During my house sitting adventures, I have made many a pit stop back at my house, to stop in, see my cat, and pick up random items. On one trip, my dad told me to take the 3 almost black bananas sitting out on the counter. See, my mom was away, my sister was at the boyfriend’s, and my dad doesn’t eat ripe bananas. Not being one to waste perfectly good food, I grabbed them, as well as half of an old zucchini that was hidden in the depths of the produce drawer in the fridge. You know, more food I knew my dad wouldn’t eat.
On one of my days off from work (apparently I get those every once in awhile), the baking bug bit. I scoured the cupboards for suitable baking ingredients, and rummaged through the random items I’d nabbed from home, finally coming up with a plan.
I wanted to make something I could snack on, that was slightly sweet, and of course full of nutritious ingredients. I decided a banana oat square was in order, flecked with shredded zucchini and heart healthy hemp seeds.
The plan was to keep it vegan, with almond milk, flax “eggs” and real maple syrup. Turned out the syrup bottle in the fridge was almost empty. I had to break out the honey instead, which is fine by me.
The end result was a moist, dense oat square, perfect for an afternoon snack or as part of an “on the go” breakfast. Spread with a little nut butter it was amazing.
Banana Zucchini Oat Squares
makes 16 squares
If you find yourself with some extra ripe bananas, give these tasty little squares a try. With fruits, vegetables, whole grains and some healthy fats, they make a great snack to pack in school lunches, a quick “on-the-go” breakfast paired with some fruit, or a nice nibble to go with your afternoon tea.
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1/4 cup milk, dairy or non (I used almond milk)
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
- 3 tbsp maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup (I used honey)
- 1/3 cup almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups oats
- 1/4 cup spelt flour
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8” x 8” square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, mix flax seed and milk and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mash bananas until almost smooth.
4. Stir milk mixture, zucchini, sweetener, almond butter, and vanilla into the bananas until combined.
5. Add remaining dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Spread into prepare baking pan.
6. Bake for 30 min, or until set and golden brown.
7. Cool, then cut into 16 squares.
Note: Feel free to use whatever nut butter you have on hand. A handful of chocolate chips would make a delicious addition, if you are so inclined.
Good gracious those look delicious!!! I love the idea of adding shredded carrot or zucchini to ANY baked good!! so yummy!!! And I’ve been using hempseed a lot in my baking TOO lately!!! Mostly just cookies though!!! Thanks for this beautiful recipe!!!!!
These look fantastic! I should try them out as my husband is getting sick of snacking on trail mix at work…
Ingenious! Those look fabulous and I almost always have zukes and nanners that need used up!
looks good!
Drat it all! Where are all the bananas when I need them??? I’m taking this recipe down. And you can be sure I’ll opt to add the chocolate chips!! 😉
Those look so good! And I have a huge bag of bananas that need to be used – quick!
Thanks for the recipe Marianne!
Lucky me…I just happen to have all the ingredients for these…