1 c. cooked quinoa*
1/2 c. sunflower seeds, ground finely in food processor
1/2 c. almonds, ground finely in food processor
1/4 c. dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
1/4 c. honey or maple syrup
1/4 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
2 tsp. cinnamon
½-¾ tsp. unrefined sea salt
1 egg
1 scoop Vital Whey protein powder (optional)
Instructions
*Soak 1 cup dry quinoa overnight in water and either rinse and cook right away or set to sprout for 2-4 days. To cook: Mix with 2 cups milk or 1 can coconut milk. Bring to a boil, stir, and lower to simmer, covered, for 30 minutes (no stirring). This will make enough for two 9×13 pans of bars or you can eat the cooked quinoa on top of yogurt with blueberries, cinnamon, and maple syrup. You can also freeze extras for future batches. If you only want enough for one recipe, use ¼ c. quinoa and ½ c. milk.
Simply mix all the ingredients together with a spoon or a mixer, then spread in a greased 8×8-inch glass baking pan. (I used a 8x!0 pan and just had thinner bars)
The batter/dough will be rather moist; don’t worry.
Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes until firm to the touch in the center and browning on the edges.
Cool completely in the pan, then cut into 16 2×2-inch squares.
Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
To make this my own I used pecans instead of almonds, dried dates for the fruit (1/4 cup was not enough, next time I will add more as these are not very sweet), used maple syrup (again I would use a little more next time), added 1 tsp vanilla, used egg replacement powder as per the box instructions, added 1 tbsp chia seeds, and added 1/2 tsp baking powder and omitted the whey protein powder. I cooked the quinoa with coconut milk as well. Since I have a sweet tooth, I did melt dark chocolate with coconut oil and drizzled this on top after baking to add some extra sweetness. I had made a second one as above but with cocoa and dried cranberries instead of vanilla, cinnamon and dates.
