Pinspired: No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars

I think I've mentioned a time or two on here my obsession with quinoa.  

I cannot get enough of it.

Fortunately my boys love it too, so no one in my house is complaining that we have it almost every.single.day.

Decided to venture out and try something new {something sweet!} with my quinoa.

Came across this recipe on Pinterest from one of my favorite blogs and was pinspired.

No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars

No-Bake Brown Butter Quinoa Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup unsalted brown butter, lightly cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, oats, almonds, flaxseed and salt, stirring to mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Stir in honey, brown butter and vanilla extract, mixing well with a spoon until combined and entire mixture is moistened.  If it still seems too dry, add additional honey 1 tablespoon at a time, but you don't  want it to be too wet.

Line a 9x9 baking dish with plastic wrap or parchment paper.  Firmly press the mixture into the pan, into all corners and evenly top it off with a spoon.  You want it packed as tightly as possible.  Refrigerate for at least two hours, then remove and lift granola bars out of pan, cutting into 12 squares.  These work best refrigerated.

These were SO tasty!

Definitely a better solution to my sweet tooth than say ice cream or donuts {my downfall}.

My only complaint is I could never get them to stay in bar form.

Ended up being more of a crumble, but still oh so tasty!

Enjoy!