Have you all heard of the new food craze of Puffed Quinoa? Well let me tell you a little bit about it :

High in Dietary Fibre – Delivers the fibre of a vegetable while not tasting like one.
High in Potassium – Gives a banana a run for its money in the potassium department.
Low in Sodium – Has almost no sodium and tastes good without adding salt.
High in Magnesium and Iron – Provides two minerals that are sometimes hard to come by.
Good Source of Protein – Packs the protein punch of meat and has all 8 amino acids.

You can also make your own puffed Quinoa  at home as well, as it can be expensive to buy. Its not hard at all its so light and fluffy. I have read up on how to do it exactly as well.  One day I might try it ha-ha. But until now ill just stick to buying it.  All you pretty much have to do is rinse the quinoa and then place it on a cookie sheet in oven on low setting till its dried out, then you are going to stick it in a pot on the stove and heat it up like popcorn. Here’s the thing you don’t need to use oil, but you can if you want to but it will work without it. and keep stirring and stirring so it doesn’t burn. Now I have not tried this method yet, but have read various sites that have said this works.

These bad boys are a three layer bar heaven!

Chocolate Caramel Puffed Quinoa Squares

Makes 16 squares

Puffed Quinoa Bottom Layer Ingredients

· 4 tbsp. Coconut Oil

· 4 Tbsp. Maple syrup

· 2 Tbsp. cacao powder

· 2 cups puffed Quinoa

Caramel Layer

· 10 Dates, pitted (soft dates if not soft soak in water for ½ hour first)

· 1 tbsp. Almond Butter

· 1 Tbsp. Maple syrup

· 1/3 cup water

· 1 tsp vanilla

Top Chocolate Layer

· ½ cup Coconut oil

· 1 tbsp. maple syrup

· ½ cup cacao powder

Directions

Puffed Quinoa Layer

1. Melt coconut oil and peanut butter in pot

2. Add cacao powder and puffed quinoa in and stir

3. Place in a 8×8 pan, lined with plastic wrap so it’s easy to pull out and cut later on

4. Place in Freezer for 10 min till set or till done making next layer the caramel

Caramel Layer

1. Place all ingredients in high speed blender or food processor and blend till you get a caramel consistency, it’s just that easy if too thick at more water only 1 tsp at a time. (Sometimes dates are drier than others.

2. Place caramel on top of Puffed layer and return to freezer let set for approx. 15 min until hard

Chocolate layer

1. Place ingredients on double broiler pot or by placing a large glass bowl over pot with water boiling under. Melt everything and whisk until smooth and then poor over top caramel layer

2. Place back in freezer for approx. 20 mins until hard and then cut into squares.

3. I would suggest keeping in freezer and take out as needed