Quinoa [and not (too?) much else] Bars?

August 23, 2011 8:09 PM

Can you help me devise/do you already have a recipe for healthy YUMMY quinoa energy bars where most of the fat/calories/etc are the contribution of the quinoa?

After tasting a commercial quinoa bar I want to try and make my own quinoa bars where quinoa is the star.
My parameters for the recipe are:
YUMMY
-lasts a week or so I want to make a big pan for the week.
-durable [won't crumble to dust in a backpack full of HEAVY books.]
-the additions/binders add minimal fat and calories

I'd prefer to avoid
-other quinoa recipes.
-advice on other protein sources you think I should try.
(quinoa is a very odd sounding word when repeated enough times)
These are mostly for snacks-a protein punch that is easy to carry around and eat quickly and doesn't need to meet my general nutrition needs re:other vitamins/minerals foodgroups--I work full time and go to law school in the evening.

posted by atomicstone to food & drink (2 answers total)

I predict you will have issues with binding agents. In every granola/breakfast/energy bar recipes I've had any success with, the binding agent has either been oil+honey, or dates. I have had good luck with homemade Larabars, though dates aren't really that low in calories. Low in fat, though, and they do make for excellent bars.

There's also this recipe, which seems to be using nothing but pumpkin and cooked quinoa puree to hold it together. I am going to guess they would be super dense, and taste like pumpkin pie. Intriguing. Pumpkin/winter squash is pretty healthy to begin with, but if you wanted to really kick it up a notch in the nutrient department you could try sweet potatoes. Mmmm sweet potato pie....

This is a great idea, I'm going to be watching this thread.
posted by JuliaIglesias at 12:48 AM on August 24, 2011

If you were willing to add calories via binders/additions, then I think your own recipe would work. Otherwise, I think you are going to have to go with the commercial version.

The reason is, the way they are able to make it bind together (assuming their binders *don't* add calories or fat) is because they're using food additives which are generally only available in larger quantities.

One binder you could look into is brown rice syrup. It's much thicker and stickier than honey, so although it'll add a LOT of calories you're probably getting more stuck-togetherness per calorie than you would from honey. I suspect it's what most commercial bars use to bind the ingredients together.
posted by Deathalicious at 11:15 AM on August 24, 2011