup of sour cream and an entire stick of butter. I've decreased both these and found it was still delicious. If you're really going for decadence, though, feel free to go all in. Also, most recipes I've seen either mix half the cornbread stuffing mix into the casserole or spread half on the bottom and the remaining on top. I really enjoy the crispy on top, so that's where I put all of mine. All the ingredient amounts are pretty flexible. I've used preshredded carrots, and I've shredded my own. Preshredded will offer a bit o
Read more