Image by Holly Bell
Bake Off is back! So here's a little recipe that starts us all off slowly. I'm not talking about ease of recipe, oh no (though these are very easy indeed), I'm talking about calorifically. Look, we've got weeks ahead of us. We need to pace ourselves. So I'm starting with refined sugar free tropical breakfast bars that I made for a Whitworths workshop.
This is a low refined sugar bar packed full of oats, a little like a flapjack, with a totally tropical taste. A great way to start the day without lots of unnecessary added refined sugar. These freeze well too, so make a batch, store away in your freezer and defrost one overnight ready for breakfast at home or on the go.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now... on Amazon, The Works, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets. (Pssst! Did you know I have a new book coming out in September? Keep tuned for more info!)
Makes 10 bars
Ingredients:
- 1 ripe banana
- 150g Whitworth deglet dates
- 20g Whitworths desiccated coconut
- 70mls boiling water
- 95g Whitworths soft figs
- 30g Whitworths sweet mango
- 30g Whitworths sweet pineapple
- 160g oats
Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 2 and pop the kettle on. Grease and line a 20cm x 20cm tin.
Peel the banana and break into pieces. Place in a jug with the dates, coconut and boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes and in the meantime chop the figs, mango and pineapple into 1/2 cm chunks using scissors. Use a stick blender to blitz the banana mixture to a fine purée, being careful not to spray yourself with boiling water.
Combine the puree, oats and chopped fruit in a bowl until well mixed then press into the prepared tin. Bake for 30 minutes until the edges are starting to brown and the top feels firm. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack then cut with a very sharp knife once cool. Store in a tin for up to 5 days. Freeze, well wrapped for up to a month. Defrost at room temperature before serving.
Holly blogs at Recipes from a Normal Mum
Her first book is out now, also called Recipes from a Normal Mum