Pump up your usual homemade granola bars with the addition of quinoa. You can mix in whatever accompaniments you desire but this time I went with coconut and almond.
When it comes to traveling, I never skimp out on the food experience part. This fact however is the very reason my pants are a bit too snug these days after a summer of travel, eating my weight in local fare, and not working out as much. Of course when I do work out I have pumped up my squats so that’s not exactly helping my thighs and behind fit into my pants either but at least that’s a more productive flux.
Now that my calendar is starting to calm down a little bit (not completely mind you), I am making more of an effort to pay attention to what I eat. Granted, that doesn’t mean I don’t have full-fat ice cream solidifying in my freeze as we speak/read (and will be sharing tomorrow) but it does mean that during my latest rendition of homemade granola bars I decided to pump up their nutritional value a bit with the addition of quinoa.
Four years ago: Brownie Fruit Pizza
NO-BAKE COCONUT ALMOND QUINOA GRANOLA BARS
Makes 1 dozen bars
Ingredients:
BARS
1/4 cup coconut oil, soft but not melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup creamy natural almond butter (or homemade)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup gluten-free quick oats
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped dried fruit (I used dates and cherries)
1/2 cup chopped almonds
TOPPING (optional)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted
Coarse Sea salt
Directions:
- Line the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large sauce pan, add coconut oil, brown sugar, honey and nut butter. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to bubble. Once bubbling, cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Stir in the oats, quinoa, coconut, dates, cherries, and almonds. Stir until well coated. Pour into the prepared pan and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Place the bars in the refrigerator and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars.
Source: Adapted from my No-Bake Gluten-Free Cherry Pistachio Granola Bars.
3 comments
[…] right in. Which got me to thinking, maybe I should try adding quinoa to granola bars? Oh yea, quinoa granola bars work too […]
yes please!! And with the addition of more chocolate your nephew may actually eat it! (He didn’t eat breakfast today because a “bowl of chocolate” was not an option.) I can usually get him to eat a chocolate granola bar though, which i justify as also having protein in it, making it a good meal
Haha aww. Definitely try them and mix in some more chocolate. Just let the mixture cool a bit (but not completely) before mixing in the chocolate unless you are okay with it melting/spreading and not being in concentrated blobs.