Chocolate Quinoa Bark: A Christmas must-have

It’s beginning to feel a lot like the holidays.

If you are looking for a simple, yet delicious treat for the upcoming holiday season, Kimberley Doerksen from the Canadian Running Magazine has an excellent Chocolate Quinoa Bark recipe that will keep your holiday guests coming back for more.

With a layer of chocolate and a mixture of nuts, seeds and syrup, this is a treat you can add to your Christmas must-haves. A touch of sea salt adds a nice balance to the richness of the bark.

Chocolate Quinoa Bark (Adapted from Half Baked Harvest)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1 ½ cups of assorted nuts, raw and roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp flax seeds
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 12 ounces dark chocolate
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• sea salt for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt together the honey or maple and coconut oil on power level high, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth (this took about one minute for me). Whisk in the vanilla, coffee granules and salt.
3. Add the quinoa, almonds, cashews and mixed seeds. Stir until all the dry ingredients are evenly coated in the wet ingredients.
4. Spread the mixture out in an even, thin layer on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bark is golden in colour and crisp – the bark is done when the nuts and quinoa look caramelized or golden brown in colour.
6. While the bark is baking, melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave, heating on 30-second intervals and stirring after each interval until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread the melted chocolate over the bark in an even layer. Sprinkle with cranberries and sea salt.
7. Place the pan in the fridge to set, about 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove and break into pieces. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

— original post by Kimberley Doerksen on Canadian Running Magazine website