Tropical Quinoa Homemade Protein Bars with White Chocolate + Chickpeas {Gluten Free}

These homemade protein bars are made with quinoa, chickpeas, white chocolate, macadamia nuts, lime and pineapple for an easy, healthy snack that tastes like summer!

“Aquafaba”  Have you guys heard of it?

I had not. Until my friend Christina from Dessert For Two asked me if it was fer real. So, I asked my other husband (Aka: Google) what on earth it was.

Apparently it’s where you can whip the liquid from the can of chickpeas, like egg whites. My inner-egg-LOVING-self was, umm, NOT SO SURE. Side note: my inner egg loving self is really not inner. If you follow me on Instagram you know that I eat, like, 4 eggs AT A TIME.

The #putaneggonit hashtag basically defines who I am in life.

ANYWAY. SO, I obviously had to try it. AND. YOU GUYS. I don’t even know what my life means anymore. I thought I had it ALL figured out…and then THIS happened.

Like, it worked. I mean, it took a REALLY long time. Like, scroll through Instagram 4 whole times, kind of long. BUT IT STILL WORKED.

When I’m doing boring things like whipping egg whites or coconut whipped cream, into ultra-light-and-airy-texture-perfection, I often wonder how the ladies of the olden days did it without phones to keep them occupied. Am I the only one who wonders these things?

Maybe don’t answer that.

Anyway. There is no TRENDY and COOL Aquafaba in these bars BUT there are chickpeas, so the story kind of works. PLUS, I just wanted to share my super-hip findings with you so you would think that I lead an exciting life and all.

You get me.

Now onto these granola bars that are made with chickpeas.

PHYSCH. They’re not really “granola” bars, they’re “quinola bars” (made that up ON THE SPOT. Be impressed) because they contain Z-E-R-O fleks of whole-grain oatmeal but, instead, are made of crunchy, nutty, toasted quinoa.

And chickpeas. Which I know you’re already thinking is, like, insane to put chickpeas in bars. AND, so did I. But after my chickpea liquid experiment, I needed to do something with them. SO, I just kind of mashed them up, threw them in and sat by the oven, watching to see if they exploded due to it being such a WEIRD thing to add to quinola bars.

And, you guys, there was no explosion of the oven variety. ONLY of the taste-bud-ular variety.

Like W-H-O-A.

Chickpeas in bars? It’s preeety much my new best friend of the snack world. THE TEXTURE though. Along with the dried pineapple, it gives the bars a little bit of chew to balance out all the crunchety quinoa and macadamia nuts.

HOLD UP. We didn’t even talk about the dried pineapple, ooey-gooey-sweet-and-melty white chocolate chips, tropical-taste-bud-sensation macadamia nuts AND AND AND zesty, fresh lime.

Summer-time luau snack party for your FACE?

I think yes.

Recipe

Tropical Quinoa Homemade Protein Bars with White Chocolate + Chickpeas {Gluten Free}

5 from 2 votes

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Serves: 12

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Total: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup Macadamia nuts finely chopped
• 3/4 CupQuinoa uncooked
• 1/4 Cup Unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2/3 Cup Sodium-reduced Chickpeas drained and rinsed (128g)
• 1/3 Cup Dried pineapple finely chopped
• 1/4 Cup Vanilla Whey protein powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 Cup White chocolate chips
• Zest of 1 large lime
• 1/3 Cup Honey
• 1 Tbsp Coconut oil
• 1 Large egg white

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line an8x8 inch panwith parchment paper, spraying the paper lightly with cooking spray.
• Place the chopped macadamia nuts and quinoa onto a baking sheetand bake until lightly golden brown, about 9 minutes. Sprinkle the coconut flakes onto the pan and bake until they turn golden brown, an additional 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully as coconut burns quickly!
• Dump the chickpeas onto a paper towel and pat dry. This will remove some of the skins on the chickpeas. Gently press each chickpea between your fingers to remove the skins from each pea, and then place into a large bowl. *
• Using a fork, mash the chickpeas. Put a little muscle into it and make them as soft as you can.
• Add the toasted quinoa mixture, along with the dried pineapple, protein powder, salt, white chocolate chips, and lime zest into the bowl and stir until evenly mixed. (I find using my hands is the easiest to get the chickpeas well incorporated.)
• Place the honey and coconut oil into a medium, microwave-safe bowland cook until the oil and honey are melted and bubbly, about 1 minute.
• Stir the honey mixture, along with the egg white, into the quinoa mixture and mix well. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake until the bars are golden brown and the top feels firm, about 40-45 mins.
• Let cool completely before slicing into bars.
• DEVOUR

Tips & Notes:

* I've made these without de-skinning the peas, and they still taste good, but taking that extra 5 minutes really adds to the texture!
Bars are best kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Disclaimer

Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.

Author: FoodFaithFitness

Course:Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine:American

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 P.SSS Happy Canada Day! I am the worst Canadian ever and JUST remembered, after writing all of that, that today is the birthday of my homeland! If it’s a holiday for you, HAVE FUN and eat LOTS of maple syrup! O CANADA.

IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAG @FOODFAITHFIT AND #FOODFAITHFITNESS ON INSTAGRAM! I LOVE SEEING YOUR RECIPE RECREATIONS!

 Want more homemade protein bars?

Paleo Almond Homemade Protein Bars

Pumpkin Protein Bars

Chocolate Almond Homemade Protein Bars

Quinoa bars from around the web:

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Granola Bars – The Lemon Bowl

Chocolate Cherry Quinoa and Oat Bars – Kristin’s Kitchen

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