Tri-Colored Quinoa Nutty Snack Bars ~ Gluten free
Tri-colored quinoa nutty snack bars are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.
I’m super excited to share these snack bars with you. They have some of my favorite ingredients like tri-colored quinoa, dates, pumpkin seeds, and nut butter. I used almond butter in this recipe, but feel free to use any flavor of nut butter you like.
Chocolate drizzle on top of these nutty snack bars is optional, but I think it looks nice. Another option is to drizzle some warm nut butter on top.
Red and tri-colored quinoa are my two favorite types of quinoa…to be honest, Â the only two types of quinoa I actually cook with at this point. Maybe it’s because of the milder flavor.
Any color of quinoa is fine for this recipe except for flakes. This amazing gluten-free grain provides all nine essential amino acids as well as a good source of protein, iron, and dietary fiber.
- Medjool dates
- Old-fashioned rolled oats, gluten-free if needed
- Tri-colored quinoa, or any color you prefer
- Mixed nuts, I used roasted and salted
- Pumpkin seeds, raw or roasted but not salted
- Chia seeds
- Almond butter, or other favorite nut butter. I think cashew and natural peanut butter would be nice options too.
- Honey, I used raw local honey.
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips ~ I used Enjoy Life Allergy-Friendly Dark or Semi-Sweet Chips
Store quinoa bars in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. I freeze mine, but they do need to sit out for a few minutes before eating.
Enjoy!
Tri-Colored Quinoa Nutty Snack Bars
Ingredients
- 5 Medjool dates pits removed
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats gluten-free if needed
- 3/4 cup uncooked tri-colored quinoa or any color you prefer
- 1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts I used roasted and salted
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds raw or roasted but not salted
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 cup almond butter or other favorite nut butter. I think cashew and natural peanut butter would be nice options too.
- 1/3 cup honey I used raw local honey.
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2-3 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300. Line an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. This really makes removing the bars from the pan easy.
- In a large mixing bowl add quinoa, oats, chopped nuts, pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds. Stir to mix.
- Add pitted dates to a food processor and pulse to form a smooth paste. Add almond butter, vanilla, honey, and salt. Pulse to mix completely.
- Add processed mixture to dry mixture and mix with your hands. I used gloves; it's very sticky but much easier to mix this way.
- Press mixture firmly in the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 23 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack before removing it from the pan. This could take up to an hour. Drizzle melted chocolate overall. Remove from pan and cut into serving pieces.
