Put your overripe bananas and stale cornflakes to good use by making these delicious banana cornflake breakfast cakes. They take only a few minutes to mix, and they are made without any flour, milk or eggs!
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The most economical bake
These little banana cornflake breakfast cakes are truly one of the most economical cookies to make, because they are made without any flour, milk or eggs. What’s more, you can use up your spotty old bananas and the box of stale cornflakes that you’ve got lurking in the back of the cupboard.
This recipe actually came about because I wanted to get rid of some overripe bananas and I was intending to make my banana oat cakes. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten that I’d had a clean-out of my kitchen a couple of weeks previously, and thrown out my packet of oats because it was beyond its expiry date.
Well, you can’t make banana oat cakes without oats, so I decided to try and make the recipe with cushed cornflakes instead, and it turned out better than I expected. So well, in fact, that I’m sharing it on my website today.
I cut down on the honey in the original recipe, because cornflakes are sweeter than raw oatmeal, and I also cut down on the amount of butter slightly because I thought the cornflakes wouldn’t absorb as much butter as the oats do. I also found I had to cook the banana cakes for a few minutes longer.
The result was a delightfully chewy cookie, with slightly crispy edges thanks to the cornflakes, with a delicious banana flavour running through.
These banana cornflake breakfast cakes are great for a quick and easy breakfast or mid-morning snack, with a glass of ice-cold milk. They’re healthy too because in essence, all they are is a mixture of coconut, cornflakes and bananas, sweetened with honey. And if you don’t add the chocolate chips they’ll be even healthier!
What you will need
Equipment
You don’t need much by way of equipment – just a mixing bowl, a fork for mashing the bananas, a wooden spoon for mixing and a baking tray. If you have baking parchment or a silicone baking sheet you can use that to line your baking tray, otherwise just brush the baking tray will a little sunflower oil.
Ingredients
This recipe will make 12 banana cornflake breakfast cakes.
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making these breakfast cakes on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
Bananas – the riper the better. If there are any really brown bits in the bananas you should remove those first. You will need enough bananas to yield approximately 2 cups of mashed bananas.
Cornflakes – it doesn’t matter if they are a bit stale, they will soften anyway once you mix them with the bananas.
Coconut – this is unsweetened desiccated coconut.
Honey – is used in place of sugar as a sweetener.
Chocolate chips – these are optional, but they do add an extra element of flavour.
Butter – this should be melted (either in the microwave or in a pan on the stove) before you add it to the mixture.
Salt – this is optional – I added a scant half teaspoon.
What to do
Just a few simple steps:
Place the bananas in a mixing bowl and mash them well with a fork. It doesn’t matter if you leave a few small lumps.
Add the coconut and mix until the coconut is well combined with the bananas.
Crush the cornflakes lightly. You can do this with the bottom of a drinking glass or press down on the cornflakes with your hands. Alternatively, put the cornflakes into a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
Add the cornflakes to the bananas, and pour in the honey and melted butter. Add the salt if you are using it.
Mix until well combined.
Finally, stir through the chocolate chips.
The mixture will be quite loose and sticky.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Use your hands to form 12 golf-ball-sized balls, and flatten each one to about a half-inch thickness.
Arrange them on the baking tray.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 180C/360F. If they start to brown too much, cover the tray loosely with a sheet of tinfoil.
Leave the banana cakes on the tray to cool, or use a spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack.
The banana cakes will be very soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool. However please note these cookies are intended to be soft and chewy – they are not meant to be crispy.
Once cool, transfer to an air-tight container. They will stay fresh for 2 to 3 days.
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Tips and FAQ
To prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands, dip your hands into a bowl of cold water. It will make forming the cakes much easier.
Sprinkle a few drops of water onto your baking tray before lining it with the baking parchment and the baking parchment will stay in place.
If your honey has crystalised it will still be safe to eat (honey never goes bad). You can stand it in a dish of boiling water for a few minutes, or heat it in the microwave in 10-second blasts until it returns to a pourable state.
If you don’t have chocolate chips you can use a sharp knife to cut a few blocks of Cadbury’s or Hershey’s milk chocolate into small pieces. The chocolate will cut more easily if it is at room temperature.
I haven’t tried to freeze them – they get eaten too quickly 🙂
Save for later
If you would like to make these banana cornflake breakfast cakes yourself, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily. Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Other recipes
You may also like these other easy bakes:
- Giant Smartie cookies
- No-bake Baileys chocolate truffles
- Homemade Romany creams
- Crunchies with oats and coconut
- Easy coconut macaroons
The recipe
Banana cornflake breakfast cakes with coconut
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Wooden spoon
- Baking parchment optional
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 very ripe bananas about 2 cups mashed
- 2 cups / 60 grams cornflakes
- 1 cup / 80 grams desiccated coconut
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 360°F
- Place the bananas in a mixing bowl and mash them well with a fork. It doesn't matter if you leave a few small lumps.2 to 3 very ripe bananas
- Add the coconut and mix until the coconut is well combined with the bananas.1 cup / 80 grams desiccated coconut
- Crush the cornflakes lightly. You can do this with the bottom of a drinking glass or press down on the cornflakes with your hands. Alternatively, put the cornflakes into a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.2 cups / 60 grams cornflakes
- Add the cornflakes to the bananas, and pour in the honey and melted butter. Add the salt if you are using it.Mix until well combined.3 tablespoons honey, 3 tablespoons butter, ½ teaspoon salt
- Finally, stir through the chocolate chips. The mixture will be quite loose and sticky.¼ cup chocolate chips
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Use your hands to form 12 golf-ball-sized balls, and flatten each one to about a half-inch thickness.
- Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. If the banana cakes start to brown too much, cover the tray loosely with a sheet of tinfoil.
- Leave the banana cakes on the tray to cool, or use a spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack.The banana cakes will be very soft when they come out of the oven, but will firm up as they cool. However please note these cookies are intended to be soft and chewy – they are not meant to be crispy.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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