Date & Puffed Quinoa Balls (GF)

We all have that one friend or relative that has everything so what do you give them for their birthday? My sister is just like that and she appreciates the food gifts I give her but she’s always on some kind of special diet. I thought it was gluten free this time so decided to make these Date & Puffed Quinoa Balls.

I always like to use what I have on hand so had plenty of dates, macadamia nuts and a box of puffed quinoa (which is easy enough to make yourself). Finely dice or blitz the dates and macadamia nuts.

Add the puffed quinoa, peanut butter (or any kind of nut better) and honey.

Mix together until the mixture is firm enough to form into a ball shape. If it’s too dry, add more honey. If it’s too wet, add more puffed quinoa.

Form into balls and enjoy. It’s that easy. You could add anything you else you wanted too. Things like chocolate chips, other dried fruit and other http://www.mudboggerforum.com/profile/4837061 nuts. Also, if you don’t have puffed quinoa, you could use puffed rice breakfast cereal.

I used the lid off a box I had, put the balls inside and wrapped in clear cellophane. You want to know something funny? When I handed them to my sister, she informed me that she was no carbs! Oh well. They came home with me and were enjoyed by the family. A great addition to any lunchbox or a quick pick-me-up snack.

DATE & PUFFED QUINOA BALLS (Gluten Free)

•  1 cup dates, finely diced or blitzed
• 1 cup puffed quinoa (or puffed rice breakfast cereal)
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, finely diced or blitzed
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Combine the finely diced dates, macadamia nuts and quinoa.
2. Add the honey and peanut butter.
3. With wet hands, roll tablespoons of the mixture into a ball.
4. If the mixture is too dry, add more honey. If it’s too wet, add more puffed quinoa.
5. Refrigerate until required.

Peanut Butter Quinoa Puff Bars

 

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)

 

 

1. In a saucepan, mix honey and peanut butter and heat over a medium heat until honey is boiling and boil for 1 minute.
2. Add to the quinoa puffs in a bowl and stir well.
3. Pour mixture into a 12″x12″ baking pan lined with baking paper and before set, press peanut butter chips into mixture.
4. 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.

 

Double chocolate peanut butter cookie bars

If you’re reading this blog post and recipe, I don’t have to tell you just how good this flavour combination is. I must confess, I have been known to smear peanut butter directly onto squares of chocolate in order to get a chocolate/peanut butter fix.

But enough of that. I haven’t done that for a long time but what I discovered is that the humble chocolate cookie bars that we cook so often here only need a third of a cup of peanut butter to take them to a whole new dimension.

This is one of those one bowl, melt and mix recipes that I love so much. Such a good recipe to make when the oven is on and you need something in a hurry. You start by melting the butter and peanut butter together either in the microwave or on the stove top.

Once cooled slightly, add a beaten egg and vanilla.

Mix together your dry ingredients of flour, brown sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips. (I don’t normally have chocolate chips, rather opting for cutting a whole block of chocolate but they were on special at the supermarket.)

Mix the dry ingredients together well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined. (I only use crunchy

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peanut butter in this house. I don’t even know why anyone would bother with smooth. Like, what’s the point?)

Once combined, press into a slice baking pan and bake.

Smother with chocolate frosting for extra indulgence or leave as is, cutting into smaller ‘finger’ sized pieces.

I’m going to have to check my oven because there always seem to be a corner missing after I’ve finished baking. I wonder where on earth it could’ve gone? (Hey, someone has to be the official taste tester. I wouldn’t want my family to eat anything that didn’t taste nice, right? *wink wink*)

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

• 125gm butter
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• quantity of chocolate frosting (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Melt together butter and peanut butter using either microwave or over the stop top.
3. Allow to cool slightly then add beaten egg and vanilla.
4. Combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
6. Press into a 20x25cm slice pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until firm. (If you cook for less time, the bars will be soft and more fudge-like.)
7. Once cooled, cover with chocolate frosting and slice to serve.