Bringing a prairie classic, puffed wheat squares, over to the healthy-ish plant based world with some chocolate puffed quinoa snack bars. You know what? I love them even more than the corn syrup laden version I grew up (obsessively) eating.
This version is sugar free, made with whole dates to hold everything together and adding that delicious caramel flavour. Using puffed quinoa makes these gluten free, and they’re oil free to boot.
The bars take about five minutes to make, then half an hour in the freezer before they’re ready, but still, no bake and so simple. Try storing them in the freezer for a chewy chocolate bar. So good.
If you like rice crispy squares, you’ll like these puffed quinoa bars. They’re not super crisp but have the same kind of idea behind them – definitely on the softer side, but so is puffed quinoa to start with. If you have had puffed wheat squares, they’re pretty spot on. If you want a really crisp bar I’m afraid this isn’t that, as the dates do create more of a chewy treat.
Scroll to the bottom of the post or click “skip to recipe” above to see the recipe card with full ingredient measurements and instructions.
Ingredients
- Puffed quinoa
- Soft dates
- Nut or seed butter
- Non-dairy milk (I use oat milk)
- Cacao or cocoa powder (see substitutions)
- Cinnamon
- Sea salt
Method
Line a square tin with parchment paper and set aside. Add the quinoa to a large mixing bowl.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, blend the (pitted) dates, and nut butter until a smooth paste forms. (You mix these before adding the milk to avoid a milk explosion.) Add the milk, cacao, cinnamon, and salt, and blend again until incorporated.
Scoop the date mixture into the bowl with the puffed quinoa and mix very well, until fully combined. You may need to use your hands.
Press the mixture into the prepared baking tin. I recommend using slightly damp hands to prevent the quinoa sticking to your fingers, or use one of those little roller tools.
Place the tin in the freezer for half an hour, then remove from the tin and cut into small squares. Store the bars in the freezer in a sealed container for up to a month. Topping with melted chocolate is optional but pretty and tasty!
Tips and Notes
You can find puffed quinoa online and in most health food stores. It’s also often available in the GF section, or with the baking supplies, in grocery stores.
If you have a high powered blender, you can blend the date mixture instead. In that case, all of the ingredients (minus the quinoa) can be added at once rather than working in two steps as with the food processor.
No blender or processor? That’s okay! You can mash the dates by hand before mixing in the other ingredients with a fork. If your dates aren’t completely soft, simply soak them in hot water for an hour before beginning.
The salt added should be adjusted based on your personal taste and whether salt is added to the nut or seed butter you’re using. If you like salty-sweet, go for the 1/2 teaspoon. Otherwise stick with 1/4, or omit it altogether if the nut butter is salted.
The tin size doesn’t really matter because the bars aren’t baked – you can press the mixture into just about any form you have on hand and then slice into bars the size you’d like. A bread tin works a treat.
Substitutions
I usually choose peanut butter for these, but sunflower seed butter makes an excellent nut-free substitution. Hazelnut butter makes a great nutella-like choice if you have some, too.
Any type of milk can be used here, even full-fat coconut milk, though that will make for a rather rich dessert. The type of dates doesn’t matter as long as they’re very soft. I usually use deglet noor but had medjool on hand when shooting.
Cacao and cocoa powder are interchangeable here, but make sure you’re not using hot cocoa drink mix (there shouldn’t be any sugar or milk powder added). Cacao is a little bitter and regular cocoa is slightly sweeter, so go by your preference.
Cinnamon is optional but adds a nice flavour! You can sub vanilla or other spices if you’d like.
More Fruit Sweetened Desserts
Fudgy Breakfast Brownies
Peanut Butter Banana Popsicles
Flourless Chocolate Tahini Cookies
Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread
No Bake Salted Caramel Bars
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Chocolate Puffed Quinoa Bars
Sugar free and vegan puffed quinoa bars made with raw cacao, dates, and nut butter. These no bake snacks are a healthier gluten free riff on a prairie classic, puffed wheat squares.
Ingredients
- 100 grams (3 cups) puffed quinoa
- 130 grams (1/2 cup) soft dates, seeded
- 150 grams (1/2 cup) runny nut or seed butter
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) non-dairy milk
- 20 grams (1/4 cup) cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt*
Instructions
- Line a 20cm (8 inch) square baking tin with parchment paper and set aside. Add the puffed quinoa to a large bowl.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the dates and nut butter and mix on high speed until a rough paste forms.
