No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars.
So… hypothetical question.
If you were to, you know, find yourself waist deep in couch cushions glued to the TV without seriously being able to turn your head away in the middle of a, let’s just say Homeland, marathon, as in you had to rewatch ALL previous episodes to see if they had clues because you’re sure they did, and then you almost have a heart attack because you can’t take the suspense but then you also seem to find yourself in an emotional pickle because you sort of want Brody to be good even though he’s bad and you really have no idea how you feel about, well, anyone for that matter… except Saul, because you know you love Saul, and it’s raining outside and you’re practically paralyzed by writing ridiculous run-on sentences but you’re so so so hungry and just can’t even get up to get any food because you can’t pull your body away from this TV show that is CLEARLY REAL LIFE and is doing a number on you… what would you eat?
Because I’m pretty sure that if this ever happened to me – which it obviously would not – I’d like some sort of quick snack to get me out of that predicament.
But I don’t think it would ever happen. Ever. I mean, I can’t even imagine something so obnoxiously insane.
If, and I really do mean if, something like that did transpire in my sad little life – which consists of making the difficult daily decisions of “should I brown my butter today or not?” and “how can I DVR more than two shows at once?” – these would be the perfect cure. I know. It’s okay to hate on me.
I ended up making these bars after Sara, noticing my slight quinoa obsession, asked on Facebook if I thought quinoa would work in granola bars. Hmmm… why yes I did. And I think that I probably have five more versions of quinoa granola bars up in my brain, so this is just the beginning. Fortunately. Or unfortunately.
The deal: these bars are best chilled. You mix the ingredients until they are wet and sticky (would you have rather me said moist?) then press – and I really mean PRESS – them into a square pan. After a few hours in the fridge, remove them and cut into squares. While slightly annoying, I took the time to individually wrap each square with plastic wrap tightly and boy am I glad I did. Stuck on the top shelf in the fridge, these were the first snack my peepers saw and therefore, the first snack I grabbed.
Talk about portion control! Unless you grab, like, five at once.
Again… never happens to me.
In recipe logistics, I often alternate between butter and coconut oil for the fat in my granola bars (I find the room-temp solids help hold bars together best), and it wasn’t that difficult of a decision (see?) to throw some brown butter in the mix. If you don’t want to use brown butter (um, why are we friends? just kidding. sort of?), coconut oil makes a great sub and I’ll find it in my heart to forgive you. As usual, these bars can still get a bit crumbly so should be handled gently. But the quinoa pop totally makes up for that.
Oh and the brown butter.
No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
- 1 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup unsalted brown butter lightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine quinoa, oats, almonds, flaxseed and salt, stirring to mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Stir in honey, brown butter and vanilla extract, mixing well with a spoon until combined and entire mixture is moistened. If it still seems too dry, add additional honey 1 tablespoon at a time, but you don’t want it to be too wet.
- Line a 9×9 baking dish with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Firmly press the mixture into the pan, into all the corners and evenly top it off with a spoon. You want it packed as tightly as possible. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, then remove and lift granola bars out of pan, cutting into 12 squares. These work best refrigerated.
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IwillnotwatchHomeland, IwillnotwatchHomeland, IwillnotwatchHomeland.
104 Comments on “No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars.”
I can’t wait to make these!! They look sooo good. And Homeland? Yeah, I’ve been having a marathon the past few days. Must. Figure. It. Out.
Oh! I cannot wait to make these bars! They look awesome!
I’m loving quinoa anything right now, can’t wait to try them!
These sound and look so delicious! No bake, that is my kind of cooking ;) Thanks for sharing the recipe can’t wait to try them out!
