You guys…this might just be the most epic quinoa dessert yet.

I’m not kidding. These peanut butter quinoa bars are the real deal. They’re packed with peanut butter flavor, sweetened naturally with coconut sugar, have no eggs or dairy or oil, AND they use quinoa flour which is packed with minerals and protein. So basically what I’m saying is…we all need to make them asap!

Peanut butter has made has a major resurgence in my life recently. So much so that I’m going through a jar of it almost every week. It’s kind of crazy. (but in a totally delicious way)

I think it has to do with the fact that I started making peanut butter from scratch. I always used to buy natural, organic peanut butter from the store and while it was super delicious, it’s also pretty pricey! I mean you can certainly get the organic kind from Whole Foods for less, but there’s additives and fillers that I just don’t want.

Peanut butter should be made from peanuts. Plain and simple.

Thing is…while nut butters only take one machine to make, they’re a little bit of a pain. First, they take a food processor which not everyone has. Second, you need to grind them for like 10 – 15 minutes, which I feel like runs the risk of burning out the motor on you machine.

Well my friends, I found the solution! (and I just figured this out yesterday, so it’s super exciting)

It’s the Twister Jar from BlendTec. This little contraption snaps onto the base of your blender and makes nut butter in under two minutes. I kid you not. Creamy, dreamy and delicious nut butters. It’s incredible!

You can use any kind of nut, but if you’re making peanut butter, make sure to get organic roasted. I know that peanut butter gets a bad rap because of the potential for the fungus aflatoxin (which is considered to be carcinogenic) to be present, but good news is that our agriculture practices have gotten much better and buying organic, roasted peanuts exponentially reduces the risk for toxicity.

So anywhoo, don’t fear the peanuts. Just make sure that you’re buying high quality nuts and if they’re raw, roast ’em!

And also if you have a BlendTec and want to make nut butters at home, check out the Twister Jar. Life changing.

But let’s get back to the bars.

I started with a tried and true recipe – my Almond Butter Quinoa Blondies – and made a few switches to make them lower in fat and sugar. Since these babies use a full 3/4 cup of peanut butter, instead of adding the extra coconut oil that my blondies have, I opted for unsweetened applesauce. The applesauce adds a faint of hint of sweetness while also reducing the fat content of the bars. And because of that touch of sweet, I was able to remove 1/4 cup of sugar from the original recipe.

Less sugar? Less fat? Less flavor? Absolutely not.

With all of those tweaks, these bars came out every bit as delicious. They’re moist, tender and packed with peanut buttery goodness. Of course, since it’s hard to imagine a peanut butter dessert without chocolate, I topped these bars with a delicious chocolate sauce made from coconut oil, cacao powder and a hint of maple syrup.

The sauce is totally optional and does require that you keep these bars in the fridge.

But since I know you’re also a fan of the chocolate-PB combo, I wanted to give you the option just in case you wanted to make these bars a bit more indulgent. Either way, you can’t go wrong. I’m already looking forward to dessert tonight.

xo Alyssa

(p.s. I was not compensated by BlendTec for this post. It’s purely me, sharing a product I love and use on a daily basis.)

If you make this recipe, make sure to snap a pic and share it on Instagram using #SIMPLYQUINOA – I want to see your own quinoa creations!

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Other Quinoa Bar Recipes:

Almond Butter Quinoa Blondies (Simply Quinoa)
Banana Quinoa Breakfast Bars (Simply Quinoa)
Quinoa Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (iFoodreal)
Blueberry Lemon Quinoa Bars (My Darling Lemon Thyme)

 

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