Recipes for the Road: Banana, Oat and Chocolate bars.

for this recipe you will need an Omnia oven - highly recommended

Nestled in a Suffolk forest, with Monty sniffing around the car park, I was on a roll. Recipe ideas were coming thick and fast and I was busy tapping away into Asana some of the recipes I wanted to create in the coming weeks. Sat next to me were three very ripe bananas and I spied them out of the corner of my eye. Another idea incoming… but there was no time like the present.

I bought my Omnia oven some time last year and while I had used for stews and chillies I was yet to bake with it and this was a really simpler foolproof recipe to try it out and get familiar. Rummaging through my food cupboard I pulled out ingredients, standing them on the counter and got baking.

These satisfying slices are half cake, half bar and you’ll be surprised at how much the oats puff out to a spongy texture. Oats are slow release energy and ripe bananas provide the sweetness of this bar. Seeds add further to the energy and the dark chocolate is a good hit of flavonoids (powerful anti inflammatory). Cinnamon adds a bit of spice and works further to balance blood sugar and you won’t find these overly banana tasting either.

Ingredients.

3 ripe bananas

2 cups oats

2 heaped tbsp peanut butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 handful sultanas

2 handfuls seeds

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp water

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

Oil (any)

150g dark chocolate (the better quality, the better the nutrients)

Method.

Mash your banana in a bowl until all lumps are out then stir in the rest of the ingredients bar the oil, chocolate and half of the peanut butter.

Oil your silicone insert for your Omnia and transfer the mixture in, spreading it evenly round. Cook on the lowest heat setting for your hob for 25 mins. Check the cake is cooked by poking a skewer in (I found a match worked here!) and if the skewer doesn't come out clean give it another 5 minutes or so. Set aside to cool a little.

While cooling, melt your chocolate by breaking it into a bowl and placing the bowl on top of a pan of boiling water, ensuring no water touches the chocolate. Once melted slowly stir the remaining peanut butter into your melted chocolate and pour on top of your cake. Transfer the cake in the silicone to a coolbox or fridge and leave to set for around half an hour.

These can be stored in an airtight tin for a few days. In warm weather I advise keeping in a coolbox.