These healthy superfood chocolate quinoa bars are a tasty little snack that is packed with energizing ingredients. Great for on the go or before a workout!
Does it get any better than chocolate? I mean I'm a chocolate-any-time-of-day kind of girl, but I especially love it as a snack. I almost always find myself craving something chocolate in the mid-afternoon and rather than reaching for dark chocolate, lately, I've been reaching for these:
Superfood Chocolate Quinoa Bars ????????
They're packed with good-for-you ingredients, but taste amazingly decadent. I've even snuck on some melted dark chocolate for those who need a little more persuasion. After all, life is about balance and when you can combine superfoods with chocolate you know you're on the right path.
The Best Superfood Ingredients
I think people classify superfoods differently, but for me, to be a true superfood, an ingredient has to have a multitude of benefits. While the ingredient list for the chocolate quinoa bars might seem long, I've chosen each one specifically for what they bring to the table.
Here's a highlight of my favorites:
- walnuts: full of healthy fats and omega-3s
- pumpkin seeds: high in calcium, iron and other minerals
- raw cacao powder: packed with antioxidants and naturally energizing
- spirulina: highly detoxifying, high in protein & full of calcium & iron
- hemp seeds: high in protein and omega-3s
And that's just a few of them. These bars are LOADED with amazing ingredients!
How to make No Bake Energy Bars
Just like how we make energy balls, we make no-bake energy bars the same way! In your food processor.
We'll begin by blending up our nuts and dates until they resemble a sandy texture. Then add in the rest of your ingredients and blend it together until it forms a sticky dough.
This step is where it differs: rather than rolling the dough into balls, you'll simply dump it into a baking pan and press it evenly into the bottom to form a smooth, packed surface.
Pop it in the freezer and let it harden up (or in this case drizzle it with chocolate first). Then just slice it into bars and you're good to go!
Why You Need These Chocolate Quinoa Bars
You know I love a good energy ball, but sometimes I just want a bar instead. These chocolate quinoa bars are my new thing. They're easy to make, they're a great change of pace, they're packed with an insane amount of nutrients and they taste pretty freaking great too.
They've also got a rocking texture!
We've got softness from the dates, crunch from the quinoa crispies, chewiness from the dried fruit and just the right amount of chocolate. Not too dark, but also not too sweet.
If you've been looking for a new healthy snack, you've found them. These babies are nourishing, they're energizing and they're tasty. Pretty much the ultimate combo if you ask me!
More Healthy No Bake Snack Recipes
- No Bake Snickers Banana Bites
- Raw & Vegan Carrot Cake Bites
- No Bake Peanut Butter Power Bars
- Healthy No Bake Chocolate Quinoa Cookies
Superfood Chocolate Quinoa Bars
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 cups dates
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup flaked coconut
- ¼ cup cacao
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds
- ¼ cup goji berries
- 1 tsp spirulina
- 1/2 cup quinoa crisps
- 4.5 oz dark chocolate , melted
- To top: chopped walnuts , coconut, sea salt + cacao nibs
Instructions
- Add the dates, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds and coconut into a food processor. Blend on high until a sandy texture has formed. Add the cacao, hemp, goji, spirulina and almond butter and process until a dough starts to form. Pulse in the quinoa crisps.
- Transfer the mixture to a parchment lined 8" x 8" baking pan. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan, making sure to get it into the corners.
- Pour the melted chocolate on top and garnish with desired toppings.
- Place the pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, remove the bars from the pan and cut into squares. Store in the freezer for best texture.
Video
Nutrition
I would have never thought of quinoa being part of a decadent dessert like this. It looks amazing!
The link should be working now! Feel free to enter the giveaway 🙂
Oh yum. These look so good!
The link should be working now! Feel free to enter the giveaway 🙂
Hi there! Have recently fallen in love with your blog and would SOOO love to win a copy of your book! Just went to your rafflecopter link and it said the contest hasn’t started yet. Did I miss something somewhere!?! Thanks so much!
The link should be working now! Feel free to enter the giveaway 🙂
wow! This looks soooo good!
The link should be working now! Feel free to enter the giveaway 🙂
Those look pretty – and yummy! I’ve never heard of or seen quinoa crispies anywhere before. I’ll have to look. Maybe I’ll even find those elusive quinoa flakes I’ve heard about, too. 🙂 The rafflecopter link said the contest will start soon. Should it already be working? or check back later?
