Date and Banana Oaty Bars (Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

Yesterday was not a great day. It was a Monday and everyone in the house had lockdown fatigue. The day did not start well with a coffee disaster on the bed – not me! From google review of how to get rid of coffee stains from a mattress, it appears quite a common problem. In case you need to know, make a solution of distilled white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Then soak a towel in the liquid and place it over the spill. Leave it for a few hours and the stains were gone. The duvet was taken to a laundrette and the bedding was put in the washing machine. Thank God the weather was warm and dry!

It sort of cast a cloud over Monday! It was not a day for complex recipes; in fact it did not seem a day for much activity at all!!

We are careful about not wasting food; review of the fruit bowl identified three small over-ripe bananas. There is only so much banana loaf or banana nut muffins that you can eat. I came across this recipe and felt it suited my mood. I love anything with dates, read these articles to see their benefits.

The whole recipe takes 10 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes cooking. It makes 16 bars, 130 calories each. It is very easy and the bars are sweet with no added sugar. You can store them in an airtight container for about a week or freeze for up to 3 months. I guarantee they won’t last that long as they are soft and chewy with a bit of crunch at the edge.

Ingredients

2 bananas (the original recipe didn’t give a weight so I used three small bananas and it mixed in well)
170 g dates chopped up small
180 g oats (I used gluten free oats)
40 g oil (vegetable or coconut oil; I used coconut oil and did not need to melt it)
40 g sunflower seeds (I used a mix of seeds)
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract