Chocolate, quinoa, seeds and nut snack bars

ingredients

• Chocolate, quinoa, seeds and nut snack bars

  • 90 gram quinoa flour
  • 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
  • 80 gram quinoa flakes
  • 200 gram brown sugar
  • 125 gram chocolate chips, dark or milk
  • 125 gram raw or roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
  • 60 gram blanched, slivered almonds
  • 125 gram pepitas/pumpkin seeds
  • 125 gram sunflower seeds
  • 60 gram butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
  • chocolate chips, extra

method

• Chocolate, quinoa, seeds and nut snack bars

  • 1

    Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease a 29 x 19 cm slice tin then line with baking parchment/paper. Greasing the tin first helps the parchment stay in place.

  • 2

    Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl then stir in the quinoa flakes and sugar; mix well,making sure you break up any lumps in the sugar.

  • 3

    Add the chocolate chips, peanuts, almonds, pepitas and sunflower seeds and mix well to combine everything together.

  • 4

    Pour the melted butter, vanilla and the eggs over the flour mixture and stir really well until everything is combined and not dry. Evenly distribute the butter and egg throughout the flour mixture.

  • 5

    Using the back of a spoon, press the mix firmly into the prepared tin. Scatter as many of the extra chocolate chips over the top as you like, and bake for about 20–25 minutes until golden.

  • 6

    Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes and then cut into desired sized bars. Leave to cool in the tin for a little longer, then carefully remove the slice with the paper and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

notes

Whole peanuts look great in these bars however if they are too big, the slices can be a bit difficult to cut, so roughly chopping the peanuts is not a bad idea. You can also replace the peanuts with other nuts or leave them out altogether.