Please don’t let the name of these Strawberry Quinoa Bars turn you off if you think it sounds too healthy or don’t like quinoa. Because these are really delicious and a) don’t taste bland or chocked full of so many healthy ingredients that they don’t resemble anything close to a treat and b) if you tasted them without knowing what they consist of, you’d never guess it’s quinoa. These are lightly sweet. bursting with spring strawberry flavor, perfectly soft and all too easy to gobble up more than one at a time.
I actually forgot how much I love these. I use to make them so often. And hadn’t made them lately as blueberries, what I usually make them with, aren’t that easy to come by and when they are available, are a little spendy. But the strawberries we’ve had lately have been so beautiful and sweet that they made me think they’d be perfect for these. Wow, was I right. I really had to stop myself from eating the whole pan out of the oven. As did my mini crew of two. The strawberries added the best pop of color and were bursting with sweetness. I wished I had doubled the recipe, though I had only saved enough quinoa for one batch. Live and learn.
I started making these more than 5 years ago during my struggle with secondary infertility. I was doing anything and everything under the sun to help our situation and the rounds of IVF we endured. So, I gave up sugar and gluten for a couple years amongst lots of other things. As a pastry chef and lover of all things dessert, I gotta tell you that was no easy feat. Forgoing the sugar was definitely harder than the gluten. And when you’re in that space, you get and read so much information it’s hard to know what really helps or what you should eat or not eat, should do or not do. But I’m so glad and thankful for all of it, , because my amazing little Miss Sparkle is the ultimate reward. And these bars are definitely a bonus.
I stumbled upon this recipe over at Simply Quinoa. There’s so many healthy and delicious options to choose from there and so many of them being gluten-free & or sugar-free. This site was so useful for me back then, but I use it just as much now. These bars are one of the recipes I’ve grown to love. Though she makes hers with blueberries, as I initially did and calls them breakfast bars. They really are so amazing with blueberries. Can’t wait to get my hands on some. Until then, strawberries will definitely do the trick.
I made just a few changes besides switching up the fruit due to availability and changing the name. Because I enjoy these any time of the day, not just breakfast time, especially as a late night feel-good snack. And my kids consider them an awesome after-dinner dessert. I’ll let you be the judge though and see what’s your favorite time of day to nosh on one of these little cuties.
Strawberry Quinoa Bars
The perfect grab-go-breakfast or anytime snack you'll love that you can feel absolutey good about eating.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked, cooled quinoa (cooked in water not broth)
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (instant works fine as well)
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)
- 2 tbsps honey
- 1 lg egg, lightly whisked
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp milled flax seeds + 3 tbsps water)
- 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 1 tbsp tahini (or nut/seed butter of choice)
- 2 tsps fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F/ 177C. Spray an 8×8" or 9×9" square baking dish with baking spray and line with parchment paper going up the sides for easier removal.
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First prepare the flax egg by mixing 1 tbsp milled flax seeds with 3 tbsps of water in a small bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
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In a large bowl, mash the bananas. (Be sure they equal 1 cup.) Add the honey, whisked egg, tahini, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla and stir to completely combine.
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Then stir in the flax egg, which should have thickened a bit.
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Now add the oats, cooked (cooled) quinoa, hemp seeds and baking powder. Stir it all together until almost completely combined. And fold in the chopped strawberries last.
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Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, level to even out and place in the center rack of the preheated oven. Bake for about 25-35 minutes until the top is set and no longer wet. The edges should be just slightly golden brown.
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While they are absolutely divine warm out of the pan. If you let them cool a bit on a cooling rack, you can lift the parchment out and cut them more easily into bars.
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Store the leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or tightly wrapped in the freezer for 2 months. Thaw in the refrigertator.
Recipe Notes
*If you don’t already have cooked quinoa on hand, you can cook 1/2 cup dry quinoa with about 1 cup of water and follow the instructions on your package. (generally a 2:1 ratio water to quinoa cooked about 20 minutes.) Cool it completely once its cooked and measure out the 1 cup you need for this recipe.
*To make these vegan, skip the egg and use 2 flax eggs (2 tbsps ground flax + 6 tbsps water.)
*You can sub any berries you’d like for the strawberries. Other fruits would be nice too.
*The honey can be replaced with maple syrup, coconut sugar or if you’re going completely sugar free, I’ve had succes with xylitol.
**Recipe slightly adapted from Simply Quinoa.
I loved this recipe and need to make it again. It was so perfect to have in the fridge for late night or early morning snacking after nursing, when I noticed I was too hungry to go straight back to sleep and too tired to make something that wouldn’t make me feel bad.