Banana bake

Studded with nuts, seeds and dried fruit, this gluten-free slice is really simple to make and a great snack with a cup of tea.

Banana bake. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  10

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 6-8 ripe bananas
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup macadamias, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish
• ¼ cup pistachios, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup pitted dates, roughly torn
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 tbsp wattleseed

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a 20cm square brownie tin.
2. Soak chia seeds in ½ cup water for a few minutes until a gel-like consistency forms.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas with the salt until you have a coarse paste. Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and use a spatula to fold everything through. Place contents into a lined 20cm brownie tin (you want the slice to be about 4cm in thickness). Top with some extra macadamias and pistachios
4. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tray.

Note

You can use different nuts, seeds or dried fruit, or try substituting in other additions such as rolled oats.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.