We have been blessed with a child who hasn’t shown any food allergies or intolerances in her two years of life. (Will you please knock on wood for me?) So no, I don’t need to create gluten-free snacks for Meghan because she is allergic. It is important, however, to eat a variety of whole grains and not eat the same ones over and over. I would say the vast majority of Americans who eat whole grains get them from predominately one source: whole wheat. Even if you aren’t allergic, just a slight intolerance to gluten can cause a variety of health problems. So I think it makes sense to try to focus on getting a variety of whole grains into Meghan’s diet. I created these balls in an attempt to mix it up a bit. She often eats oatmeal for breakfast, so when I went to make her usual oat-based snack balls, I thought: why not quinoa? The result was this fun little snack ball that tastes fantastic and provides a great protein punch.
All you’ll need are these simple ingredients:
Have you used blackstrap molasses as a healthy add-on yet? It is a great source of iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, and potassium. Meghan doesn’t eat much meat (hardly at all, in fact) so I like to use this sweetener when I can since it has a decent amount of iron. She also doesn’t drink milk (since being weaned from nursing a few weeks ago :-() so the calcium is beneficial for her as well.
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Toddler Eats: Gluten-Free Quinoa Peanut Butter Balls
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 20 balls 1x
Description
A fun little snack ball that tastes fantastic and provides a great protein punch.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (okay, a few more ingredients than pictured…)
- pinch sea salt
- a little water
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the quinoa and water. Bring it to a boil, stir once, and cover the pot. Reduce the heat a bit and allow to simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, molasses, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until everything is well-combined. If the mixture is thick, add water, a teaspoon at a time, until it is smooth and creamy. If you need to do this will just depend on your peanut butter. Some is thicker than others.
- When the quinoa is finished cooking, allow it to cool for a few minutes. Add the peanut butter mixture and stir with a rubber spatula. Once the mixture is incorporated, form small balls with your fingers and place on a tray or plate (I lined mine with wax paper). Continue until you’ve used all of the mixture.
- Allow to chill at least one hour before serving. Keep refrigerated.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ball
- Calories: 28
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 14.5mg
- Fat: 1.7g
- Carbohydrates: 2.6g
- Protein: 0.9g
These are nice and soft, which make them perfect even for younger toddlers. Meghan isn’t the only one eating these around here!
Hi,
I didn’t have any of the molasses so I tried it with a little raw honey, two drops of pure vanilla and a square of unsweetened chocolate. Yummy
Oh and I added melted coconut oil. They’re cooling now, so we’ll see how it tastes once cooled.
Sounds great!
has anybody figured out nutritional value for these?? Protein and calories?
Thank you, thank you, thank you Maryea! My 25-month old son doesn’t like most protein sources (chicken- nope, steak- uh uh, fish- no thank you, beans- jaw locked tight), it’s basically milk, yogurt and peanut butter. Now, thanks to you I can add your delicious Quinoa PB “Cookies” to the list of “more please”. He gobbled up four of them in one sitting (which is a lot for him, he really doesn’t eat that much). I was sidetracked as I was preparing these and thought it said to add 2T of maple syrup (instead of 2t). Instead of scrapping the whole dish and starting fresh, I thickened the mixture up with about 1/4 c of unsweetened organic shredded coconut. I’m sure he’ll polish these off within the next few days, then we’ll try the recipe as it was written (hopefully, I won’t lose focus this time). Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! I think the coconut sounds like a great addition–good thinking!
Delicious! I made these with organic sunflower seed butter instead of pb. My husband even ate this, and I can’t get him near quinoa usually!
So glad you liked these. They are a fun snack! 🙂
Maryea,
I cannot believe it! You got my kids to eat quinoa with this recipe. It was fantastic! Thanks so much. I’ve been trying to get them to eat quinoa for awhile and every recipe I would try with it would be a big ol’ flop. They loved these peanut butter balls. Thanks again!
I’m so glad they liked it! Peanut butter makes just about anything a hit! 🙂
I’m so excited to have found your blog! I’m always looking for healthier snacks for my daughter. So many foods are processed! I’m trying to “detoxify” and “healthify” our home as well and it is a PROCESS. I try to remind myself that over time is OK…it doesn’t all have to be done right away.
It has been a process for us, too! The longer you are at it, the easier it gets, so just stick with your plan and eventually it becomes natural.
I am always looking for new gluten free recipes. I will definitely be trying this!
You definitely don’t have to feed those to a toddler – you can also feed them to me! 🙂 Those look delicious! I <3 quinoa!