gluten-free, no sugar added cereal bars (tigernut flour and rolled oats)

Hello dear neighbors ! With spring finally here, in between showers and cold spells, I see a lot of people hiking again in my neck of the woods. You probably do too.

(          wise retirees                                          regular retirees                                        young retirees        )

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A well-prepared hiker carries his provision of water with him, – along with waterproof clothing in protection of what might fall from the sky ^^ ) and goodies for snacking ! We take homemade cereal bars to keep us going. These are made with no added sugar, but taste sweet enough (for us) thanks to the mashed banana and added chopped dates. The banana flavor is really discreet: my mom, who doesn’t care very much for this fruit, told me so – and trust me, she doesn’t balk at telling me how she feels!

To tell you all about this recipe, originally my daughter had sent me a link for vegan “cookies” on YouTube (here).

Two notes on that original recipe: unlike in mine, it does not specify the exact weight of the banana, and the “cookies” are chewy, which is not to everyone’s taste – personally, I don’t mind but my husband like to make sure his dentures his teeth are still in perfect working condition! By replacing half the oats with tigernut flour, and by changing the baking settings, the result is totally different.

Ingredients (for about ten cereal bars)

– 100 g / 3.5 oz ripe banana, peeled (about double the weight with the peel)

– 50 g / 1.75 oz certified gluten-free oats or buckwheat flakes (preferably not too big)

– a pinch of natural sea salt, with no additives (optional, to enhance flavors)

– 20 g / 0.7 oz pecan halves / walnut halves (about 5 whole walnuts )

– 5 “deglet” type dates, organic to guarantee the absence of sulfites

– 3 TBSP / 40 g / 1.4 oz coconut oil

– 50 g / 1.75 oz tigernut flour

How to:

(Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300 °F, no fan)

1. Mash banana well with a fork, trying to make it as smooth as possible. I do not use my blender, reasoning that for such a small quantity of banana it is not really worth it.

2. Still using fork, add oats / buckwheat flakes, pinch of salt to mashed banana and mix well. Set aside, letting the oats soak up the banana flavor while you move on to step 3.

3. Chop nuts and dates in small pieces. Melt coconut oil.

4. Add to banana oat mix and stir well to combine.

5. Finally mix in tigernut flour, first with fork and using your hands at the end to form a ball of dough.

6. Roll out between baking paper and plastic film into a 1 cm / ½ inch thick rectangle. Cut into small rectangular pieces before baking.

BAKING TIME : 55 minutes total. Flip each cereal bar over after 30 minutes to allow even coloring on both sides. Cool on a rack after removing from oven. Cereal bars will harden while cooling.

You can also use dried cranberries instead of / along with dates ; very tasty, but then they will have a measure of added sugar.

Have a nice spring, everyone !

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