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.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
Just sweet enough, chocolate-y, and chewy, these are one of my favourite healthy-ish desserts and I make them any time puffed quinoa is on sale. They’re so easy and so good.
- Just seven ingredients: including salt, this recipe needs just seven total ingredients.
- They’re fruit sweetened: dates act as the only sweetener here, and since the bars are made with cocoa rather than chocolate, all the sugar comes from whole fruits (extra fibre!).
- You don’t need a food processor: see more on this below – while it’s easier to blend the date mixture, these can also be made by hand if you don’t have a processor.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Dates: 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.
- Nut or seed butter: 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.
- Non-dairy milk: I use oat milk but any type can be used, even canned coconut milk, though that’ll make it quite a bit richer.
- Cacao or cocoa: 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: optional but adds a nice flavour! You can sub vanilla or other spices if you’d like.
Step by Step
1. Blend: mix the dates and nut butter to form a rough paste. Don’t add the milk yet!
2. Mix remaining ingredients: blend the milk, cocoa, and spices to make a smooth paste. Adding the milk later prevents an explosion from the date pieces moving too much.
3. Mix with quinoa: combine the date paste and the puffed quinoa and mix very well.
4. Press into a tin: firmly press the mixture into a lined tin and chill before slicing.
Recipe 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 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.
How to Store
Storage: if you prefer the bars quite soft, they can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for at least three days.
Freezing: these are best frozen. Keep an an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months and eat from frozen.
Expert Tips
- Flatten well: use back of a soup spoon or damp hands to get a nice, evenly packed layer for the bars.
- Soak the dates: if your dates are too hard, soak them in very hot water for at least half an hour (preferably about an hour) and drain well before blending. No need to rinse.
- Salt to taste: 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.
More Fruit Sweetened Desserts
Fudgy Breakfast Brownies
Peanut Butter Banana Popsicles
Flourless Chocolate Tahini Cookies
Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread
If you make these Chocolate Puffed Quinoa Bars or any other snack recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Chocolate Puffed Quinoa Bars
Ingredients
- 100 grams puffed quinoa
- 130 grams soft dates, seeded
- 150 grams runny nut or seed butter
- 125 ml non-dairy milk
- 20 grams cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ – ½ 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.100 grams puffed quinoa
- 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.130 grams soft dates, seeded, 150 grams runny nut or seed butter
- Add the milk, cacao, cinnamon, and salt. Blend again until smooth.125 ml non-dairy milk, 20 grams cacao powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon sea salt*
- 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.
Video
Notes
- The amount of salt can be reduced here if your nut butter includes salt or if you prefer a lower amount.
Donna says
These are a wonderful treat! They’re great for someone who prefers a healthy diet and easily customizable for someone with food sensitivities. Thank you so much!
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.
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 : )
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Anonymous says
Hi! Is there any substitute you'd recommend that can be used instead of dates?
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.