Quinoa Bars with Dates and Cocoa

A few days ago, I stumbled across a random Facebook video showing how to make quinoa popcorn.

The instructions were simple: toast quinoa in a hot skillet for a few minutes until it starts popping.

Sounds pretty great, right?

So I headed to the kitchen, pulled out the quinoa sitting in my pantry, and gave it a shot.

Sure enough, it popped.

But unlike popcorn, popped quinoa stays tiny. Not exactly something you can snack on by the handful while watching Netflix.

Time for a change of plans. How could I work these little crunchy bits into something delicious?

A quick search online turned up the answer: sweet snack bars, like the quinoa bars you're looking at here.

They're great before a workout, when you're craving something sweet, or when you want a little something to offer guests. You know, all the important snack situations.

The beauty of popped quinoa is that you don't need to cook it in water first. Toasting turns it crunchy and gives it such a satisfying bite.

Mix it with date paste and cocoa, and you've got an especially indulgent-tasting bar that's rich in antioxidants.

Snack bar, meet superfood.

About These Quinoa Bars with Dates and Cocoa

The base is white quinoa, toasted until it pops. I haven't tried substituting red quinoa, but I expect it would work the same way.

To hold everything together, I used vacuum-packed date paste. You can absolutely use the same weight of pitted dates ground into a paste.

Natural almond butter with no added sugar makes a delicious, nutritious addition. You can swap in the same amount of tahini or peanut butter.

Looking for a quinoa patty recipe? Click here. 

Nutrition Facts

One quinoa-date bar, weighing 40 g (1.4 oz), from a batch of 16 contains:

• 160 calories
• 5 g protein
• 8 g fat
• 17 g carbohydrates

Quinoa Bars with Dates and Cocoa

Prep Time 15 minutes

Yield 16 bars

Calories 160 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa 180 g (6.3 oz)
• 1/4 package vacuum-packed pitted date paste 150 g (5.3 oz)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 14 g (0.5 oz)
• 1 teaspoon cacao beans 15 g (0.5 oz)
• 250 g (8.8 oz) almond butter with no added sugar
• 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. Heat a wide skillet.

2. Add the quinoa and spread it evenly across the skillet, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn.

3. After a few minutes, the quinoa will start jumping and popping. Keep stirring!

4. Once the quinoa is lightly browned and smells wonderfully nutty, remove it from the heat and transfer to a deep mixing bowl.

5. Add the remaining ingredients and knead until everything comes together into a uniform dough.

6. Transfer to a small 20 × 20 cm (8 × 8-inch) pan lined with parchment paper.

7. Use the bottom of a glass or your hands to press the mixture firmly into the pan.

8. Refrigerate for half an hour.

9. After half an hour, lift out of the pan, cut into 16 pieces, and dig in.