- Add the milk, cacao, cinnamon, and salt. Blend again until smooth.
- Add the date mixture to the quinoa puffs and mix until combined. You may need to use your hands to fully mix.
- Press the bar mixture into the lined baking tin. Use damp hands to really press it in and try to make it as even as possible.
- Place the tin in the freezer for 30 minutes, or refrigerate for a couple of hours, before cutting into 16 squares. These are best stored in a sealed container in the freezer.
Notes
** The amount of salt can be reduced here if your nut butter includes salt or if you prefer a lower amount.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 98Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 3g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
This post was originally published in April 2018. It has been updated with new step-by-step photos and changes to the text as of September 2020.
Yvonne says
Hi Alexandra, I made these yesterday but had to use puffed millet (I also added some puffed amaranth and some cornflakes which I thought might deliver some crunch). I liked the taste, chocolaty and not too sweet, but mine were soft, so they were not like the rice crispy squares. Could this be because I used puffed millet instead of puffed quinoa? I followed the recipe and kept them in the freezer.
Anonymous says
Hi! Is there any substitute you'd recommend that can be used instead of dates?
Alexandra Daum says
Hi there! If you're looking for a date-free alternative, you might want to try this recipe instead: https://www.occasionallyeggs.com/2014/12/peanut-butter-puffed-wheat-squares.html and sub puffed quinoa for the wheat.
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Yvonne, in my experience millet tends to be quite soft and suck up a bit more moisture, that might be the problem. They are on the softer side than rice crispy squares but not crazy soft, more chewy.
Heidi says
Sorry to burst you bubble on this one. Watch out with dates. There is 93g of sugar per serving. Otherwise these sound yummy.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
I wouldn’t say there’s a bubble to burst, Heidi, but thanks for your comment! Dates actually have 63g of sugar per 100g, and I wouldn’t say 100 grams is one serving of dates. It certainly isn’t in this recipe, and unlike other sources of sugar, dates also contain a significant amount of dietary fibre (32% of daily requirements in 100g), which helps to process the sugars, and some other nutrients like magnesium and vitamin B-6. So while they’re certainly not something you should eat in excess, or every day, but are a better option as a treat than something like highly processed corn syrup.
Lauren says
Yum! I didn’t have any puffed quinoa, so I used a quinoa cereal that I had (ingredients are just quinoa and they are shaped like cheerios). I used sunflower butter too and they turned out delicious! A perfect afternoon treat 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! I needed something sugar-free and the dates are perfect in this.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Sounds delicious! Love the idea of using a cereal like that.
Anenid says
Hello,
I used puffed quinoa and everything else that was required but still ended up with soft not crunchy at all bars. Kind of disappointing…
I usually have a much simpler and less sweet way of making them but I was intruigued by the dates in this recipe. Just mixing melted dark chocolate with maple syrup, salt and a little tapioca with puffed quinoa is enough. Pop in the freezer and then you have a crunchy snack!
Thanks for the recipe anyway and for the nice blog!
PS:it is maybe worth saying the bars won’t get crunchy to avoid disappointment
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Anenid, sorry you didn’t love the recipe! The post mentions that they’re not really crisp, partly from the dates and partly because puffed quinoa usually is a bit softer to start with. Yours with melted chocolate sound great.
Johana Cordero says
The flavour was nice but yes it made the quinoa puff taste almost a bit stale unfortunately, I also found them really salty : ( so I’m not sure about 1/2tsp of salt, I think I would do more of a sprinkle really. Did anyone else find them salty?
Also is there any way to make the quinoa stay a bit crispier or do I just have to use rice crispis
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Johana! It sounds like your quinoa might have been stale to start with, which can certainly happen! As the post says, these aren’t crispy as puffed quinoa isn’t really crispy to start with. Of course you can always reduce salt to your personal preference : )
Diane Z says
Hi, there are two ingredients in the list that have * after them, but I can’t find anywhere as to what the asterisk might mean. Could you clarify please.
Thanks.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Diane, this must’ve been lost due to a recipe card error when I updated. The milk is noting that you can use any preferred non-dairy milk, and the salt amount should be changed to your preference based on whether your nut butter includes salt and also how much salt you like in baking.