Charlotte Stirling-Reed's family friendly Baked Banana Bars for stress free mornings
The return of the school run also means the return of breakfasts that need to happen fast. These Baked Banana Bars from Charlotte Stirling-Reed's How to Feed Your Family are exactly the sort of recipe worth making on Sunday and relying on all week.
Made with porridge oats, ripe banana, milk, dried fruit, spice and seeds, there's very little prep involved: everything is mixed together, baked until golden and sliced into bars or smaller squares. Best of all, they freeze well individually, so you can take one out the night before and have breakfast waiting by morning – or warm it for 30 seconds in the microwave if there's time. They also work well in lunchboxes as they are nut free and vegetarian.
Makes: 12 bars or 24 small squares | Prep: 5 minutes | Cook: 50–55 minutes
Ingredients
100g porridge oats
180ml milk of choice
2 large very ripe bananas (around 200g in total)
85g sultanas (or raisins, chopped dates, chopped dried apricots)
½ tsp mixed spice (or ground cinnamon or nutmeg)
3 tbsp mixed seeds (ground for babies/toddlers)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan and line a 20cm square shallow baking tin with non-stick baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together (except the seeds), then mash it well with a fork to completely break up the bananas.
Once everything is well mixed, scoop it into the baking tin and level the top.
Sprinkle the mixed seeds on top (leave off or grind if serving to babies and young children).
Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp.
Once cooked, remove from the tin using the baking paper and leave to cool on a rack until either warm or cooled to room temperature.
Slice into 24 small squares, or 12 larger bars to serve.
The bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or can be wrapped in cling film/beeswax and frozen individually, then defrosted on the counter overnight ready for the morning. You can also reheat them uncovered in a microwave for 30 seconds if you’d like them warm.
For babies and young children: They should be okay with the texture of these as soon as they have moved on to slightly more complex finger foods. Avoid whole seeds, offer them ground instead, or simply leave them off any of the bars/squares that are for your baby/toddler.
How to Feed Your Family by charlotte Stirling-Reed
Charlotte Stirling-Reed is a registered nutritionist and bestselling author known for her practical, reassuring approach to feeding children and families.
In How to Feed Your Family, she combines balanced, family-friendly recipes with straightforward advice on nutrition, meal planning, batch cooking, reducing waste and making mealtimes easier for everyone.