Thursday 26 May 2016

Banana Maple & Walnut Raw Energy Cookies

dried banana, dates, walnuts and maple in these healthier take on cookies

These Banana Maple and Walnut treats are not naughty at all...

I have to be honest and say I’m trying to be healthier. When I started Cakeyboi back in 2012, I had recently lost about 3 stone and was feeling great.

dried banana, dates, walnuts and maple in these healthier take on cookies

I loved baking, and it seemed at the time I could bake (and eat) pretty much anything I liked and I stayed thin. But over the years the pounds have piled back on and my energy levels have dipped.

As much as I enjoy my sweet treats, I always say they are sometimes treats and not every day eats! I am getting married later this year and want to lose a few pounds before the big day. Orka the whale would not look good in wedding photos.

I will bring you more about the big day in months to come, but in the meantime I am going to try and make some healthier treats for us all to enjoy.

dried banana, dates, walnuts and maple in these healthier take on cookies

I’m not abandoning my sweet-tooth altogether. There will still be plenty of sugar-infused mayhem between now and then, but I shall try and balance this with some healthier spins on sweet treats.

And to start with I am sharing with you a favourite of mine – banana, maple and walnut energy cookies. I say cookies as they are disc shaped, but you could make these in any shape you wanted. Bliss balls are very popular, bars or triangles whatever you can mould the mix into.


I made these discs in my Optimum 9400 blender from Froothie. I cannot recommend this blender more, it really copes with any old sticky stuff I shove in it. As you have probably seen in previous posts this blender can even crush concrete!


But for this recipe  I am using dried banana which I found in a local health food store. It comes in a block and looks a bit suspicious in it’s raw state, but blended up with other ingredients can become so much more.


We are getting married in Canada, and I love the country’s main export - maple!  I stop myself from saying maple syrup as I also have maple sugar in the cupboard which is amazing stuff. Crystallised maple syrup, maple sugar has equal amounts of flavour.

dried banana, dates, walnuts and maple in these healthier take on cookies

In these raw cookies I pack dried banana, dried dates, maple sugar AND syrup plus walnuts. These are so tasty and provide you with plenty of energy before a session at the gym or a long ramble. Not too sinful at all!

They taste just as good as your breakfast waffle topped with bananas and syrup but are not quite so naughty!

(I got my dried banana from Holland and Barrett, but are easily purchased online).

Here’s how I made them…





print recipe

Banana Maple and Walnut Energy Cookies
Dried banana, maple and walnut in these healthier take on cookies.
Ingredients
  • 150 grams dried banana
  • 70 grams pitted dates
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon maple sugar
  • 50 grams walnuts
Instructions
Place the dried banana, dates, maple syrup and sugar plus 30 grams of walnuts in a blender and blitz until the ingredients resemble a smooth substance.Remove the blend and place into greaseproof paper and chill for an hour.After the hour, remove from the fridge and roll between two sheets of greaseproof paper until about a quarter of an inch thick.Cut out circles about 2 inches in diameter.Blitz the remaining walnuts in the Optimum 9400 until they resemble breadcrumbs.Dust the discs in the walnut crumbs.Chill the circles on greaseproof paper, about 2 hours more.Enjoy!
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 20 cookies approx.

Disclosure Statement: I received the blender free to review. Any opinions expressed are my own.

16 comments:

  1. I find the Orka the Whale comparison hard to believe... However am in the same boat! That dried banana does look mightily suspicious I have to say ;-)

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  2. the ingredients are amongst my favourites - how could they taste anything but epic!

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  3. Lovely cookies :) but i can't buy maple syrup in store :(
    Maybe can be replaced with honey?

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    1. Yes, honey or agave nectar would be fine Klauss.

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  4. What a fab recipe Stuart... I've never tried dried banana before but it looks like a fantastic ingredient for whizzing up healthy treats in the Froothie. I bet it's lush made into a milkshake!

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    1. It's super banana(y) - it would be great in a shake or smoothie Katie.

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  5. Ooh congratulations, how very exciting. And going to Canada too. I used to eat loads of dried bananas, but haven't had any for years. Love how you've used them here.

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    1. Thanks Choclette - might be there at the same time?!

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  6. I hear you loud and clear. I still hope to wake up one day and find that carrots have 300 calories, and cakes only about 20.

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    1. Maybe one day they will have skinny cakes :(

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  7. These look lovely - and great use of dried bananas! Congratulations and good luck for the Canadian wedding :)

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  8. I whizzed straight through your post to the ingredients and I am so making these bad boys Stuart! They look & sound bleddy perfect!!!
    Janie x
    PS consider them pinned :)

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  9. I'm currently low carb and this recipe is making me drool haha! I definitely need to get my hands on some dried bananas! Love this :)

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  10. Fantastic, have never seen dried banana in a block before, only in individual nanas. Looks delicious and good luck with your wedding planning - exciting!!

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