Crunchy Banana Bread Granola

Boost your breakfast with this homemade granola. It makes for a great naturally-sweetened start to your day or even a snack. Full of antioxidants, potassium, and packed with 5g of dietary fibre and 4.7g of protein per serving, you can indulge in this superfood-packed granola!

Ingredients (Makes 7 servings, about 1/2 cup)

• 1.5 bananas
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp. chia seeds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
2. Mash banana in large bowl.
3. Add in coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon.
4. Add in oats, sunflower seeds and chia seeds.
5. Bake for 20-30 min until golden brown, flipping it halfway through to ensure it doesn’t burn.

 

Enjoy these superfoods and their benefits:

Chia seeds

• High omega-3 PUFA content.
• High protein content
• High in dietary fibre (twice as much as bran and 4-5 times more than almonds, soy, quinoa or amaranth).
• High essential mineral content (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium)
• High in antioxidants.

Cinnamon

• High in antioxidants
• High manganese
• Potential anti-inflammatory properties
• Potential anti diabetic activity (glycemic control)
• Antimicrobial activity

Sunflower seeds

• High in antioxidants (flavonoids, phenolic acids)
• Source of tocopherol (vitamin E)
• Source of vitamins A, B and C
• Source of essential minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium and zinc.

Dhuley, J. N. (1999). Anti-oxidant effects of cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) bark and greater cardamom (Amomum subulatum) seeds in rats fed high fat diet. Indian J Exp Biol, 37(3), 238-242.

Guo, S., Ge, Y., & Na Jom, K. (2017). A review of phytochemistry, metabolite changes, and medicinal uses of the common sunflower seed and sprouts (Helianthus annuus L.). Chem Cent J, 11(1), 95. doi:10.1186/s13065-017-0328-7

Marcinek, K., & Krejpcio, Z. (2017). Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica): health promoting properties and therapeutic applications – a review. Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig, 68(2), 123-129.

Rao, P. V., & Gan, S. H. (2014). Cinnamon: a multifaceted medicinal plant. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2014, 642942. doi:10.1155/2014/642942

Shan, B., Cai, Y. Z., Sun, M., & Corke, H. (2005). Antioxidant capacity of 26 spice extracts and characterization of their phenolic constituents. J Agric Food Chem, 53(20), 7749-7759. doi:10.1021/jf051513y

Ullah, R., Nadeem, M., Khalique, A., Imran, M., Mehmood, S., Javid, A., & Hussain, J. (2016). Nutritional and therapeutic perspectives of Chia (Salvia hispanica L.): a review. J Food Sci Technol, 53(4), 1750-1758. doi:10.1007/s13197-015-1967-0