Spirulina Millet Energy Bites and Granola

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Sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. This, my friends, was a loss. The failure? Not the concept. I still think the concept was great. My failure was in the proportions (i.e., the execution). Remember my “benefits of spirulina” post? Well, in that post, I talked about how spirulina has arguably the highest concentration of protein of any plant-based food. Since that time, I’ve been putting spiriulina in my daily smoothie, and I’ve been trying to think of ways to switch it up and thought about a granola bar packed full of nuts and other goodness–including, you guessed it, spirulina. Since this is “diversify your grains” month on Como Water, I also wanted to include a unique grain in the mix, so I included millet, in addition to the traditional oats.

So, what will I do differently next time? I plan to use 1/4 cup of all of the mix-ins below, rather than 1/3 cup. And I plan to use just 1/4 cup of millet (this was definitely too millet-y). Finally, I might up the peanut butter to 1 1/2 cups because in the end, my granola bars ended up being a combination of granola bites and actual granola. That being said, it was moderately tasty mixed into yogurt and as an in-between-meetings snack. Still, my taste buds know that it can be better, so I’ll update you all when I tweak the recipe successfully.

Sooooooo, the moral of the story is… even food bloggers have off days. And when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or rather, when your proportions for granola bars are off… change your recipe title to “energy bites and granola“! 😀 Happy Monday everyone!

Spirulina Millet Energy Bites and Granola

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1o dried, pitted dates

1/3 cup pepitas–roughly chopped

1/3 cup candied ginger–roughly chopped

1/3 cup raw pecans–roughly chopped

1/2 cup dried, shredded (unsweetened) coconut

1/3 cup sliced raw almonds–roughly chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries–roughly chopped

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

3/4 cup millet

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1/4 cup Earth Balance–melted

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup raw agave

2 tablespoons brown sugar–melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon Tamari

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup spirulina

Method:

*Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 9″ x 13″ baking dish with parchment (or foil). Spray with cooking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix pepitas, pecans, coconut, almonds, cranberries, ginger, cinnamon, oats, millet, and spirulina. Set aside.

*In a blender or food processor, mix dates, peanut butter, Earth Balance, agave, brown sugar, vanilla, and Tamari. Mix “wet” mixture with “dry” mixture. Press into baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Score with sharp knife (or break up into granola!).

Written by

Tiffany M. Griffin is the woman behind Como Water, Washington DC’s premiere veg-centric cuisine consulting company. Through cooking classes, demonstrations, catering, and consultations, Como Water gives people the opportunity to learn how to prepare veg-centric cuisine that boasts maximum flavor, with minimal effort. Tiffany is quickly becoming a go-to expert on the future of veg-centric cuisine, and is a regular contributor to Como Water, the blog, as well as to vegetarian and vegan sites across the Internet. For over a decade, this self-taught, entrepreneurial expert has developed a set of tried and true techniques for making simple, delicious, and sometimes decadent veg-centric dishes. Featured on the Steve Harvey Show and other leading media outlets, Tiffany was born and raised in Springfield, MA. She then earned Bachelors degrees in Psychology and Communications from Boston College and a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan. She now resides in Washington DC, where she has worked in the US Senate and at a federal agency on issues around health, food, nutrition, and international food aid/development, and of course, as the owner of Como Water. Tiffany gets culinary inspiration from the food she grew up eating, and from her travels throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. She is dedicated to sharing her wealth of knowledge on veg-centric cuisine with others and to help others live by her mantra—love life, live long, and eat veg-centric cuisine!

Comments

  1. I have definitely went down this road. I was able to get all the components together but the ratio was off. You were lucky that you could still present the recipe in a different form than originally planned. When it comes to baked goods, bad ratios are the end.
    I am reading the ingredient list and I would say you landed on a pretty nutritious snack. Getting all these things together in any form was the real trick! Most of these ingredients I can come by, but I will need to keep an eye out for the spirulina-I have yet to see that. Have a great day!

  2. Now this is something amazingly healthy and nutritious! I was trying to incorporate spirulina in my diet for a long time since it is beneficial for hyperthyroidism as well and I am thankful to God that I visited your post today! Loved this!!

  3. Healthy and plenty of energy from these granola. I actually snack on such granolas but mostly store bought ones. Looking through your recipe, I am not sure whether I will be able to get some of the ingredients here. Of course finding tablets of spirulina is no big deal and I think I have seen the powdered ones too.

  4. Ratios are the reason that I cook and don’t bake. I have been on a quest for the best granola for a couple of years. If I can find Spirulina I will have to try this one.

  5. What an interesting recipe – I love millet, but haven’t tried spirulina. I’d love to sample on of these!

  6. I haven’t tried spirulina, what an interesting recipe. It looks absolutely delicious! All the nuts and peanut butter – right up my alley 🙂

  7. Incredible granola! The hunt for Spirulina begins 🙂

  8. What a neat idea! I still need to try spirulina… anything that green has to be good. 🙂

  9. i’ve just gotten into making granola snacks! i’ve never had millet or spirulina so now i need to hunt these down to make these – they sound like a great snack!

  10. I’ve got to get some of this spirulina you keep taking about, it seems even more spectacular than my beloved Quinoa.

  11. Hey… you get A for effort! I’m sorry they didn’t turn out as good as you wanted. Hope you had a wonderful weekend… have a great week. 🙂

  12. I love how creative you are with your recipes– I always learn something new! And I also like when people post about things that weren’t as successful too… helps me as a cook and a blogger.

  13. These energy bites are packed with wonderful ingredients – would love to eat these on the go 😀

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  14. Very creative with those great ingredients together,sound very tasty,i love the color on these ,,Yum ,,

  15. I love the idea of the recipe for sure, and what a unique way to enjoy spirulina! Hugs, Terra

  16. Sometimes you have to fail and learn from your mistakes to make something great. I bet with your corrections, that this would be good!

  17. Sounds like you had a great base idea for these and upping the peanut butter sounds like a good plan. You can never have too much peanut butter… 🙂

  18. These sound so delicious and nutrition packed Tiffany! I might have to try making them because my boyfriend loves to put spirulina in everything and I have a feeling he would love this!

  19. I know these must taste 100x better than the grocery store granola bars…and so full of yummy ingredients!

  20. Thank you ;maybe be this is what I needed! I have been wanting to make granola bars long time. You make it sound so easy. Love it.

  21. Tiffany…unless I’ve burnt something beyond recognition, my feeling is…there are no failures in the kitchen! It certainly looks like you’ve pack some good things into these bites. And one can NEVER have enough peanut butter! Happy Thursday! : )

  22. Haha, I totally love your positive energy here. Hopefully next batch you make will achieve the proper name, but even without, it looks good!! I know you are aiming for perfection though. 😉

  23. Love the addition of PB in these bars! They sound super delicious.

  24. Hate when execution is slightly off! At least you have a great concept, and can try again with better results! Great of you to write about the “failure” though!

  25. Spirulena eh? Must give it a go. Will be back to check out the new and improved recipe. Nice to discover even amazing bloggers have off-days!

  26. Thanks for the words of encouragement folks! 😀