Recipe: Banana oat energy balls

These are something I make quite often, whenever I have overripe bananas lying around. Banana bread is yummy, but it also has quite a bit of sugar in. With just two ingredients, these snack balls are really quick and easy to make, and make a good healthy snack, or even a decent sort of breakfast if you only have time to grab something to-go on your way out the door.

I have measuring cups and a rounded tablespoon measure, but if you don't have those just estimate with a regular-sized mug and a dessert spoon or large serving spoon.

Banana-oat mixture, baking tray, tablespoon measure, and teaspoon

Ingredients:
 - Over-ripe banana/s
 - Rolled oats, half a cup per banana

Method:
 - Set the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius (no need to be exact).
 - Prepare a baking tray by greasing it or lining it with some baking paper.
 - In a bowl, mash the banana well with a fork until it's pretty smooth with only very small lumps left.
 - Add the oats and mix together until well combined.
 - Scoop out a tablespoon of the mixture and shape into a small ball, and place on the baking tray, repeating until it's all gone. (I scoop the mixture out of the bowl using a rounded tablespoon measure, smooth the top, then scoop the mixture out of that onto the tray using a teaspoon, so it's really easy to make into a rough ball shape. Using two bananas I usually get between 10 and 12 balls.)
 - Bake for between 15 and 25 minutes - you may need to try it a few times to find out how well-done you like them.
 - Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool.

Using a tablespoon measure to scoop and shape

You could add other things to these. I like to mix in dark chocolate chips when I have them, and I've added crunchy sugar-free peanut butter before too. Other options are finely chopped nuts, raisins/sultanas or other dried fruit, or a little vanilla extract or honey. You could also use an ice-cream scoop to scoop and shape the balls, but they're larger so you'd need to bake them for a little longer.

Enjoy! :)