Easy Banana Granola Bars

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 160 C and line the base and sides of a square or rectangular cake tin with baking paper (I used a 9 inch square cake tin).
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and cranberries.
3. Mash the bananas thoroughly until you have a thick paste. Stir in the coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt.
4. Combine the banana mixture with the oat mixture. Scoop into your lined baking tray and press the mixture down firmly (using the back of a spoon or your fingertips) until there are no gaps and the mixture is evenly distributed.
5. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until the edges are starting to turn a deep golden brown and the middle feels firm.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into bars.

If the bars feel a little wet/damp on the underside after the cooking time, remove from the baking tin, place upside down on a baking tray and bake them in the oven for 5-10 minutes extra. This can be done before or after slicing into smaller bars.

Tips: 

*Use two large bananas in this recipe. You want about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of mashed banana puree for this recipe. If you have small bananas, you may need three.
*Swap the sultanas for dried cranberries, chopped dried dates or even some chocolate chips - so good!
*You can also swap the seeds for nuts if you prefer. If you’re using nuts, as they are a bit larger than seeds the bars will work best if you roughly chop them first, so they’re nicely distributed throughout the bars and the bars hold together well.