Sweet treats

Walnut and banana traybake recipe

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Bake up a delicious treat for the weekend with this walnut and banana traybake recipe from Lucy Hosier of What Luce Eats and California Walnuts. This tasty traybake is easy to put together and doesn’t even need any flour. We think it tastes especially good served with a generous helping of gut-friendly live yoghurt!

Walnuts make for a crunchy addition here and are a great vegetarian source of omega-3. They’re also an excellent source of prebiotic fibre, making them a fantastic way to feed our good gut bugs.
A generous helping of maple syrup helps to give this traybake recipe a delicious sweetness, but if you haven’t got this to hand, try swapping in an alternative like honey. We’ve got more information here for sugar swaps in your baking.

We love this walnut and banana traybake as a sweet treat but it also works as a nutritious light breakfast. Oats are great for slow release energy through the day.
It’s also really easy to tweak this recipe and make it vegan. We’ve included some vegan suggestions to the ingredients below to help you make a traybake that everyone can enjoy.

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Wellbeing Wisdom

Most nuts and seeds contain prebiotic fibres but walnuts are among the richest sources. One study showed that amongst 135 healthy participants, daily walnut consumption positively altered the microbiome (increasing the abundance of Ruminococcaceae and Bifidobacteria and significantly decreasing levels of unhealthy Clostridium sp. bacteria.)

Ingredients

  • 175g walnuts
  • 75g butter, melted (or dairy-free alternative)
  • 150g oats 350g oat flour (blended oats into oat flour)
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
  • 1 egg (or use 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed mixed with 2 tablespoons of water left for 10 minutes for vegan option)
  • 170ml milk (or dairy-free alternative)
  • 50g smooth peanut butter or tahini
  • 2 tablespoons of cacao nibs (optional)
  • Yoghurt to serve (optional)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line a rectangular baking tray with parchment paper.
  2. Begin by mashing the bananas and combining with the melted butter, vanilla extract, maple syrup, flax egg, dairy free milk and peanut butter.
  3. Next finely chop or blend 100g of the walnuts into fine crumbs. Add to a separate bowl along with the oats, oat flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder and cacao nibs. Combine.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and thoroughly combine before emptying into the baking tray and flattening down.
  5. Chop the remaining 75g of walnuts and sprinkle on top. Push them down gently into the mixture.
  6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes before allowing to cool slightly and cutting into portions. Serve with some yoghurt and enjoy!