Today has to be my favourite ‘National [insert food here’ Day’ – PEANUT BUTTER DAY. It’s my answer when someone asks what’s the food I can’t live without. 100% I consume it in some way or form every day, and I still can’t decide if I prefer crunchy or smooth to be honest!
In celebration of the best food day, I was sent a surprise delivery from the lovely people at Meridian Foods so it was only right that I whipped something up – which includes a combination of some of my other favourite thing: chocolate, banana and oats. A mix between a cake and flapjack, the delicious date, peanut butter chocolate layer in the middle totally completes this indulgent (but healthy!) vegan treat.
Ingredients:
For the base and topping –
- 300g rolled oats (I used Mornflake)
- 2 large bananas
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (I used Clarks)
For the filling –
- 200g dates, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes (I used Whitworths)
- 1 banana
- 3 tablespoons smooth or crunchy peanut butter (I used Meridian Foods)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder (I used Bioglan)
For the sauce –
- 2 tablespoons smooth or crunchy peanut butter (I used Meridian Foods)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Get making!
- Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 20cm loose bottomed round tin.
- Place 200g of the oats into a blender or food processor and blend to form a flour. Add in the bananas, cinnamon, baking powder and maple syrup and whizz up until smooth.
- Add in the remaining oats and pulse again – you should have a rough dough mixture. Spread ¾ of this across the bottom of the tin evenly.
- Next drain the dates and add to the blender or food processor along with the banana, peanut butter, vanilla and cocoa or cacao and blend well until smooth and a little thick.
- Spread this in a generous layer over the base, all across to cover. Next spoon over the remaining base mixture over the top and gently spread to cover. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and firmed up.
- Leave to cool then pop out of the tin and cut into 6-8 slices. Make the sauce by whisking together the nut butter, maple syrup and just enough water to make it slightly runny. Drizzle over – now enjoy!
