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You know what I have found surprising?
That throughout this entire month of January I was able to stick with my goal of showing you all healthy, colorful recipes, AND that these healthy recipes have also been some of my FAVORITE recipes to date. I guess this isn’t actually all that surprising, since I truly love healthy foods. But since I cook for the people around me, I also end up cooking a lot of meats, grains and um CHEESE…but I really don’t mind, especially the grains and cheese, and duh, obviously the chocolate too!
So we’ve made it to the last week in January, and you guys… I don’t plan on stopping the healthy eats here. I’ve always tried to have a good balance of healthy to decadent foods here on the blog… and don’t worry, decadent will be back… next week, with lots of fun Super Bowl eats. I can’t lie, I’m pretty excited to show you all those recipes too!!
Anyway, let me tell you about this superfood bark. I don’t have a whole lot of rambling time today since Asher is literally demanding my attention. Clearly I am having a hard time balancing the whole sister watching and work doing thing. The struggle is REAL guys.
SIDE NOTE: I totally got to pull out Asher’s tooth the other night. That was a first for me. I think I have pulled a few of my own baby teeth, but that was a long while ago. The girl was PUMPED (this is only her second tooth that has fallen out), and I’m so excited for the tooth fairy to come! I have to say, I was pretty excited to get to BE the tooth fairy too. BUT… then she fell asleep, and I went into work mode and forgot all about the stupid tooth. OH NO! The poor girl woke up to nothing under her pillow and I felt so bad. I made up some excuse that the tooth fairy takes Saturday night off and that he would come on Sunday. And then I went out and bought a new sparkly nail polish and put that + a dollar under her pillow to make up for it. Thankfully that worked and she was very pleased come Monday morning. Few.
Ok,so back to this superfood chocolate quinoa bark!
The bark is KILLER in so many ways. For one, it’s full of all the things that are best for our bodies… quinoa, seeds, nuts, maple syrup (or honey), coconut oil, coffee (if you are into it, which I so am, I love the flavor it adds), and super dark chocolate. Second, it’s SO incredibly quick and easy to make. You just add all the ingredients to a pot and set it over the stove until they are melted together. Then stir in all the dry ingredients until combined. Spread everything out into an even layer on a baking sheet and bake until crisp. Top with chocolate and then chill to allow the chocolate to set.
Done and DONE.
I got a little fancy and added some cacao nibs + dried rose hips to the top of the chocolate, but you could add flaky sea salt, another drizzle of chocolate or whatever sounds good to you. Totally adaptable to your tastes, or whatever you might have on hand.
And it’s as simple as that. For those of you wondering about using raw quinoa, I know if sounds weird, but I promise it works for this recipe. The quinoa gets toasted and caramelized in the oven. The end result is perfectly crunchy and sweet quinoa. Basically, we’re treating the quinoa just like the seed that it is (yes, quinoa is technically a seed and not a grain) and toasting it like you would any other seed.
Just try it, you guys will love this healthy dessert! It’s perfect for when a sweet craving hits but you don’t want like… a giant piece of chocolate cake… OK so you probably really do want a giant piece of chocolate cake, BUT you don’t really want to go there. This is the treat to satisfy those cravings and leave you feeling amazing from the inside out.
Completely corny, but it’s actually so true!! Example: my mother is currently on this kick of no added sugars. She’s convinced that cutting way back on sugar will keep her moving till she’s at least 100 (she’s insane like that). Well, maybe not? Anyway, she CANNOT live without chocolate, she just physically cannot do it, so she has been loving this bark (and all the other chocolate treats I’ve shared this month… especially the one coming up on Friday!). This bark is her GO-TO after lunch treat, and I’m right there with her.
It is kind of addictive.
Superfood Chocolate Quinoa Bark.
Servings: 24 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 216 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (either works great I like the maple flavor I think best)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (optional but I LOVE the flavor)
- good pinch of flaky sea salt
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa rinsed + dried
- 1/2 cup raw almonds roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup raw cashews roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup mixed raw seeds (I used hemp seeds flax seeds, chia seeds + sesame seeds)
- 12 ounces vegan or dark chocolate chopped (I like to use 92% dark chocolate)
- Cacao nibs + dried roses for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt together the honey or maple and coconut oil on power level high, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth (this took about 1 minute for me). Whisk in the vanilla, coffee granules and salt.
- Add the quinoa, almonds, cashews and mixed seeds. Stir until all the dry ingredients are evenly coated in the wet ingredients. Spread the mixture out in an even, thin layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the the bark is golden in color and crisp. You'll know the bark is done when the cashews and quinoa look caramelized and are a deep golden brown in color.
- While the bark is baking, melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave, heating on 30 second intervals and stirring after each interval until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread the melted chocolate over the bark in an even layer. Sprinkle with cacao nibs.
