Recipe: Let Banana Bread Blueberry Collagen Bars nourish your weekend vibe

While baking a banana bread was surprisingly a trend in the initial days of lockdown among those who couldn't even prepare scrambled eggs, the extended months of Covid-19 pandemic only saw people not just polishing their kitchen skills while working from home but also trying to give different scrumptious variations to banana bread. This Sunday, we were in for a drool-worthy surprise as we stumbled upon a delicious recipe of Banana Bread Blueberry Collagen Bars which is sure to nourish our weekend vibe.

We don't know whether it is the extra free time of Sunday or something comforting about the smell of warm banana bread fresh from the oven but we just can't stop ourselves from wanting to whip up the incredibly easy and tasty Banana Bread Blueberry Collagen Bars. Check out the recipe below and thank us later:

Ingredients:

2 mashed bananas

2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)

1/3 cup almond butter (or nut/seed butter)

1 egg (*V* or flax egg)

3 tbsp raw honey (*V* or maple syrup)

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 sea salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup blueberries

Optional add-ins:

Sprinkle of cinnamon

2 scoops of collagen

Walnuts

Dash of lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix wet ingredients and then dry ingredients separately. Combine until well incorporated.

Fold in blueberries to mixed batter. Line an 8X6 rectangular or 8X8 square pan or glass dish w/ parchment paper. Pour in batter.

Sprinkle more blueberries on top! Press them down. Bake for 25-40 minutes (depends on size/depth of pan/dish) until no longer jiggles in the middle and starting to brown on the edges!

Let cool fully before cutting and serving.

Benefits:

Bananas, whether mashed or otherwise, help lower the level of stress as they are rich in potassium which is an essential mineral needed to regulate water balance, acidity level and blood pressure. They not only improve digestive health and aid in weight loss but also support heart health, improve insulin sensitivity and contain powerful antioxidants.

Almond flour helps reduce the risk of serious health conditions like cancer, diabetes, stroke and heart disease as it is rich in vitamin E and other antioxidants. Apart from being an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, copper, phosphorous, calcium and iron, it is low in carbs and has an extremely low glycemic index which helps in reducing blood sugar levels and ultimately leads to weight loss.

On the other hand, blueberry-enriched diet may help women’s muscle growth and repair, manage oxidative stress and oxygen consumption rate or metabolism as per a study conducted at Cornell University and published in the Journal of Nutrition. In general, blueberries are the king of antioxidant foods and protect cholesterol in our blood from becoming damaged while also lowering blood pressure.