Gluten free quinoa bars with chocolate chips are a perfect sweet snack or healthy dessert for chocolate lovers! They’re crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, with melty pools of dark chocolate. Plus, they’re high in protein, nutritious, easy to make, and better for you than typical cookie bars!
Portable snacks that are actually filling are always a win, right? These baked quinoa bars will keep you nourished while also satisfying that chocolate craving.
Looking for more recipe ideas? Here are some of my favorite quinoa recipes!
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Baked Quinoa Bars with Dark Chocolate
Have you ever baked with chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour before? It’s a great alternative to regular flour that’s gluten free and also higher in protein!
Mix with protein-packed quinoa, egg, milk, and healthy ground flaxseed, and you have a seriously filling snack.
Dark chocolate chips and brown sugar add a deeper, richer flavor and give these bars just enough sweetness (but not so much that these are overly sweet).
I also love that when these are baked, they form a crispy texture all around the edges, while staying nice and soft on the inside.
Whatever you do: don’t taste the raw batter! Raw garbanzo bean flour does not taste good. Trust me! I promise it will taste good once it’s baked, though. 🙂
These chocolate chip quinoa bars are such a fun healthier treat to have on hand. Great for a mid-afternoon energy boost or evening dessert when you’re craving something a little sweet!
What you’ll need:
Here’s are the ingredients you’ll need to make these dark chocolate quinoa snack bars:
- quinoa (Be sure to pre-cook this and let it cool before using! You’ll want to cook it in water, according to the package instructions. One cup of cooked quinoa is about equal to 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa.)
- chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour)
- dark chocolate chips (or your favorite type of chocolate chips)
- brown sugar (I prefer this to white sugar here, because it adds a richer flavor and more moisture than white sugar.)
- milk (or non-dairy substitute, such as unsweetened almond milk)
- egg
- ground flaxseed
- ground cinnamon
- vanilla extract
Feel free to toss in other mix-ins, such as dried fruit, nuts, peanut butter chips, etc.! Get creative. 🙂
Need more sweet quinoa recipes in your life? Try this Breakfast Coconut Quinoa Bowl or this Berry Quinoa Bake with Lemon!
Be sure that you use cooked quinoa for this recipe, not raw!
Just cook extra and use the rest to make one of my other recipes, like my Quinoa Taco Salad. 🙂
(If you love quinoa, check out my post all about how to cook quinoa. It’s also got lots of delicious quinoa recipe ideas!)
How to Make Chocolate Chip Quinoa Bars
As usual, this recipe is easy to throw together.
Simply whisk the dry ingredients together (cooked quinoa, chickpea flour, brown sugar, ground flaxseed, and cinnamon) in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (milk, egg, and vanilla extract). Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Toss the dough into a baking dish (I used my 7×11 pan – about 2 inches deep – but you can use whatever size you have).
Bake for just shy of 30 minutes (depending on the size/depth of the pan), et voila! Let cool completely before slicing into bars with a large knife.
(Tip: if you don’t let it cool first, the bars will be messy to slice!)
There you have it: a delicious and portable filling snack that will be a hit with the whole family (especially if you’ve got chocolate lovers).
Just look at that melty chocolate!
Storage Tips
Whenever I make these gluten free bars, I slice them (after sampling them, obvi) and store them in the fridge wrapped individually in tin foil. This helps them keep longer.
Plus, it’s perfect for easy grabbing and going later when I’m inevitably running late. 😉
Can I make these quinoa bars dairy free?
Yes! Just substitute milk with a dairy free milk (such as unsweetened almond milk) and use dairy free chocolate.
You’ll find the full chocolate chip quinoa bars recipe at the bottom of this post. I hope you love them!
Want more healthy on-the-go bar recipes? Check out my other favorites:
- 5-Minute No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars (vegan)
- Almond Butter Banana Breakfast Bars (vegan)
- Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Power Cookies (vegan)
- Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Granola Bars
- Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars
Chocolate Chip Quinoa Bars
These dark chocolate snack bars with quinoa are easy to make, high in protein, and perfect for when you need a healthy sweet snack that's easily portable.
Ingredients:
Dry:
- 1 & 1/2 C cooked quinoa
- 1 C chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
- 3/4 C brown sugar
- 1/4 C ground flaxseed
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Wet:
- 1 C milk (or non-dairy substitute)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 C dark chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. In a separate smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients, except for chocolate chips.
- Add wet to dry, stirring gently until mixed. Add in chocolate chips and mix.
- Poor batter into a baking pan — I used my 7x11 pan (about 2 inches deep), but you can use whatever size you have.
- Pop it in the oven and bake about 28 minutes — fork check to make sure they are done.
Notes:
You’ll need to either have some leftover cooked quinoa on hand, or cook some up before you start this recipe. One cup cooked quinoa is equal to roughly 1/4 cup uncooked. Prepare with water according to the instructions on the box. Be sure to let the quinoa cool afterwards.
