Quinoa Oatmeal Granola Bars - YUM

This weekend I decided I wanted to make some sort of granola bar. A while ago a friend of mine had made some with Quinoa, they sounded good, I thought I would give it a try.

Now before I go ahead and give you the recipe, let me give you a little history on myself and Quinoa. It has taken me a L O N G time to finally get back on the Quinoa 'bandwagon'. You see, growing up it seemed like we ate Quinoa and rice ALL THE TIME, not even joking...because we did, honestly!! When I first moved out to go to College, I didn't eat rice or quinoa...ever! Just the thought of it made my stomach turn! In fact just in the past 2 years or so have I come to the realization that you CAN 'spice up' rice and quinoa so it's not so blah!!

Here is the recipe I used: (also found here)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flaked quinoa *(I used 1 1/2 cups of cooked quinoa, not flaked)
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips *(I used carob chips instead of chocolate...you know, to keep with the whole healthy thing)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped dried fruit, such as raisins, dried pineapple, dried mango, etc.

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Line a 9x9 or 9x13 inch pan (depending on how thick you like your granola bars) with foil or parchment paper, letting the paper overhang the sides.
   
3. Spread the oatmeal, quinoa, and chopped nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
   
4. Melt the butter over low heat with the honey and brown sugar until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and the salt.
   
5. Stir the butter/sugar mixture into the toasted oats and nuts. Stir in the eggs, chocolate chips, and dried fruit.
   
6. Spread mixture into the baking pan and press firmly into pan.
   
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
   
8. Let cool completely, then lift from pan using parchment, and cut into bars. Store granola bars in an airtight container.

And now for the pictures :)

And you know what, they actually taste GOOD! They are soft, moist and just a little bit crumbly. ENJOY! :)