Have you ever been up late at night, getting ready for bed and then it hits you. You don’t have a thing in the cupboard for the kid’s school lunch boxes tomorrow except for a sandwich and a piece of fruit? Well, that happened to me the other week. I was extremely tired and I thought I’d make the lunches the next morning and then I remembered I hadn’t baked that week and didn’t have a thing for them at all. This old woman’s cupboard was definitely bare. I did manage to make these Peanut Butter Quinoa Puff Bars.
Other than the usual baking supplies, I didn’t have much in the cupboard at all except for this box of
Orgran Gluten Free Quinoa Puffs. The kids have been devouring both them and the
Quinoa Flakes for breakfast and I thought about using the puffs in a Rice Krispie type bar. I also had a cheeky packet of Reece’s Peanut Butter chips in the cupboard (they jumped into my shopping trolley all by themselves, I swear). Using a recipe similar to how I would make a rice krispie bar (or LCMs as we call them here in Australia), I came up with these Peanut Butter Bars.
(Heaven only knows what I did what my kids did to my camera. The last 20 or so photos were practically black so I won’t bother hurting your eyes with these shocking photos.) As you can (sort of) see, the quinoa puffs are very similar to rice krispies but with a few exceptions. Orgran Quinoa Puffs are gluten free, wheat free, egg free, dairy free, yeast free and suitable for vegans. They are low in sugar and fat and are made with wholegrains.
Quinoa is a nutritional wonder that has a naturally high level of protein and was a staple food of the ancient Incas and Aztecs. It is also known to have one of the best sources of high biological complete protein in the plant kingdom that is exceptionally well suited to human nutritional needs.
With the exception of the peanut butter chips, the only other ingredients I added to these bars were half a cup of honey and half a cup of peanut butter. You could use any kind of nut butter to make these bars. I swear my eyes were half shut when I made these. I left them in the fridge to set that night and they were ready in the morning for the lunch boxes.
My stepson, who chose to remain anonymous, enjoyed them just with milk for breakfast but you could use the ‘puffs’ as you would rice krispies in any recipe or the ‘flakes’ as you would in recipes that call for corn flakes. A refreshing and healthy change for yours or your children’s breakfast cereal options.
Peanut Butter Quinoa Puff Bars
- 2 cups Orgran Quinoa Puffs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (any nut butter will work)
- 1/2 cup Reece’s Peanut Butter Chips (optional)
- In a saucepan, mix honey and peanut butter and heat over a medium heat until honey is boiling and boil for 1 minute.
- Add to the quinoa puffs in a bowl and stir well.
- Pour mixture into a 12″x12″ baking pan lined with baking paper and before set, press peanut butter chips into mixture.
- Allow to set in refrigerator for a couple hours and cut in squares to serve.
Optional:
You could add any sort of nuts or dried fruits to this mix or top with a variety of toppings like different flavoured chocolate chips, a drizzle of icing or sprinkles.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I was gifted a box of both Orgran Quinoa Puffs and Quinoa Flakes. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
My kids can't take anything nut in their lunchboxes but would love this for afternoon tea I think. And I somehow never knew you could get peanut butter chips!!! Where do you find these?
Hi Malinda. I think I got these from Coles. They just 'jumped' into my trolley all on their own! I think the confectionery type stores have them. Not cheap but good to try.
Anne xx