This is a simple and wholesome banana cookie bar, a perfect on the go morning snack (as much as I hate the concept of food on the go). These dairy free banana bars are thin and light, with minimal fat (especially if you avoid the peanut butter icing) and have a texture which is chewy but still fairly light.
A sideline: Bananas were always one of those fruits which were very neutral in my mind; a take them or leave them sort of attitude prevailed. That is, until I visited South East Asia for the first time. I realised how divine a banana could be and I came to understand I’d never again appreciate a banana at home the way I could in a native environment. So I pretty much gave up eating bananas, saving them for cooking and the occasional smoothie.
Vegan Banana Bars Recipe
- Directions/Method
- Preheat your oven to 175° C (350° F). Lightly grease a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll tin.
- Mash the banana in a bowl until only small lumps remain and it’s liquidy. Whisk into the sugar, apple sauce, margarine, yoghurt, and vanilla and mix until smooth-ish (a few lumps are fine).
- Add the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and salt while slowly mixing until all of the ingredients are combined. Lick fingers multiple times.
- Spread the batter, which will be fairly thick, as well as possible across the entire jelly roll sheet. Use a spatula or your hands to make it as level as possible, but it really doesn’t have to be perfectly even so don’t fuss too much over this detail.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the top is just browned. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to, you guessed it, cool.
- To make the peanut butter icing, simply combine the icing sugar, peanut butter, and non dairy milk. The icing is quite stiff, so if you want a more spreadable consistency you will need to add some more liquid. Pipe the icing in random patterns over the banana bars, cut, and serve.
Mixed Spice? For the North Americans among us, is this a pre-mix or teaspoonful of spice free-for-all? The recipe looks like a nice sober change from my rum-soaked banana bread. I'll give it a go.
Mixed spice is a pre-mix here, but it's essentially just a mix of warming spices- cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and pimento… You'd be safe using a combination of these (but don't worry if you're missing a few. Even just cinnamon would be nice I think, and probably a bit bolder).
Rum soaked banana bread sounds awesome!
When I saw these on your Flickr page I knew I had to take a look. What a lovely, lovely idea, definitely *with* the peanut butter icing. Yum Kip.
Thanks, Kathryn Can't ever beat peanut butter, in my opinion 🙂