Quinoa Coconut Granola Bars

Instructions

1 cup uncooked quinoa**

1 cup oats

1/2 cups coconut

1 cup combination of nuts and dried fruit 

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup honey

1 TBL  oil

3 TBL Brown Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a ceramic or glass 9X13 inch baking dish.  Spread oats and quinoa on a cookie sheet and toast in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Return mixture to a large bowl and add coconut, nuts, and dried fruit.  In a medium saucepan, combine salt, peanut butter, honey, oil, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and immediately remove from heat. Pour over oats mixture and combine until dry ingredients are evenly coated. Pour into baking dish. Press mixture down into pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for up to 2 hours and then cut and serve.  (Oven times may vary! Watch your bars carefully to not burn them!)  Once they are browned on the edges, you can take them out.

**After reading some reviews from this recipe I realized that uncooked quinoa wasn't going to give me any nutrition, so I cooked my quinoa first, then toasted until a light golden color, then I added my oats and toasted an additional 8 minutes. This was just long enough to give some of my quinoa a crunch, just like the uncooked quinoa, but with all the nutrition.

For a tastier treat:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 TBL oil

Melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring until melted.  Cut the granola bars, and dip each one in the chocolate, and let sit on a piece of parchment paper until it hardens. OR after melting just spread on top and cut into bars when it hardens.