Puffed Quinoa Energy Bars Recipe
2013
This puffed quinoa energy bars recipe is made with all raw ingredients, except for the puffed quinoa. These bars are very nutritious and they will keep your energy high for long periods. Most importantly, they taste amazing! They are so delicious and they are my favorite breakfast lately, along with my ever present green smoothie, which is a constant. But they are great for anytime and wonderful for a on-the-run quick snack.
Instead of using puffed quinoa in this energy bars recipe, you could use puffed rice, puffed kamut or another similar ingredient. You can get organic brown rice now, which actually Mom and I have just discovered. But this is all new to me. But mom loves these bars so much that we went on the hunt to see what we could find to make more this morning. We already ate the whole pan, just the two of us! wow.
So now we have puffed quinoa, puffed brown rice and kamut, all organic. Aside form not being raw I am hoping and assuming that they are still fairly healthy as they have no other ingredients, just the quinoa, rice and kamut.
To keep it all raw you could fill these with more nuts and seeds instead of the puffed quinoa.. and cacao nibs, goji berries, and cover it in chocolate. But that’s getting into a whole new recipe, and for another day. But have fun with this and substitute as you see fit. It’s a really fun recipe.
Puffed Quinoa Energy Bars Recipe
Ingredients
4 cups Puffed Quinoa, or puffed brown rice, kamut or other healthy, crunchy, crispy alternative
1 cup Walnuts
½ cup Sunflower Seeds
½ cup Pumpkin Seeds
¼ cup Sesame Seeds
2/3 cup dried Cranberries
½ cup Golden Raisins
½ tsp salt
Sauce
¾ cup Maple Syrup
½ cup Almond Butter
½ cup Coconut Butter
1 Tbsp Vanilla
6 Tbsp Chia Seeds – ground
Note: the ingredients for sauce need to be retested. I think it should read 3/4 cup almond butter and 3/4 cup coconut butter. My apologies for this uncertainty and I will correct the amounts when I get a chance to retest this recipe.
Directions
Note: for additional nutritional benefit, pumpkin and sunflower seeds can be pre-soaked for a couple hours before using. If you do soak first, make sure to drain and pat dry, so they are as dry as possible before using in this recipe. They can be dehydrated to dry them as well, but patting dry with a paper towel or clean tea towel will work fine.
Mix all of the Sauce ingredients except ground chia seeds together in a bowl. I used a little whisk but you can stir with a spoon. Mix until smooth and well combined. Then add chia seeds. This will give them a little extra time to swell up and develop their mucilaginous binding power. Mix all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Then add the sauce and stir all ingredients well together. When thoroughly combined transfer mixture to a parchment lined 9 x 13 inch baking pan and press down so top is flat and smooth. Refrigerate to set. After an hour remove and cut into desired bar size. Store in an air tight container. If storing for over a few days keep them stored in the fridge.
Photo Description
Assemble ingredients. The coconut butter is not shown. It was an after thought, but worked really well in the sauce to help hold it all together well.
Grind chia seeds. I used my Blend tech blender, but a small coffee or spice grinder works well also.
Mix sauce ingredients without chia first and then add and mix in the chia.
Mix well and let sit for at least 15 minutes for chia to thicken
Put all the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl.
Add the sauce.
Mix well.
When I make bars and am using parchment I often take a minute to fold the edges like this so it lies in the pan nicely. It’s optional but works for me.
Transfer mixed ingredients into lined pan and press down so top is even.
Let set. I put into them into the fridge for an hour. then took them out and turned over onto a cutting board, removed the pan and then peeled off the parchment paper.
Now you can cut them into bars.
Transfer to a plate or an air tight container to store.
Serve and enjoy!
