Popped Quinoa Pistachio Bars – Easy No Bake Vegan Snacks

What Is Popped Quinoa?

Popped quinoa is an easy way to add some extra nutrients and crunch to any dish. All you need to do is add some quinoa to a heated frying pan and watch the seeds pop! Just like popcorn!

When choosing quinoa you can find an extended variety in the supermarkets today. I opted for a tri-colour quinoa that includes the red, black and white variety of seeds. The white quinoa variety is lighter and fluffier in texture compared to the others, and it will pop faster. However, the red and black seeds offer more texture and crunch.

Pistachio Butter

To flavour these bars, I added a gorgeous homemade pistachio butter from fresh kernels and soy milk. This comes out luscious and creamy enough to store for any other recipe (if you have some spare). You can use raw kernels for this to save time from removing the shells from pistachios. American pistachios are easily available around the supermarkets, but the most flavourful ones I’ve tried are the green pistachios from Iran.

Easy and No Bake!

Yes, this is an easy, limited ingredient, no bake recipe. All you need is a baking tray, blender and a freezer. This recipe calls for 1 hour freeze time but I would suggest placing it overnight to ensure it comes out into perfect bars.

No Sugar

This recipe has no sugar. I’ve sweetened it using CÓCOES Dark Coconut Flower Syrup. It is made from the nectar of coconut flowers, that are grown on the coconut palm! You can read more about it on the CÓCOES website. This syrup is low-GI and nutritious. It is extremely versatile and can bring out a beautiful caramel flavour when used with desserts.

Use my code

theveggiewifey

for 10% off

Popped Quinoa Pistachio Bars

Divya Butani

Popped quinoa is satisfyingly easy to make within minutes. When combined with this rich, creamy pistachio butter, it makes a perfect no bake vegan snack that is high protein and low GI

5 from 6 votes

Print Email WhatsApp

Servings 15 pieces

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Freeze Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Equipment

• 9×9 baking tray
• Spatula
• Blender

Ingredients

For The Base

• ▢ 300 grams organic tri-colour quinoa
• ▢ 80 grams sunflower seeds
• ▢ 45 grams flaxseeds

For The Topping

• ▢ 250 grams green pistachio kernels
• ▢ 100 grams CÓCOES Dark Coconut Flower Syrup
• ▢ 100 grams organic cold-pressed coconut oil
• ▢ 120 grams soy milk

Instructions

To Pop The Quinoa

• Wash and dry the quinoa
• Divide the 300g into 3-4 separate batches to ‘pop’ on the frying pan
• Heat up a frying pan over low to medium heat.
• Ensure it is hot enough by placing a few quinoa seeds on the pan. It should ‘pop’ right away.
• Place the first batch of quinoa seeds in the pan.
• Continuously stir as the seeds ‘pop’. You will notice that the lighter seeds pop faster than the darker, that is ok and normal. Just monitor the whole batch so it does not burn. Keep stirring/moving the pan around. Once there is a 2-3 second gap in between each ‘pop’, your quinoa is ready.
• Place this in a bowl to cool down. You can add the rest of the batches as you cook them, into the same bowl.

For The Topping

• In a blender, add the pistachio kernels, coconut oil and soy milk.
• Blend until its a smooth, rich and creamy consistency
• Place this mixture in a bowl, then whisk in the CÓCOES Dark Coconut Flower Syrup to add a healthy, low GI sweetness to this mixture.
• Set this aside

To Assemble The Bars

• Mix in the sunflower seeds and flaxseeds to the cooled down crispy quinoa mixture, then add half of the pistachio mixture to thicken and bind the base.
• Cover your baking tray with parchment paper (make sure the parchment paper extends over the edges of the baking tray because you need to pull out the frozen block later. If the parchment paper is too short across the edges, you’ll have a problem taking it out)
• Flatten the base mixture at the bottom of the baking tray until it is about 1-2 inches thick. You can use the base of a drinking cup to flatten it out evenly.
• Next, add the remaining pistachio mixture on the surface of the base, and smooth it out using a spatula. This should not be more than 0.5 inches thick

To Garnish and Set

• Sprinkle some chopped pistachios or dark chocolate on the top before you place it in the freezer for an hour. I would suggest placing it in the freezer overnight for best results

To Serve

• Remove the block from the baking tray.
• Warm up a sharp knife under hot water, wipe it clean then cut the block into bite-size squares or rectangular bars.
• You can store this in a container for up to a month.
• Every time you’d like to enjoy some, make sure you let it warm out of the freezer for about 30 minutes so it is easy to bite into.

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 8gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 7mgPotassium: 351mgFiber: 4gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 80IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 2mg

Calories: 275kcal