A sweet summer snack cake - Blueberry Banana Snack Cake. This healthy little snack screams summer.
It's started. The mess we call summer has started. That constant state of disarray that comes with warm weather, days by the pool, the steady stream of neighbourhood kids and sunscreen. My kitchen is upside down, there are beach towels everywhere and my kids have managed to find and bring outside toys they haven't played with in 8 months. Its bliss. I feel like I am in a constant state of cottage vacation (when I have no vacation and no cottage). It's sweet.
Food changes this time of the year too. Meals are more casual. Less structured. Impromptu.
Dinner last night - crispy zucchini "fries" and tahini-spiked cabbage salad. An unusual combination. But somehow perfect. We ate the zucchini without plates and the salad out of cereal bowls as we hovered around the outdoor coffee table. Apparently we get so casual we don't sit at a table or use proper utensils this time of year. It's also not essential to dry off before meals like this. Grab a bite or two, jump in the pool, come back for more. It's all good.
Dessert was this: A sweet blueberry banana snack cake. Made simply because I had a couple of very over-ripe bananas. Bananas too ripe to even freeze and save for smoothies. I came across this recipe from Oh She Glows for a chocolate chip banana snack cake. And while I'm very certain that chocolate chips and walnuts are amazing in this cake, I had fresh blueberries on hand and could not pass up the opportunity to use them. I made the right decision. Blueberries took this snack cake from anytime to summertime. A testament to how good this was.. it's all gone. It didn't last the evening.
Here is how I made it.
Blueberry banana snack cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups regular oats processed into a flour
- ½ cup regular oats not processed
- ½ cup coconut sugar packed firmly (brown will do)
- 2 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil melted (or other light tasting oil)
- 2 medium very ripe bananas peeled and mashed
- ⅓ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk I used almond
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 8" baking pan by lining with parchment or covering with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients - oats, sugars, baking powder, spices and salt. Stir with a whisk.
- In a smaller bowl mix together coconut oil, bananas, apple sauce, milk and vanilla. Add liquids to dry ingredients and gently fold together to just combine. Add blueberries and almonds just as the mixture starts to come together and stir just enough to evenly distribute.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 about 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and edges are lightly browned.
- Allow to cool and cut into squares.
Aman says
thanks for sharing this recipe, it looks amazing!
xoxo, Aman
beauteacoffeechic.blogspot.com
LiSa says
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the idea of blueberry and banana together!
Julie says
These look sooo delicious! I'm going to have to give them a go for sure! Thanks so much for a great recipe. 🙂
Tiffany says
Looks incredible. I was just getting everything out to make it, and I only have half the oats! Any suggestions on a substitute without running to the store. Whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, Teff that I can process into a flour, Amaranth I can process into a flour, or even regular flour? I am most concerned about taste. I can live with the health issues of a little white flour if you think that's the best flavor/texture choice.
Thanks!!
Trish @infinebalance says
Oh geez.... tough question :). So wheat flour (I would probably go with a mix of whole and white) would work, although because of the gluten in the flour the results might be different and a little less dense. I find rice flour does not stick together as well as oat flour, so I don't think I would go 100% rice flour. Perhaps up to 50% and then rest white wheat flour.
so.. remember it's 2 cups of oats made into flour, so after processing I had less than 2 cups.... but I didn't measure. I'm totally guessing here but I would reduce the flour by 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
Hope that helps...
Tiffany says
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I had been thinking 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white might be the way to go. Glad my instincts are improving. I should probably just go to the store or ask a neighbor to borrow a cup of oats. It's raining and stormy today, and I feel like baking instead of going to the store. 🙂
Tiffany says
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I had been thinking 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white might be the way to go. Glad my instincts are improving. I should probably just go to the store or ask a neighbor to borrow a cup of oats. It's raining and stormy today, and I feel like baking instead of going to the store. 🙂
Tiffany says
oops. I'm new to this.
Tiffany says
The modified version was so good that today I'm making the correct version. One for me, and one for my mom to take to her Ladies' dinner. She has a friend that is allergic to eggs, dairy, and gluten. Perfect! Love this recipe. Thanks!
Trish @infinebalance says
Glad to hear it! Let me know how it worked out for you.