It's winter, so we feel like hibernating. (Yes, that's a synonym for "snacking"—so what?) It's January, so we don't feel like giving up our doomed eat-healthier-in-2014 New Year's resolutions just yet. Enter Quinoa Fruit and Nut Bars.
We spotted this recipe via He Needs Food, where blogger John Bek makes a pan of Quinoa Fruit and Nut Bars nearly every week, just to have around. For afternoon snacks. Sign us up.
For ingredients, and step-by-step instructions, see below:
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Photographs courtesy of He Needs Food.
Above: This is a soft and crumbly bar, not a crunchy one. Thank God.
Above: For breakfast, you can crumble a bar into yogurt.
Above: The recipe calls for three cups of dried fruit—you can substitute your favorite varieties if you want.
Quinoa Fruit and Nut Bars
Adapted from He Needs Food
Makes 12
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa flakes
- 1 cup almonds, whole
- ¼ cup desiccated coconut
- 1 slightly heaped cup of dried apple
- 1 slightly heaped cup dried cranberries
- 1 slightly heaped cup dried apricots
- ½ cup fruit juice
- ¼ cup mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds (plus a little extra to garnish)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking tray place the quinoa, almonds, and coconut. Mix together using your hands and spread evenly over the tray. Bake for from 6 to 7 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool.
In a processor add the toasted quinoa mix, the dried fruits and seeds—and blitz until finely chopped. While the motor is still running, pour in the juice and keep it running until it starts to come together.
Line an 8-by-10-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Tumble in the mixture and press down evenly and firmly. Sprinkle on top some extra sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and press those down as well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before slicing. Simple.
What I do is slice up the completed slab of mixture after it has refrigerated overnight, and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. That way the bars are ready to take to work for snacks or to put in the kids' lunch boxes (rather than those manufactured muesli bars that are loaded with preservatives and excessive sugar).
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