Dark Chocolate Chunk Quinoa Granola Bars
Ingredients
1 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut (mine was sweetened)
½ cup toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons coconut oil, measured out while hard (at room temperature)
⅔ cup honey (some vegans will eat honey, others won't, so keep that in mind!)
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped pitted dates (I like smaller fruit chunks, so I chopped these pretty finely)
¼ cup dried cherry craisins
½ cup dark chocolate chips (if vegan, make sure you're purchasing vegan chocolate chips)
Preparation
1
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 x 12 in glassbaking dish (or a similar size) and line it with parchment paper.
2
Combine the oats, quinoa, almonds, and coconut together on an unlined baking pan and bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring every 4 minutes.
3
Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.
4
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
5
Place the oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a boil (the mixture will start foaming) Once boiling, cook for 60 seconds, stirring constantly.
6
Pour the syrup over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates and craisins and stir well.
7
Stir in the dark chocolate chunks, because the mixture is so warm, you will find some of the chocolate melting.
8
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and gently, but firmly press the mixture evenly into the pan using your fingers. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the granola is a light golden brown color.
9
Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before removing from the pan and cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature!
10
NOTES
11
**Make sure that your oats are certified gluten free.
12
** These do contain honey, I've seen some vegans eat honey, others don't, so keep that in mind! :) I haven't tried to sub the honey with agave, but if you do, please let me know the results!
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About
Dark Chocolate Chunk Quinoa Granola Bars - a healthy, gluten free, vegetarian, on the go breakfast option!
Yield:
14 bars
Added:
Sunday, March 1, 2015 - 3:07pm
