When looking for healthy options, I always look for things that my kids can make too – if they make it they will eat it! One recipe a friend shared with me is for Quinoa Granola bars and it’s something I enjoy eating too. When I make these I try all different varieties (various dried fruits, replacing the sugar) but my kids like them best when I either dip them in chocolate or push chocolate chips into the top of them.
One lesson I learned is that if you add too much honey/liquid in an effort to make them sweeter, your bars will not stick together as well.
Originally I put them in a lasagna pan, but then found a really nice silicone bar pan and now I get nice uniform bars.
These are great to make, wrap individually and pop in the freezer. I grab them in the morning and toss in lunches and they are thawed by snack or lunch.
Did I mention that since there aren’t any nuts (not even sunflower seeds) they are safe for your kids to take to school!
Below is the original recipe, have fun and share your results.
QUINOA GRANOLA BAR RECIPE
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup gluten free oats (I use regular oats)
1 cup rice cereal (e.g. rice krispies)
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
2 Tbsp Chia seeds (optional)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla
semi sweet chocolate chips for the top
Directions:
Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl (oats, rice cereal, quinoa, chia seeds and cranberries). Bring the first 3 ingredients (butter, honey and brown sugar) to the boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling turn heat down but continue to boil for 2 minutes. Bring off heat, add the vanilla and stir.
Pour the liquid over the oats mixture, mix and then pour into greased pan (so mixture is approximately 3/4 inch thick).
Press the mixture down firmly then stick the chocolate chips on top. Another variation I tried was adding pumpkin seeds in the granola bars (see below). I did add a TBSP more of honey into the melted ingredients, but I have done it before without and they turned out great.
You will want to let them set a bit, so perhaps pop them into the fridge for a few minutes.
You can just put them into a brownie or lasagna-style pan, but I have a silicon mould from epicure that I LOVE and use for these granola bars and brownies.
Let us know below how the quinoa granola bars worked out for you!