The link should be working now! Feel free to enter the giveaway 🙂
Thanks! Ok… a healthy chocolate creation… would have to be some kind of non-dairy chocolate ice cream.
You can get Quinoa Flakes on Amazon. I get them by the case, since my daughter is allergic to oats. They are an awesome substitute! Ancient Harvest makes them.
I will have to check for them there. Thanks. 🙂
Isn’t the recipe using quinoa crispies? Would quinoa flakes but a substitute? I didn’t see that.
It wasn’t working for me, either!
The link should be working now! Feel free to enter the giveaway 🙂
Hmm. I’d love to see cheesy potato soup made healthy.
Yummy! I’m going share these on my page on Facebook 🙂 I love that your recipes are simple and delicious. Keep them coming!
I’d love to see my old childhood favorite, chocolate pie made healthy!!!
Question about this recipe – what could I use instead of the Stevia powder? We can’t use it due to allergies…
Oh! That is a hard one! Let’s see…I would love to see Cherry Cordials transformed into a healthy version. 🙂
I would like a healthy recipe for some fudgy brownies complete with a nice layer of ganache!
Chocoloate Quinoa… awesome!!
oops.. Would love to have a healthy Reeses peanut butter cup!
Anything vegan and GF!
Yum! These look like quinoa kit-kat bars!!
I would love to see a healthy, dairy-free version of Nutella!
I’d love to see a starch free, gluten free version of chocolate ice cream mochi balls… but that’s a bit far fetched 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
I’d love to see a healthy nutella recipe! 🙂
Thanks for hosting this contest,
Laura
I love to eat chocolate cake, and I’d love to see a healthy version!
Any chocolate recipe is fine by me! Especially with peanut butter or mint. mmmm…
I’d never even heard of quinoa crisp – how exciting, I totally want to make these now!
I would like either chocolate pot de creme or mousse to be made healthy.
Are quinoa crispies the same thing as puffed quinoa??
I’d like to see healthy “buckeyes” – peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate.
I’m all for chocolate and more chocolate, especially when it’s made with wholesome ingredients like this.
Chocolate and peanut butter…anything combining those is good. 🙂
YES
where do you get “quinoa crispies?” im so intrigued!
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Can I ask you where you get quinoa crispies? These look awesome! I love your website! It is the best!! Thanks:)
Here’s a link to Edison Grainery where I purchase mine: http://edisongrainery.com/store/grains/38-quinoa-crispies-cereal.html
What are the calories per serving of these chocolate quinoa crunch bars? Thank you!
Hi Michele – I don’t calculate calories or nutritional information for my recipes, but I know that there are a ton of great tools out there that let you plug in the ingredients and it spits out all the info you’re looking for 🙂 Just try Googling “Recipe Nutrition Calculator”
I will have to keep my eye out for these ‘crispies’, I have not heard of them either. Could regular quinoa be made crispy, ‘says this homemade always thinking” cook.
Thanks for sharing your yummy treats.
Quinoa flakes has been mentioned in a post. Would that be a substitute for quinoa crispies? They wouldn’t have the same texture at all,
Hi Kate, unfortunately, quinoa flakes cannot be used in this recipe. Think of quinoa flakes as more like an oat substitute and quinoa crispies like rice crispies. Pretty different 🙂 If you don’t have quinoa crispies, you could definitely try it with rice crispies!
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Is the hemp in the form of seeds or something else!
seeds! updating 🙂
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Hi! I don’t see where it says to add the goji berries? Thanks!
Ahh you’re right! Updated 🙂 Thanks, Robin!
These look delicious, and the bonus is they are healthy! Can’t wait to try them. However, I do have a question as to how many these make…recipe shows serving is 16. You are able to get 16 good squares out of an 8×8 pan?
I am, yep!
I love this recipe. It is super easy to make and very tasty
So glad you liked it!
What is quinoa crisps??
Quinoa crispies (or crisps) are basically the rice crispy version of quinoa. You can learn all about them and how to make your own here -> How to Make Quinoa Crispies
spirulina: can I leave this out or what is a good substitute other then that the recipe looks great
You can leave it out. If there are other superfood powders or medicinal mushrooms you like to use, you can swap the spirulina for that. Read about our favorite medicinal mushrooms here –> https://www.simplyquinoa.com/medicinal-mushrooms-101/