This crispy, sweet, and nutty quinoa sesame brittle is addictive. Only 150 calories per serving, full of nutrition, and just 10 minutes of active cooking time. Isn’t it the perfect snack?
Chinese New Year is around the corner. Today I’m teaming up with 14 other amazing bloggers to throw this Chinese New Year Cookie Party and share 15 delicious Chinese cookie recipes with you to celebrate the holiday!
A few words about quinoa sesame brittle
Have you ever had sesame brittle? It’s a crunchy, nutty cookie that we love in China. Today I’m sharing a different version of sesame brittle adapted from the quinoa brittle by Minimalist Baker. It uses quinoa, caramelized candy, and mixed nuts to create an addictive crispy texture, just like that of potato chips. Compared to the traditional sesame brittle, this recipe is even healthier. It uses coconut oil and maple syrup to replace butter and sugar. Moreover, the total sugar content in this recipe is about half that of traditional brittle.
Cooking quinoa sesame brittle is a no-brainer. You just need to follow these three steps:
- Mix the dry ingredients
- Heat up and mix the liquid ingredients
- Mix everything together and put it in the oven
That’s it!
This brittle stores very well at room temperature for a week, so you can wrap it as gift, too.
This recipe is very forgiving, so you can twist it with whatever varieties of nuts and sugar you have on hand. The only problem you might come across is judging the doneness of the candy. I have included a very thorough paragraph in the footnotes of the recipe to help you troubleshoot this.
To cook this quinoa sesame brittle now, scroll down the page and you’ll find the recipe!
Want more cookie ideas? Keep reading!
Chinese New Year Cookie Party
In my last post, I shared 25 Chinese New Year recipes. The list is heavily focused on savory food based on my family traditions.
Today, I’m sharing these wonderful sweets as an addition to your Chinese New Year feast! Let’s grab some cookies and a cup of tea, and read how people around the world celebrate Chinese New Year with their own traditions.
- Vegan Cornflake Cereal Cookies by Vermilion Roots
- Fried Red Bean Puffs by The Missing Lokness
- Chinese Peanut Cookies by Daily Cooking Quest
- Chocolate Almond Cookies by Curious Nut
- Tapioca cookies (kue bangkit) by Marvellina
- Red Bean & Strawberry Pinwheel Cookies by Butter & Type
- Pineapple Jam Tarts by Wok & Skillet
- Sesame Spiral Pie Cookies by Bam’s Kitchen
- Cherry Blossom Cookies by Brunch-n-Bites
- Mochi Stuffed Almond Cookies by Miss Hangrypants
- Melt-in-the-Mouth Chinese Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies by Foodie Baker
- Honey Almond Cookies by Hapa Nom Nom
- Browned Butter Chinese Walnut Cookies by Yummy Workshop
- Macau Almond Cookies by Thirsty for Tea
If you try this recipe or any of the other cookie recipes mentioned in this post, let us know! Tag your picture with #omnivorescookbook and #ChineseNewYearCookieParty on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with!
Quinoa Sesame Brittle
Ingredients
- 1 cup mixed nuts , chopped (I used almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts)
- 1/3 cup uncooked white quinoa
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds I used a mixture of black and white
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup I used medium amber color
- 4 tablespoons palm sugar (*see footnote 1)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 165 degrees C (325 F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure you cover the entire surface and all the edges (to prevent spillover).
- