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Have you been dying over all of those dark chocolate snacks popping up in stores everywhere? Our new obsession this year is our chocolate blueberry quinoa bark.
What is Quinoa?
Pronounced “keen-wah,” this protein-packed grain contains every amino acid, and is particularly rich in lysine, which promotes healthy tissue growth throughout the body.
Quinoa is also a good source of iron, magnesium, vitamin E, potassium, and fiber.
If you love our Costco find copycat for salted caramel pretzel snaps then you’re going to go crazy for today’s post!!!
Seriously, forget about Costco for just a moment. I know, I know you love it as much as we do, but now isn’t the time to start buying up all of the holiday goodies that are about to burst forth. Forth. Therewith. Jeepers, things are getting a tad fancy and I really just want to talk to you about chocolate.
Cade and I discovered a little thing called, BarkThins. Oh my dear sweet mercy. They are fantastic. Like, so good. There’s a whole list of flavors to try and every single one is worth it. You should buy them all. But you should also try making our chocolate blueberry quinoa bark.
Three ingredients, four actually if you end up using the sea salt, which I do and it’s awesome-sauce!!!! The chocolate is totally up to you. For “testing purposes” (if you put it in quotes it’s true) we made the chocolate bark using milk chocolate, semi-sweet, a combination, bitter, and dark chocolate. All of them work. All are fantastic.
We don’t usually love dark chocolate but it really works so well with chocolate bark and the sweet fruit that even the haters wont notice it’s dark chocolate. We didn’t love the bitter chocolate but if you do, go for it. Milk, my all time fave was actually not in this case. It was too sweet with the fruit.
Is Quinoa Gluten Free?
Quinoa has a favorable protein content and contains a number of minerals and B-vitamins.
With the popularity of the gluten free diet on the rise, interest in quinoa has skyrocketed, and it is being touted as a safe and healthy alternative to wheat, barley, rye and other gluten containing grains.
The winners were dark chocolate or a combination of half milk and half semi-sweet chocolate. Also, we chose to use the dried wild blueberries versus just the dried blueberries as they have a wonderful flavor that goes perfectly with the chocolate and they are much smaller so perfect for bark. We found ours at Harmons Grocery Store and WINCO.
The quinoa has a new cooking method. I was going to toast it before and after cooking as I was trying to get the crunch when I realized that toasting made them “pop”and totally become edible. They are as addicting as pistachios, sunflower seeds or whatever else you like to munch on. So yum! So melt your chocolate, toast your quinoa in a super hot pan (only a tablespoon or so at a time and remove quickly so as to not burn them), and then stir everything together.
Spread it all out on a piece of parchment on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with a little flaked sea salt. Place it all in the fridge to cool and then break into chunks and store in ziplocs in the fridge for easy munching pleasure. Or seal them in cute bags and give them out to the neighbors for Christmas goodies!
Chocolate Blueberry Quinoa Bark
Chocolate Blueberry Quinoa Bark
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Milk Chocolate Chips
- 1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
or
- 2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips
- 2/3 Cup Dried Wild Blueberries
- 1/4 Cup White Quinoa
- Flaked Sea Salt, for Garnish
Instructions
- Place parchment or a silpat on a cookie sheet.
- Heat a high rimmed, nonstick pan over medium high to high heat.
- Add a couple of quinoa grains into the pan, wait for them to pop.If nothing happens the pan isn’t ready, discard the quinoa.1/4 Cup White Quinoa
- Once the pan is hot, add about 1/3 of the quinoa into the pan so it barely covers the bottom.
- Popping of a few quinoa should begin, give the pan a shake and remove to a small bowl.
- Repeat until all of the quinoa is toasted but not bitter and dark.
- In a glass bowl, add the chocolate and melt at 30 second intervals, stirring between until only a few chocolate pieces remain.1 Cup Milk Chocolate Chips, 1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, 2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips
- Stir until all of the chocolate is melted and smooth.
- Add the blueberries and quinoa to the chocolate and stir until combined.2/3 Cup Dried Wild Blueberries
- Spread the chocolate out onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
- Place the whole pan in the fridge to set and harden.
- Break into pieces and store in the fridge in air tight bags or container for up to 2 weeks.Flaked Sea Salt
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have cooked quinoa already on hand. I’ll still pop it but with it being cooked, hopefully still good.
I am not sure the cooked will work since it’s soft. The uncooked when popped is still hard, but now it’s crunchy. 🙁
I’m trying to decide if it would still be crunchy or poppy with the cooked quinoa. I’ll wait to make it until I have your thoughts.
ohhhh, I just really don’t think it will work the same, but you can try it and let me know!
I’ll stick to the recipe whenever I get around to making this, thank you!
Great!Great experiment! Perfect creation using quinoa! Thank you !