Most everyone has had this experience– waking up in a rush before school or work, already slightly late and craving something quick and tasty for breakfast. If you’re tired of hustling out the door without an adequate bite to eat in the morning, this recipe is for you. It will make those hurried mornings a breeze!

Not only are these tasty breakfast bars the perfect grab-and-go snack, they’re also packed with all things good–

Plant Protein from the quinoa, moringa, and peanuts.

Energy to fuel your commute from the high calorie peanuts.

Essential Vitamins and Nutrients from the moringa powder.

Healthy Fatty Acids from the peanuts to help the nutrient absorption.

Fiber from the oats and quinoa to keep you feeling full and provide a slow release of nutrients throughout the morning.

So you’re probably wondering about this toasted quinoa factor. We wanted these breakfast bars to have great texture and a lot of nutrition, so this recipe features “mother of all grains” in it’s most delightful form–popped, toasted, and crunchy. Popped quinoa has a warm and nutty flavor profile, similar to toasted sesame seeds. It’s a great ingredient to add to granola, or be used as a topping on a nutritious smoothie bowl or on a few scoops of vegan n’ice cream!

Since you’ll need toasted quinoa for this recipe, here’s how you make it–

How to prepare toasted quinoa:

  1. Heat a pot or skillet on medium/high heat
  2. Add a few spoonfuls of quinoa to the pot or skillet
  3. Use a lid to keep the quinoa from popping out of the pot, shaking the pan every few seconds to keep them moving and toasting on all sides
  4. Once the quinoa has darkened slightly, remove from the pan and transfer to a baking pan so they can cool (they will be HOT)

Please note— Quinoa toasts very quickly! It takes around 1-2 minutes to toast a few spoonfuls at a time. Stay by the pot and keep your eye on ’em so they don’t burn.

The base ingredients for this recipe are largely inspired by Lindsay’s recipe for The Best Soft Granola Bars at Pinch of Yum food blog, except we’ve swapped pretzels for toasted quinoa for an nutritious boost and some extra crunch. Check out her blog if you haven’t already!

Ingredients

1 ½ cup peanut butter

¾ cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 heaping tablespoon Moringa powder

2 cups rolled oats

½ cup roasted peanuts (roughly crushed)

¾ cup toasted quinoa

For this recipe we opted for roasted peanuts. In addition to the delicious toasty flavor of the roasted nuts, research has shown that roasting peanuts increases the bio-availability of the antioxidants present!

Preparation

  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla extract.
  2. Once the wet ingredients are fully incorporated, add the moringa powder and mix well. It’s important to add the moringa to the wet ingredients (before the dry ingredients) so that the moringa is evenly distributed.
  3. Add in the crushed peanuts, rolled oats, and toasted quinoa. Mix thoroughly. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add a little more honey and peanut butter. If the mixture is too wet and sticky, add a little more rolled oats or toasted quinoa! Depending on the peanut butter and honey you use, the mixture may vary.
  4. Line your pan with parchment paper (an 8×8 inch pan will yield thicker bars, but feel free to use a 9×9 or whatever you have on hand.)
  5. Spoon the mixture into the pan and press it down so the mixture is consistent and even. If they aren’t pressed consistently they will be crumbly.
  6. Freeze for 30 min to allow bars to set
  7. Pull the mixture out of the freezer and cut into bars, squares, or whatever shape your heart desires

Store in the freezer (individually wrapped, to keep them from freezing together) to take with you in the morning before school or work! You can also store them in a freezer bag with singular pieces of parchment paper between them.

We are so excited to share this recipe with you and can’t wait for you to try them out. If you whip up a batch of these breakfast bars, post a pic on Instagram and tag #kulikuli and #moringainspired so we can see.