Healthy Snacks, Banana and Almond Slice.

We all love a little bit of sweetness in our lives. Having a sweet tooth makes it rather tempting to dig into something chocolaty or a slab of cake before going on a training ride, but these sweet treats don’t sustain you for very long, as they are full of sugar which give you a quick boost but leave you wanting more very quickly.
What you really need are foods that have a low Glycemic Index (GI), these are foods which  release carbohydrate more slowly over time in order to sustain the training you are doing for longer. So to combine something sweet with something that will sustain training I’ve started making banana and almond cakes, these are full of slow releasing energy and a sweet treat at the same time. Bonus!
What you will need:
3 large bananas, mashed
Sliced almonds, a hand full
200g (7 oz) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
150g (5 oz) caster sugar
1 egg
75g (2 1/2 oz) butter, melted
A cap full of vanilla essence

How to make:
Preheat your oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4, then grease a tin, any tin will do as long as its about an inch deep. You could also make this into a muffin mix by using a muffin tray. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a mixing bowl and add in your sliced almonds.
Using a blended mix together the bananas, vanilla essence, sugar, egg and melted butter, once its turned into a yellow goo pour in stirring as you add the dry ingredients once its all mixed together add to your baking tray and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. You will know its cooked when you can lightly tap it and it bounces.

Leave to cool and then cut into slices, grab your bike/trainers and your delicious treat and your good to go.

I hope you enjoy my healthy snack, if you have any alternatives please share.

banana and almond slice