Anyone who knew me before I changed my diet knows that along with chocolate, pick and mix candy and peanut butter and jam eaten with a spoon, yoghurt and granola was my favourite food. I ate it all the time, it was my super easy, super lazy alternative to normal meals. So as you can image it wasn’t easy to give up, but like with everything else you see here I found an alternative. For me smoothie bowls topped with these banana and almond clusters are the ultimate replacement as they have the same mix of sweet creaminess contrasted with delicious crunchiness. Even better, this combination actually tastes a million times better than any of my old store-brought variations. It’s so good that the thought of my morning bowl literally makes me bounce out of bed in the morning – it’s awesome! Of course it’s super healthy too. The clusters are made just from almonds, walnuts, oats, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds and they’re stuck together using mashed banana, almond butter and manuka honey. So they really are bursting with brilliant goodness with heaps of plant protein, omega 3 acids, vitamins and wonderful fibre filled complex carbohydrates to keep you full and energetic for hours! This combined with the fresh fruit and veg in my morning smoothie means I start my day on such a positive note, which I love. I’ve said it before but I really can’t stress enough the importance of making healthy choices first thing in the morning as they power you up for a strong, healthy day! Try making a batch of these clusters and add them to your morning smoothie for a week, I can guarantee that you’ll feel incredible by the end! They’re also the easiest thing to make and last for ages in an air tight container!
- 1 cup of almonds
- 1/2 a cup of walnuts
- 1 cup of oats
- 1/2 a cup of sunflower seeds
- 1/2 a cup of pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup of flaxseeds
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoons of manuka honey
- 2 tablespoons of almond butter
For my favourite smoothie bowl:
- 1 ripe banana
- 1/2 a cup each of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries
- 1 handful of spinach
- 1 tablespoon of almond milk or water
Start by pre-heating the oven to 190C. Then place all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
In a separate bowl place the peeled bananas and mash them with a fork, before adding the honey and almond butter. Stir the three ingredients together so that they form a sticky paste.
Pour the paste over the dry ingredients mixing everything together so that the whole mixture sticks together. Then place this mixture onto a piece of baking paper on a baking tray and put it in the oven. Allow to bake for about 25 minutes, until the clusters start to brown a little and become firm. Although half way through it’s best to take the tray out and sir them around a bit, otherwise the whole thing will stick together in one giant cluster!
Then allow to cool and store in an air tight container, enjoy!
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