The ultimate homemade snack bar, these no-bake Quinoa Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are packed with protein, fiber and omega-3’s. Healthy, travel friendly and easy to make these are my go to snack.
Are you sick of the peanut butter and chocolate flavor combo? Good. Because I can’t stop. Most recently, my three year old helped me turn my favorite ingredients into a healthy no-bake snack bar packed with quinoa, chia, and other superfoods.
There is just something about the combination of creamy, salty peanut butter and rich, chocolate goodness that makes me happy. In fact, I could eat it morning, noon and night.
The best part about these Quinoa Chocolate Chip Granola Bars? They’re NO BAKE! That’s right friends, no need to turn on the oven. Which, if you’ve ever tried explaining to a three-year old that the granola bars need to cool for an hour before slicing, is a small blessing in and of itself.
No forks required.
Quinoa Chocolate Chip Granola Bars {No Bake}
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 cup oats (old fashioned or quick cooking)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup chia seeds
- ½ cup flax seed meal
- ⅔ cup creamy natural peanut butter (I like to use Skippy or JIF)
- ½ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread quinoa, oats, walnuts, chia and flax on a baking sheet then bake until slightly toasted and nutty, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, line an 8" x 11" baking dish with plastic wrap then spray plastic wrap with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a small sauce pot, melt peanut butter and honey until smooth and creamy over medium heat. Remove from the heat once bubbles start to form around the edges – careful not to bring to a full boil. Whisk cinnamon, vanilla and salt into the peanut butter mixture. Mixture should be thin – the consistency of melted caramel sauce.
- Place toasted quinoa and oat mixture into a large bowl then pour melted peanut butter sauce into the bowl. Using a rubber spatula, stir mixture until everything is evenly coated.
- Let mixture cool slightly then stir in chocolate chips then spread mixture evenly into the prepared glass baking dish. Use spatula to press mixture firmly into the pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 2 hours or up to overnight.
- To serve, slice into 16 bars.
Notes
For storage, I like to wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap then place in a resealable plastic bag for on-the-go snacking. Recipe adapted from Super Healthy Kids.
I am allergic to peanuts and walnuts, so I was wondering if I can substitute almonds and almond butter? Thanks
Yes for sure!
No bake.. you say you don’t need to turn the oven oven on but that’s the first thing in the method?? Also, is it recommended to eat uncooked quinoa?
I like to toast the ingredients but if you want to get technical then yes you are turning on the oven. :) I hope you make them, they are delicious!!!
These are delicious! Thanks for the recipe! Mine were pretty crumbly but still tasted amazing! (Maybe i didn’t press the mixture into the pan well enough?” A healthy snack for my kids’ lunch boxes is just what I needed-thank you! I think I may try them as little “snack balls” next time so I dont have to cut them.
You know I think the key is pressing them really really hard and also letting them really chill. I think in general they can be a little messy but hopefully they were still delicious!
AH-mazing! We made these 3 times in the past 2 weeks, each time adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Try coconut flakes, almonds and craisins, we even threw in a little milled flax seed. Delicious! Thanks for such a great recipe :)
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed them Karen!!!! I haven’t made them in a while – thanks for the reminder!
Hi-my daughter needs to eat daily linseed to aid her digestion and stop getting constipated. Do you think a bar for breakfast would contain enough?
I’m not positive – I would ask a dietitian! I’m not even sure what linseed is. :-) So sorry!
How is this no-bake when the first instruction is to preheat the oven and bake stuff for 10 minutes?
Hi Scott – You make a good point and I thought about not calling it no-bake but really you’re just toasting those ingredients and you can skip that step. :)
Made these and they tasted great but did not completely stay together. What can I do? Add more peanut butter mixture. Had to put in 8×8 pan because didn’t have an 8×11, would that have affected them? Thank you.
Margaret what type of peanut butter did you use specifically?
Hello. I pressed mine into the pan with a spatula sprayed with cooking spray, then while still warm I softly cut with a butter knife and slid the bars slightly apart, then put in the fridge to finish cooling, then wrapped each individually with plastic wrap. Keeps them from crumbling when you cut them!
What a great idea! That sounds delicious!
The day I tire of the PB+choc combo…well I don’t even want to know what that will mean for the universe. SO KEEP IT COMING!! These bars sound so good. The perfect snack!
These are delicious but turned out kind of crumbly for me. Do you think I didn’t mix them enough of maybe spread them too thin?
Shoot – sorry they didn’t set up!! I’ve made them twice now so I know they work but there are a few key things: 1) are you using creamy natural peanut butter that contains an emulsifier like molasses? i.e. Skippy or JIF? This doesn’t work with non-creamy natural peanut butter that is just peanuts and salt. 2) did you let them chill until cold? They have to be cold before slicing. 3) I added a note to make sure people press the mixture firmly into the pan. You almost have to push the mixture together to get it to hold. Does that make sense? Let me know if this helps at all!! Hope you still at the crumbly bits but I want them to work for you as bars because we eat them as bars. :)
I’m so behind on making my own granola bars. So intrigued by this recipe – love that they’re no-bake!
You must try these friend!!! Super easy and nice for summer not having to turn on the oven!