Healthy Almond Banana Bread Bites (Vegan, Gluten-free, Paleo)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.

Make the flax egg by combining the flax meal and water in a small cup. Set aside.

Spread the almonds on another baking sheet and pop them in the oven. The oven doesn’t have to be fully preheated to 350 F at this time. Toast them until fragrant, but be careful not to burn them. It should take 5-10 minutes. (If you already have roasted almonds you can skip this step.)

Place toasted almonds in the bowl of a food processor and process until it reaches the consistency of almond butter. This can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on the power of your food processor. (If you are using store bought almond or peanut butter you can skip this step too.)

Add the remaining ingredients (including the flax egg) to the bowl of the food processor and process until everything is combined. Drop “batter” by the rounded tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes then remove from oven. Let them sit on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Keep almond banana bread bites in an airtight container for up to 4 days or in the freezer for 3 months.

Notes:
1. You can make your own almond meal by processing raw almonds in a food processor until it reaches a fine crumb.
2. If you don’t have a food processor, a high-powered blender should work just fine. If you don’t have either of those use store bought almond butter and mix everything together with an electric mixer.
3. You can replace the raw almonds with 1/2 cup store bought almond or peanut butter instead. Just skip the 2nd and 3rd steps.