With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, I couldn’t pass up the chance to make these adorable and addicting Heart Healthy Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bites! They are a slight adaptation of my Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Quinoa and Nuts and full of nutrients, fiber and healthy fats!
If you haven’t tried toasting quinoa and mixing it in with a little dark chocolate, let me highly recommend it! The combination reminds me a lot of a Nestle Crunch but so much better with the added nutritional benefits of the quinoa and the intense, rich flavor from the dark chocolate.
Best of all, these little heart-shaped treats are a breeze to make. My 2 1/2 year old little boy loved hopping up on a chair and helping me top the dark chocolate + toasted quinoa mix with an assortment of goji berries, dried cranberries, almonds, sunflower seeds and walnuts. Of course he had do a little taste testing for quality control. {Read: “Mommy I want more, Mommy I want more, Mommy I want more….”} I think it’s safe to say they’re not only healthy but kid-friendly as well. 🙌🏻
And speaking of kid-friendly, for those who follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me post from time to time about our latest shipment from Stemilt Fruit. We just got a box of their Lil Snappers earlier this week, they’re not only delicious but the perfect size for little ones. And Stemilt is giving 11 lucky winners a Visa gift card and Lil Snappers gift pack valued up to $1,000+! {Talk about a great Valentine’s gift!} All you have to do is submit a video of your little one doing or saying something funny to their Snappiest Lil Snapper contest!
I hope each of you have a great Valentine’s Day and take the chance to both register for the contest above, as well as make these delightful Heart Healthy Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bites. In case you need a little more convincing, check out the additional health benefits below! ☺
Health Benefits:
- Walnuts contain the amino acid l-arginine, which offers multiple vascular benefits to people with heart disease, or those who have increased risk for heart disease
- Goji berries are an excellent source of antioxidants and contain all 8 essential amino acids. They also have the highest concentration of protein of any fruit and are loaded with vitamin C while containing more carotenoids than any other food
- Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B-vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants
- Dark chocolate contains flavonoids called polyphenols, which can help blood pressure, clotting, and inflammation
- Almonds contain good-for-your-heart fiber. They also contain vitamin E, which helps lower bad cholesterol
Heart Healthy Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bites
Ingredients
- ¼ cup uncooked tricolor quinoa {or color of choice}
- 1½ cups dark chocolate chunks {vegan if needed}
- ½ tbsp coconut oil
- 6 tbsp goji berry trail mix
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
- 2 tbsp cacao nibs
Instructions
- Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
- Thoroughly rinse the quinoa to remove the saponin (bitter taste) by adding uncooked quinoa to bowl, fill with clean water and soak for a few minutes. Use a wire whisk to move the quinoa around in the water, then strain the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and rinse with fresh water.
- Add wet quinoa to saute pan and cook on stove top over medium low heat, using a whisk or spatula to stir in pan.
- Once the quinoa is hot, the water will absorb and the quinoa will begin to pop.The quinoa will begin to brown and have a nutty flavor when it's ready. This took about 5-6 minutes for me, stir continuously to ensure it does not burn.
- Once quinoa is toasted, remove from heat and set aside.
- While toasted quinoa cools, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in double boiler if you have one, or melt in a small pot on low stirring continuously and watching to make sure chocolate does not burn.
- Once chocolate has fully melted, remove from heat and stir in toasted quinoa until well mixed.
- Pour chocolate mixture onto prepared wax covered pan and spread into thin layer.
- Add goji berry trail mix {goji berries, dried cranberries, almonds, cashews and sunflower seeds}, chopped walnuts and cacao nibs, press down lightly to mix toppings into chocolate, then put in freezer for 15-20 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.
- Take heart shape cookie cutters and press down firmly to make little heart-shaped bites. I used three different sizes {1 - 2 1/2"} and got 30-32 heart pieces.
- Store in refrigerator.