These peanut butter chocolate puff bars are a fun alternative to cereal bars or scotcheroos, and so dang crunchy and delicious! Made with a puffed quinoa and peanut butter base, and topped with creamy, rich chocolate and a dash of flakey sea salt. Slice into bars and keep ’em in your freezer for a yummy treat at a moment’s notice.
These bars are a great alternative to scotcheroo bars! I have both honey peanut butter scotcheroos and protein scotcheroos (and even rice cake magic bars), but there’s something about puffed quinoa that takes these bars up a notch!
Peanut butter + chocolate = love: My favorite desserts on this earth use PB and chocolate. It’s just such an unbeatable combination.
Store ’em in the freezer: I love making a big batch of these bars to keep on hand in my freezer. They store incredibly well, and keep for up to 3 months (but betting they won’t last that long in your freezer 😋).
Ingredients You Need
- Creamy peanut butter: Use a drippy, all-natural peanut butter for these bars. Don’t have it? JIF or another non-drippy brand will work, you’ll just need to microwave the peanut butter a bit longer to warm it up enough to evenly cover the quinoa puffs.
- Coconut oil: Coconut oil thins both the peanut butter and the chocolate out enough to help form these bars. It also helps the chocolate from hardening too much when you freeze the bars.
- Maple syrup: Maple adds rich, warm sweetness to these bars. Don’t like things as sweet? Feel free to reduce the maple in half.
- Puffed quinoa: Quinoa puffs are such a fun ingredient to use for these bars! They’re high in fiber, and add amazing crunchy and airy texture, too. If you don’t have puffed quinoa on hand, or don’t want to buy it, I recommend using rice krispies or puffed wheat. Both would work great as alternatives.
- Chocolate chips: You’ll melt chocolate chips for the topping for these bars. I prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips, but milk chocolate will also work well.
What Puffed Cereal Can I Use?
You can really use any puffed cereal you’d like! I’ve tested these with both rice krispies and store-bought puffed quinoa (as seen in these photos!), and both are delicious. You could also use puffed wheat or even Kix (as requested by my toddler!).
What about homemade puffed quinoa? You can definitely make your own puffed quinoa, but keep in mind the store-bought quinoa is similar to a rice krispie, and the homemade puffed quinoa is more similar to a crunch seed. The recipe will still work, but the bars will taste more seedy than crunchy and puffy.
To make homemade puffed quinoa: Preheat the oven to 450ºF and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread the quinoa over the parchment paper. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown, tossing every 5-7 minutes until the moisture is released from the quinoa and it becomes crunchy.
Once your puff bars have been sliced and the chocolate has hardened, transfer into an airtight container or gallon-size plastic bag and store in the fridge for up to 7 days.
I actually prefer to store homemade puff bars in the freezer because they last longer, and you can grab one at a moment’s notice. Transfer sliced bars into a freezer-safe gallon-size bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Granola Bars
Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the peanut butter, 1.5 tablespoons of the coconut oil, and syrup to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the mixture for 30 seconds and stir to combine. If the coconut is melted, remove it from the microwave. If not, microwave for an additional 20 seconds.
Add the puffed quinoa to the peanut butter mixture. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the lined loaf pan. Spread the mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan. Transfer to the freezer.
Add chocolate chips and remaining coconut oil to a separate microwave-safe bowl, microwave on high for 20-second increments until melted and glossy.
Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter and quinoa mixture. Spread evenly and top with flaked salt.
Return to the freezer to allow the bars to set for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Slice into 9 equal-sized bars before serving.
- I used store-bought puffed quinoa, but you can puff your own as well. Keep in mind the store-bought quinoa is more similar to a rice krispie, and the homemade puffed quinoa is more similar to a crunch seed. To make homemade puffed quinoa: Preheat the oven to 450ºF and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread the quinoa over the parchment paper. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown, tossing every 5-7 minutes. How long the quinoa takes to brown will be determined by the temperature of the quinoa, if the quinoa is wet, and the oven used.
Calories: 289 kcal, Carbohydrates: 18 g, Protein: 7 g, Fat: 22 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 9 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
