Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Blueberry Banana Nut Bars




On a warm sunny afternoon, cozily curled up in a sofa my eyes fell on few bananas sitting on my kitchen table threatening me to go bad if I don't use it immediately. Having already had enough of those the previous day I thought,"Oh no! No more bananas" and gave a pitiful look at the ripe yellow fruit. It challenged me enough that I decided to prepare something with it so that I could save it from ending up in the trash bin.


I had bought a packet of fresh blueberries during my grocery trip few days ago which were screaming to be used. Having already made up my mind to make something & searching through my pantry I saw a packet of whole wheat flour staring back at me! It lit a flash bulb in my mind and I thought,"Why don't I make muffins out of these? It would be perfect for breakfast too!"

Fresh from the oven!

Having decided to make muffins I arranged all the ingredients on my kitchen table and opened one of the cabinets for muffin tray. The muffin tray was not there! Oh where could I have misplaced it? Kept searching in all the places I could remember but the tray seemed to have completely vanished! Not wanting to let myself down and already having day dreamt of those spongy blueberry banana muffins I decided to turn it into bars by baking in a cake tray! Meanwhile the mystery of the missing tray still continues.....


Well so here are two recipes in one! You may turn them into muffins or bars following the same recipe. Tastes great either way! And if you would like to know my verdict, these were the most softest bars I ever made! The flavour of honey combined with bananas and blueberries turned it into super moist, light bars. Just have a bite and you would love the explosion of packed blueberries in honey syrup.So have I tempted you enough? Hope so..hehe! Lets all enjoy blueberry banana bars!


Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups
Fresh blueberries - 1 1/4 cup
Ripe bananas - 3
Chopped almonds and cashews - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Granulated sugar - 2/3 cup
Honey - 1/4 cup
Powdered cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Powdered nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
Melted butter - 1/3 cup
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp

Method:
  • Preheat oven to 375 deg F(190 deg C).
  • Grease a 8" square non stick baking tray.
  • Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and sift at least thrice. Keep aside.
  • Blend bananas well.
  • Mix sugar, honey, melted butter, blended bananas and egg and beat with a mixer until well blended. Do not over beat.
  • Slowly add the sifted ingredients kept aside earlier and mix well.
  • Mix chopped nuts and blueberries well and add it to the batter. Mix well with a spatula.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Unmould after cooling.
  • Cut into rectangular bars.
  • Enjoy the taste of blueberry-banana-nuts in every bite!
This goes to:

Show me your breakfast hosted by Divya of Dile Se.




Original Recipes event hosted by Lore.





Along with this I'm also sending Fruit Salad with Custard to SHF-Fruit & Nut event.


I'm also sending the following breakfast items to EFM-June Breakfast Series event:

Appam


Puttu


French Toast



Kerala Kadala Curry


Potato Stew

Pooja.

Other Breakfast Recipes:
Kerala Kadala CurryPotato StewFrench ToastCheese OmelettePuttuAppamIdiappam

71 comments:

Pooja said...

Looks soft,moist and delicious pooja..Yummy way to start the day..

Pooja said...

Thanks Pooja! Wow that was pretty quick!

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

I am ready for breakfast now! Looks sooo good... I love it...

VineelaSiva said...

The nut bars looks yummy.IS it ok to add any other fruit.I want to try this bars.I dont have blue berries right now.

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Event recipes are wonderful....

lubnakarim06 said...

Oh wow delectable and delish bars.....looks yum.....

Pooja said...

Thanks Vineela :) Yes you may, but when blueberries are added it melts while baking and imparts a moist texture. But I guess it would be fine with any other fruit.

Pooja said...

Thanks Lisa! Was my first attempt and I loved the combo :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Ms.Sailaja :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Lubna :)

Parita said...

Wow thats too good...the cake has baked beautifully dear and looks fantastic..i wish i cud grab one piece :) Oh my perfect entries for all events :)

ST said...

Absolutely delish and yummyyyyy...

Doloncookbook said...

Wow ... What a delicious breakfast . Looks great ...

Priya Suresh said...

Soft and moist berry,banana nuts bars looks gorgeous and fabulous!!

Kalai said...

Bars looks yummy and soft.Bookmarked.

Lore said...

Awesome combo Pooja, yummy! Thanks for sharing your delicious bars with the Original Recipes Round-Up :)

Vrinda said...

Yummy moist banana bars,u got the perfect golden color..muffin pan kittyo...?

Christo Gonzales said...

wow I bet these are so good right out of the oven with some butter...

VineelaSiva said...

Pooja i have oranges,pine apple and mango only.Is it ok or I just add bananas and nuts.

Renuka said...

Nut bars looks so spongy and delicious..will definitely try it out.. but im not a big fan of bluberrys...

Ann said...

fantastic Pictures! it looks so yummm and I love the berry addition in the bars.

Pooja said...

