Copycat Healthy Aussie Bites

We love the Aussie Bites that you can buy at Costco but they are a bit pricey and I wanted to try making a recipe that has no refined sugar or canola oil. These are a perfect snack because they are dairy free, nut free, refined sugar free and could easily be made gluten free although when I make them they are not.

 

I referenced about 3 copycat recipes to make this version (Linked below) but I adapted to our taste. For starters, I popped the quinoa. Some recipes said to cook it and others said raw, but I find that creates one extreme of softness compared to a very crunchy quinoa. Popping them makes them the perfect crunchy and flavour for me!




I chopped the apricots and added them to the raisins then heated them up with the butter to easily blend them down to about rice sized pieces. 

I also used these porridge oats instead of rolled oats. I love this mixture but if you want a gluten free Aussie Bite then just use regular rolled oats.



Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and then scoop into a mini muffin pan. This recipe makes 30 mini muffins!

1 3/4 Cup Rolled Oats (Or Porridge Oats)

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup apricots chopped

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1/4 unsalted sunflower seeds

3 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup of popped quinoa*

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup melted coconut oil 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*To make popped quinoa: Heat a large saucepan over a high heat. Add a few kernels of quinoa and when they start to pop add the rest of the quinoa. Make sure the quinoa is in a thin layer at the bottom of the saucepan, cook in batches if you need to. Keep the quinoa moving by tossing in the saucepan so it doesn’t burn. As soon as it turns a light golden brown colour add it to a large bowl.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 24 count mini-muffin pan.

Pour 1 cup of rolled oats into a food processor. Process for about 1 minute until oats are pulverized into oat flour.

Add in the remaining ¾ cup rolled oats, coconut sugar, dried apricots + raisins soaked in butter, flax seed, sunflower seeds, coconut, quinoa, chia seeds, and baking soda. 

Pour in honey, coconut oil, and vanilla extract and stir until combined.

Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Remove pan from oven and let cool in pan on a wire cooling rack in the pan.

Once completely cooled, remove from pan and store in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days.

References:

http://www.thestayathomechef.com/2015/01/homemade-aussie-bites.html

http://sweeptight.com/2016/01/energy-snacks-aussie-bites-copycat-recipe.html

http://missywiechmann.com/?recipe=copycat-aussie-bites