Vegan Coconut Banana Bites With a Date-Pecan Crust

Passover is a great excuse to improvise new recipes with all the kosher-for-Passover ingredients filling the supermarket shelves.

I don't keep kosher, but I love playing around with the bounty that comes with the holiday:

rice flour pasta, peanut cookies, coconut cookies, and more.

Sometimes it feels like the whole holiday runs on coconut. And I'm especially happy to turn this wonderful tropical ingredient

into all kinds of treats to enjoy during Passover and throughout the year.

The taste of coconut always takes me back to the trip I took through East Asia after finishing my military service.

I love pairing it with other tropical flavors, like pineapple, rum, or, in this case, bananas.

A Few Recipe Notes

I used pitted Medjool dates for the crust. They create a sticky mixture that holds everything together and adds plenty of lovely sweetness.

You can substitute the same amount of date paste for the Medjool dates.

For a little crunch, plus some beneficial fatty acids, I added pecans, chia seeds, and flaxseeds.

Not a fan of one of those ingredients? Feel free to swap in nuts or seeds you like.

Coconut cream gives these bites their soft, creamy texture.

I used a high-fat coconut cream (21% fat) and chilled it thoroughly in the refrigerator. A lower-fat version won't firm up enough to give you the texture you need, so skip that option here.

If you'd like to replace the bananas, use the same amount of frozen pineapple – hello, piña colada bites! (Making a mental note to give those their own post someday.)

I used a muffin pan to make individual portions, which makes it easy to keep track of calories and fat – but you can absolutely make this in one large pan instead.

Sweet, creamy, and tropical.

When Should You Eat These?

Half a vegan coconut banana bite about an hour and a half before a workout can make a great energy snack, thanks to its readily available carbohydrates.

Because these bites are high in fat, I wouldn't eat one right before exercising. It could leave your stomach feeling uncomfortable.

Nutrition Information From Noam Bachar (an Israeli Clinical Nutritionist and Fitness Coach)

One 130 g (4.6 oz) bite, out of a batch of 6, contains:

300 calories

3 g protein

39 g carbohydrates

15 g fat (including 9 g saturated fat)

Vegan Coconut Banana Bites

Prep Time 5 minutes

Yield 6 bites

Calories 300 kcal

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 10 pitted Medjool dates 170 g (6 oz)
• 3 tablespoons pecans 48 g (1.7 oz)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds 6 g (0.2 oz)
• 1 tablespoon flaxseeds 12 g (0.4 oz)
• 1 level tablespoon cocoa powder 7 g (0.25 oz)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, for greasing the pan 10 g (0.35 oz)

For the Coconut Banana Layer

• 2 ripe bananas 200 g (7 oz)
• 1/2 can coconut cream, 21% fat, thoroughly chilled in the refrigerator 100 g (3.5 oz)
• 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut 40 g (1.4 oz)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 g (0.18 oz)
• A few chopped pecans, for topping optional

Instructions

1. Thoroughly chill a can of high-fat coconut cream in the refrigerator. 

2. In a food processor, process the crust ingredients, reserving the coconut oil for greasing, until a sticky dough forms. 

3. Grease a muffin pan well with the coconut oil. 

4. Use your hands to press a little of the date-pecan dough into the bottom of each cup. 

5. Next, make the coconut banana filling:

6. Mash the bananas with a fork. 

7. Add half the can of coconut cream, using only the thick, white cream and leaving behind the liquid at the bottom.

8. Add the shredded coconut and vanilla extract. Mix well until evenly combined. 

9. Fill each cup with the coconut banana mixture, top with a few chopped pecans, and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

10. Use a spoon to gently lift each bite out of the pan, and dig in!