Thanks Parita :) Go ahead and grab one dear :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Sireesha :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Dolon :)Alternatively you may have as a tea time snack too!

Pooja said...

Thanks Priya :) First time I was baking with blueberries! Will definitely do it again.

Pooja said...

Thanks Kalai :) Do try sometime :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Lore and welcome :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Vrinda :)Illaa kittiyilla! It wasnt a metal/nonstick tray but was of the aluminium foil type..so I guess it would have got misplaced smwhr when we had to clear many things in the house. But I hope it would be smwhr Vrinda!

Pooja said...

Thanks DB :) Thanks for the gr8 idea :)

Pooja said...

Thanks a lot Dr.Davon :) Will surely visit yours. I love to read about medical health articles too!

Pooja said...

Vineela, may be you should go with bananas & nuts. Or if u want to add pineapple, you may cook the pineapple pieces it in a small pan along with granulated sugar till it gets cooked and gets coated with the sugar syrup. Either way I dont think it would make any difference to the final batter consistency :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Renuka :) I'm not too! But I loved adding those in this! It masked the original taste of blueberries.

Pooja said...

Thanks Ann :)

Priyameena said...

Really looks like a fulfilling breakfast..Excellent entry..

Pooja said...

Thanks Priya :)

Suparna said...

Hi Pooja,
I just am in loss of words :) I could only tell u that I've fallen falt for the gorgeous cake/bars...this is on my T&T I'll bake it on Friday :)Thanks for the exciting post!we don't get blueberries here I'll substitute it with something else..
TC

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow thats really quick stuff.. nice entry to the event.

Pooja said...

Thanks Suparna :) I too loved having this the first time I made. Do try and let me know :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Pavithra :) Yes its very easy to make, effortless and not at all time consuming!

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

Wow-blueberry banana nut bars for breakfast? I would probably finish the whole thing as I believe in eating a BIG breakfast ;)
Good job Pooja!!

Pooja said...

Hehe....Thanks Sweta :D I too love having a filling breakfast..feels so energized all day!

Pooja said...

the same thing happens with the bananas in my house too...ends up in the trash often,cursing me !i love this combination of berries and bananas... gr8 entries !

Pooja said...

Thanks Pooja :) Yes it happens here too and I had enough..now glad that I got a way to save those :)

Indian Khana said...

That's looks yum...Bookmarked it...shall try ..inbtw it does happens...long time back my potato bag went missing..and I never found the potato.. all the best with ur tray search ;)

Kalyani said...

wow looks yum yum yummy pooja .. will try this soon ...

Anonymous said...

Mmm... These bars are scrumptious! Blueberry banana and nuts are a great combo!

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Looks so soft snd delicious. Yummy. Good one.

Unknown said...

Bananas n blueberries sound like a great combo! Lovely bars!

Chitra said...

Lovely post..great u have sent so many entries for BF event:)

Vikis Kitchen said...

Blueberry and banana filled bars are tempting me. All the breakfast items also seem incredible. Good entry for the event.

veena said...

Hi pooja ...
Its so yummy and quick one ...thanks for the recipe

Pooja said...

Thanks Priti :) Oops I really hope I get it back!

Pooja said...

Thanks Kalyani :) Do try some time n let me know ur verdict :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Natasha :) Yes it is indeed. Loved the combo ever since I tried out!

Pooja said...

Thanks Valar :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Divya :) Yes its a nice combo. Do give a try!

Pooja said...

Thanks Chitra :) Thought of sending them all..hehe!

Pooja said...

Thanks Veena for dropping by :)

yasmeen said...

Fantastic! I also love to bake the overly ripen bananas:)

Chef Jeena said...

Yummmmmmmmm! I am glad you could not find your muffin tray because these look so so delicious Pooja.

Pooja said...

Thanks Yasmeen :)
Haha thanks Jeena :) And right Jeena! I really enjoyed these bars!

Varsha Vipins said...

..n did u get that tray ?..hehe..happens everywhre..lol..those bars looks so yum..:)

rahin said...

looks moist n delicious

ARUNA said...

wow i also made something with blueberries today Pooja!!!!! Those bars look awesome!!

Raaga said...

Incidentally, I have some banana choco chip walnut muffins in the oven... when I decided to blog hop :-)

Bergamot said...

Looks yummy. A sweet way to start your day.

Pooja said...

Thanks Rahin :)
Thanks Aruna :) Waiting eagerly for your tempting creation!
Oh great to hear that Raaga :)
Thanks Bergamot for dropping by :)

Kalai said...

Pooja,Thks for the info.I'm going to send my recipe to AFAM-Bell Peppers.

Pooja said...

It would make a great entry Kalai :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Varsha :) Fortunately I did dear. Guess whr? In the closet where we put all unwanted stuffs :D

Unknown said...

Had bookmarked this for a long time and made these today. Kids absolutely loved it. Thanks for sharing and posting a lovely pic to inspire :D