Quinoa, Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Slice

One of my goals for the year is to finally master gluten free baking.  I've put it off for many years on account of having an oven that didn't actually work properly, and I'll admit that baking has never been my strong suit in the kitchen anyway.  But today, I have finally managed to bake something that I'll actually bake again, and the real win is that my family loved it as well.

This slice is a variation of a few recipes I found for breakfast bars.  To me it's more like a slice, but either way it's super healthy, full of whole grains, high in protein, gluten free, dairy free, and absolutely delicious!

What you'll need:

Dry Ingredients -

• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch (or any gluten free starch ie. potato, corn)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bi carb soda
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup brown sugar (not packed, just loosely filled)

Wet Ingredients - 

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs (ideally organic, but definitely free range)
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tsp maple syrup
• 3 tsp vanilla extract

Extras - 

• 1 cup frozen raspberries (thawed, and stirred with liquid to make a rough puree)
• 1/3 cup 70% dark chocolate (dairy free), chopped into 1/2 cm pieces

What you need to do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Spray a slice tray with olive oil spray or equiv. and line with baking paper.  I use two smaller trays rather than a very large one as the edges are so delicious.

2.  Put all the dry ingredients except for the sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk together.  Add the sugar and mix well.  I use my hands at this stage in the same way as you'd rub butter into flour, just to try and get as much air into the mixture as possible.

3.  In a large measuring jug lightly beat the two eggs then add the remaining wet ingredients and mix with a fork.

4.  Add the extras to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

5.  Pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients and mix well.  The result should be a fairly wet batter but if it is too moist add a sprinkle of almond meal until it is about the thickness of a cake mix batter.

6.  Pour into the slice tray/s and place in the oven to cook for 35 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to touch in the centre.

7.  Allow to cool slightly in the tray before taking out onto a board.  Cut into desired sized pieces and allow to cool on a rack.

We ate the slice still warm from the oven for dessert, and I've also frozen some ready for school lunchboxes.