Hahahahah OMG I had the exact same problem!! During last week’s Homeland episode I was so stressed I didn’t even want to get up off the couch to get the banana choc chip cookie I was eying in the kitchen. My boyfriend was SHOCKED because he knew how excited I was to eat that damn cookie and he has never seen me had such restraint. I on the other hand wouldn’t call it restraint exactly…more like I just couldn’t bear to be away from the show for an instant less I miss some season-changing plot shift. You know what I mean?? What if Saul was a terrorist or something and destroyed the video fo Brody in an instant?? It could have happened in 2 seconds and I could have missed it!! Hahaha
I totally just put these in my “Recipe Box” – which I absolutely LOVE, btw! Thanks for adding that feature! It makes saving the recipes so much more convenient for me (and I save A LOT of your recipes)! And Ziplist – oh, so cool! I have stumbled on a few other great blogs because of it (but don’t worry, you are still my favorite ;)!
Can’t wait for season 2 to start here in the Netherlands; Homeland is really brilliant!
Had to make a few subs just because they were what I had on hand, but these things are awesome! And because I used the coconut oil instead of butter, and carob nibs instead of chocolate chips I’m totally claiming them to be healthy :)
Thanks for the recipe!
I made these bars yesterday and they are absolutely delicious! However, even with refrigeration, they are not bars… Any suggestions for getting them to hold together better? Currently I have just been eating spoonfuls right out of the pan :)
Also, I HIGHLY recommend adding chopped prunes to this. SO GOOD!
I have the same problem I tried adding more honey but that didn’t work
I used substituted the brown butter with coconut oil (not the liquid oil) and the mixture held together. I also mashed up some dates and added them to the mixture. Their stickiness may have aided in keeping the bars from falling apart.
I just made these and they are delicious!! This is a keeper and I like that they are healthy.
I just made these and they taste great but don’t hold together. Any thoughts? Right now I think I”m going to sprinkle it over granola? I love the quinoa in a granola bar though.
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These are so yummy! I’ve made them twice in the past two weeks. Since chocolate and walnuts are both migraine triggers, I subbed-in carob chips and sunflower seeds with excellent results. As an added bonus, because the quinoa is rich in a magnesium, it is actually quite good for migraines. Many thanks for this recipe!!!
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Hi!
I just happened to stumble on ur blog today, and i’m so glad it happened!
My name’s Nitsan, I’m from Israel and i’m currently training to be a pastry cheff.
I recently discovered Quinoa salads and I was just dyin to try to combine them into desserts, so glad to see u have already!
Sadly enough we don’t reach that area in out studies.
If you’re intrested in more healthy things, i’ve made some really nice cupcakes from spelt and i can send you the recipe :)
Thank you for this recipe!
Gonna try it asap when i get the time!
Hi do i have to cook the oats?
Are there nutrition facts posted for these bars somewhere?
I changed the recipe up a bit.. I baked mine for about 20minutes at 200 celcius.. they don’t really hold together well like a bar, but they taste delicious regardless!! love them!
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Fabulous, what a weblog it is! This website presents useful data to us, keep it up.
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Great blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers?
I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little
lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a
free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
There are so many choices out there that I’m completely confused ..
Any ideas? Kudos!
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Could you melt the chocolate chips? Would that work?
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I tried these with coconut oil instead of butter and was not a fan. They did not hold together and the taste of the quinoa and raw oats was bitter. Adding in dried fruit like prunes or dates would probably make a world of difference though, as they are, I don’t recommend them.
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My daughter and I made these this morning, finishing at 10AM. Waiting until 12 to partake of our labor was pretty difficult, but we persevered, and it was definitely worth it. The chilling added quite a lot. I had about 1/2 cup of toasted wheat germ on hand, so I dumped it in, and I used about half of the honey because it was already sweet with the chocolate chips. Because I’ve been slowly decreasing the amount of sugar in my family!s goodies, there were raves and not a single complaint. Now, they complain about goodies being too sweet if they didn’t come from my kitchen. Win! This recipe is also a win!
Do you have the nutritional information on these delish beauties?
Yum! My daughter and I just made these. They’re resting in the fridge. 😊Cannot wait to try these in 2 hours! We tasted the combination just before putting in the 9×9 and it’s divine. We did improvise some by using 1/2 cup pistachios and 1/2 cup almonds. I didn’t have honey, so I dissolved some cane sugar in water over the stove. Browning the butter is a great addition, too. My kids are looking forward to this afternoon treat! TY.