Hi, Friends! Guess what!?!?!? I finally did it; I made a portable vegan and gluten free superfood breakfast bar full of protein, healthy fat, and fiber that Mr. Hungry loved. You can’t see me, but I’m dancing around the kitchen. Check it out….
Yesterday I posted about the struggles of adhering to Mr. Hungry’s food sensitivities, so I thought I’d follow up with a vegan and total gluten-free win! I made this recipe twice and the second time was way better than the first. I got a little carried away the first time with some extra ingredients that these bars didn’t need.
Yum. Right? Like my friend Jenny always says, there is such thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to a recipe. Not these bars, though, they are hearty enough to fuel for the day during breakfast but sweet enough to be a dessert. We’ve kind of been eating them for both around here, and it’s amazing. Nothing like starting your day and/or ending your day on the superfood note!
So how did these bars come about? Well, aside from me desperately attempting to make a noncrumbly tasty vegan and gluten free bar, it came from my pantry surplus. I know the ingredient list in these isn’t exactly short BUT I also know how many of you impulse buy items like oats, truRoots Organic Quinoa 100% Whole Grain Premium Quality, 4 lbsquinoa, chia, and hemp seeds from Costco.
The latest health food comes to Costco, and it’s like “o my gawd that’s such a good deal I can eat it all the time! I’ll be sooooo healthy!” Then it sits in my pantry except for when I add a teaspoon of this or that to a bowl of oats or the smoothie occasionally.
At that rate, those bags will be there till the end of time. These bars will do you the service of actually putting a dent in those giant bags. Plus, not only are these superfood bars as portable as your run of the mill sugar loaded granola bar, but they are also freezable.
Meaning whether you have many of mouths to feed, or just one, you can easily make up a batch of these and not worry about them going bad.
I wanted to call these bars so many things including….
“the Ultimate Healthy Breakfast Bar for Both You and Your Man”
“This Just In Hungry Hobby Successfully Bakes a Gluten Free Vegan Breakfast Bar.”
“Use all your Costco impulse purchases in one shot!”
“Ditch the wrapper for the good stuff.”
In my opinion, naming blog posts and recipes is the most bizarre part of writing a recipe post. Anyways….you could personalize these babies with coconut shreds, dried fruit or chocolate chips if you wanted, get creative with yo bad self.
Or just make them as is and enjoy a delicious, healthy breakfast bar that will fuel you through whatever comes your way and stick to your ribs! They are perfect for breakfast, but I also think they would be an excellent choice to take hiking or even on a marathon/ironman training long run (if you can do solid food).
One more glamor shot for good measure….
Okay now get to baking!
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The Ultimate Superfood Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rolled oats GF if needed
- 2 cups oats gluten free if needed
- 1/2 cup hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup brown sugar not packed
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp baking POWDER
- 1/3 cup chia seeds
- 1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk or other non dairy milk
- 1 mashed banana
- 1/2 cup almond butter can sub any other type of nut/seed butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups quinoa 1 cup uncooked quinoa
Instructions
- Grind 1/2 cup rolled oats into a fine oat flour - I used a coffee grinder but you can use a food processor as well.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Start by cooking the quinoa according to package directions, 1 cup uncooked should make about 2 -3 cups cooked. While your quinoa is cooking on the stove you can assemble the rest of the ingredients.
- Combine dry ingredients including oat flour, oats, hemp seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and mix well.
- In another medium size bowl combine chia seeds, milk, mashed banana, almond butter and vanilla and whisk until smooth and well combined. Chia seeds will start to gel thickening the ingredients.
- When the quinoa is done add it to the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and mix till well combined.
- Spread evenly in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish and compact with a spatula. Just press the back of the spatula across the bake so everything is well combined together.
- Bake 40-45 minutes until browned around the edges. A toothpick should come out clean and it should feel firm. Let cool 30 minutes before cutting into bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Also of possible interest! Check out this excellent post-Hungry Hobby was featured in by FitnessMagazine.com–> 10 Sweet, Savory, and Totally Awesome Oatmeal Recipes
Have a great rest of your week; the weekend is in sight!
These look amazing. My Mr. Hungry is going to go crazy for these! Pinning to make.
They are almost all gone! Thanks!
These look like something that would be perfect for my fiance to eat for breakfast. He says he is “getting sick of oatmeal,” but needs something quick and easy. Maybe I’ll have to be extra nice and make them for him 😉
He will love them!
Breakfast bars are totally my go-to when I don’t have time for a sit down breakfast. I love how these include all of the good stuff like almond butter, quinoa and hemp seeds! Scheduled a pin!
Me too or sometimes even lunch! Thanks!
Wow these look fantastic, girl! I love quinoa in bars! I’ll definitely be giving this a shot
Thanks Jamie! Let me know how you like them if you get a chance to try 🙂
Can u use honey instead of brown sugar
I wouldn’t substitute a liquid for a solid sugar, you could try coconut sugar for a less processed sugar!
Can the sugar be omitted? The bars already have sugar from the banana.
Yes! I think that would be fine! You could also use coconut sugar for a lower glycemic index sugar, but I think if you want to skip it that will be fine!
There’s certainly a great deal to learn about this subject.
I like all of the points you’ve made.
I love the idea of this recipe. I have everything for this recipe in my food storage. Just wondering if I can substitute the almond milk? And also Wondering if I can also substitute the oat flour. I have a blendtec so I’m wondering if I can use it to grind down the steel cut oats to a fine powder to make the oat flower. Any suggestions?
Hi Elizabeth! You can substitute almond milk no problem. You can absolute grind your own steel cut oats into a flour! Let me know how it goes!
What is the texture of these like? Are they soft or crunchy?
That is a great question! A little crunchy out the outside, chewy on the inside!
Hi, my grandkids cannot eat banana. What would you suggest as substitutes? Or can I just omit? Thank you.
I would sub 1 cup mashed sweet potato or applesauce!