I’ve seen a whole bunch of granola bar recipes floating around the internet these days. After spotting several delicious chewy versions over at In Pursuit of More and Food Doodles and TexanErin, I couldn’t get them out of my brain.

Instead of going the oat route, I decided to incorporate my new (food) love — buckwheat. Ever since I made my spiced buckwheat pudding, my cravings have multiplied for this ingredient. That being said, I hope you won’t mind upcoming posts featuring this cute little seed.

Did you ever make those bird feeders as a child with popsicle sticks, peanut butter and bird seeds? The look of these remind me of those homemade bird feeders BUT they are really yummy and made for human consumption. Crunchy yet chewy and full of protein and flavor, these bites are no-bake, nut-free, quick and filling. They are adaptable too; add your favorite dried fruit, spices, seed/nut butter and make it your own. I will be making these again asap with different mix-ins.

I even had Chris saying “Wow” on this recipe. I asked if he would take a bite and before I knew it several whole bars/cones disappeared. He won’t admit it (since it’s classified as gluten-free) but he likes buckwheat too 🙂

No-Oat Granola Bars aka “Birdfood Bites”

Ingredients

3/4 cup raw buckwheat groats
1/2 cup raw millet
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp flaxseeds (or flax meal or more chia – I used sprouted flaxseed)
2-3 Tbsp coconut palm sugar (more or less to taste)
1/3 cup fruit-sweetened cranberries (or cherries, apricots, raisins, blueberries or even coconut)
2 scoops of good tasting vanilla protein powder* (I used Jay Robb’s whey)
pinch of sea salt (if using salted seed/nut butter, omit)
3-4 Tbsp milk (I used coconut) — (if you prefer to use a liquid sweetener instead of coconut sugar, use 3 Tbsp and reduce milk to 1 Tbsp or until it holds together)
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter – peanut butter or almond butter would be good!)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Line a loaf pan with parchment OR use silicone molds for single serving treats. (I used a silicone brownie pop mold because I was feeling frisky and wanted a dome shape). Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add dry ingredients and stir to combine (buckwheat, millet, chia, flax, coconut sugar, salt, cranberries and protein).
3. Add in remaining ingredients (start with the smaller amount of milk and then add) and stir well to combine until sticky and holds together. Use your muscles here!
4. Press firmly into molds or prepared pan to pack well to help mixture to stick together. Let chill in the refrigerator for an hour, cut into bars OR pop out of molds and enjoy!

*soy protein has a drying effect so if you use soy, you might need to increase the amount of liquid in small increments until the mixture holds together. Liquid sweetener might be best if using soy as well.
If you don’t want to use protein powder, feel free to sub finely chopped seeds or nuts in it’s place but you may want to use a liquid sweetener to help hold the mixture together better.

Makes about 10 large squares (loaf pan), 10 brownie pop molds or 13-15 mini muffin mold bites
I store these in the refrigerator, not sure how they would do at room temperature – if you give it a try let me know how it works for you!