- Place the pan in the fridge to set, about 30 minutes (or the freezer for 15). Remove and break into pieces. Store in a sealed container in the fridge.
I mean, clearly.
Would it be possible to use cooked quinoa for this recipe? I accidentally made way too much quinoa for dinner last night, and I’m trying to use it up!
Hey Amelia! Honestly I have never tried that. I am sure it will work fine, but it will just not be as crunchy, still good I would think though. Let me know how it goes, thank you!
This looks and sounds amazing, yum!
xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
Thank you so much, Kelly!
Do you have to soak the chia seeds before using them?
Hey Lauren,
You do not need to soak the chia seeds before using. Hope you love this!
This is such a gorgeous post! I can only just imagine how addictive this bark is, I love the idea of using toasted quinoa.
It is pretty addictive.. but a good addictive !! 🙂 Thanks Louise
I have just finished making this bark and honestly cannot stop eating it long enough for the chocolate to fully harden. I Love it! I used 72% dark chocolate instead of the 92%…. sweet tooth . Plus added the cacao nibs on top along with sea salt.I cannot wait for my hubby to taste it. I think this will be my breakfast snack for the next few days! Thanks for a great recipe, I will be making it for my mom next time she visits.
( I have 3 kiddos and the tooth fairy forgot to bring money once to ALL of them.. oops.)
I made these and they came out great. I gave them to my 1.5 year old son and the next morning his diaper was full of Quinoa seeds. I looked up nutrition facts about Quinoa which said thatcan certainly benefit from all of the nutrients, provided that the seeds are cracked or partially ground!! Quinoa seeds have a shell and if they are not softened or cracked- you do not enjoy the great nutrients.
This is so wonderful! I love it. It’s so addicting. Non stick foil worked great!
THANK YOU!
I made this today and I’m obsessed!!!!! It’s SO GOOD. I love finding healthier desserts and this one is my favorite yet. I added sea salt as a topping which kicked it out of the park for me. so good. thank you!!
I’ve made this twice in the past week…it’s that good! I even subbed the almonds/cashews for different nuts and it still came out great. I sprinkled some sea salt on top too and it’s addicting! Thanks for an awesome and creative recipe!
SO happy you love this recipe, thank you!
I just had to follow up with great news of how successful this recipe is!!!
OMGosh! I begged/flogged my ailing oven to please work just one more time for this snack. I made it the way you did….but sprouted the quinoa first and dried it in the dehydrator. The only chocolate I had was Ghiradelli bakers but then I found some dark chocolate covered toffee, bashed it about a bit; adding it to the melted chocolate right at the very end. I sprinkled vanilla bean salt across the top for the finishing touch. Now its all gone….making more sooooooon!
hehe! SO thrilled you love this bark! Hope you had a great weekend!
Oh Yeah!, Looking for healthier snacks for kids (eh hem,…& me) & this was great! Made last week. Used parchment paper no problem. Once chocolate cooled & set, just pulled whole thing out of pan put on cutting board & chopped away/broke apart in triangle-ish chunks. Used sesame seeds & sunflower seeds for the seed ingredients, that was the only thing different from yours. But great thing about this, can throw in whatever you like.
great recipe!
Chocolate fix = Done.
THANK YOU! So happy you love this recipe! 🙂
This recipe is amazing and so addicting! I love the dark chocolate!
I had a question though… The wax paper stuck to the entire bottom… regardless I still are it!! How do I prevent this from sticking?
HI!! Sorry the paper stuck, mine does to. You just have to carefully peel the paper away from the bark. You could try spraying the paper with cooking spray and that might help too. Let me know if you have any other questions.
THANK YOU!
This is like…. a really TASTY healthy version of a crunch bar! I used half maple syrup and half honey, I added the coffee of course… and ooooh my gosh, it is so good! I am definitely making this again. Yummmm, one of my favorite recipes. Coconut is also a really good addition. I found your blog the other day when I googled quinoa burger recipes and yours popped up. Since then I have gone through a lot of your recipes. They look scrumptious!
SO happy you loved it! THANKS!
You say in instructions to put mixture in prepared sheet but you don’t say how to prepare it. I noticed after I made these that you lined your baking sheet with parchment. I just sprayed my sheet with Pam. They were a little hard to get out but delicious!
oops so sorry! I added the step to the directions. So happy you love these!
On my, I mean, OH MY! This is too good to put to words. Tieghan you have made a recipe I can tell my two grandsons are “chocolate seeds” and they will ask for seconds, or “make us another batch”. I do not normally post messages but I had to ‘stop by’ and tell you, this is way beyond fantastic. I would write more but the pan of Quinoa bark needs to be, ummm, stored, ummm, away. Yea, that’s it! I have to take care of the left overs! Thank you for sharing! I mean it, thank you!!!
SO happy you love this bark! THANKS!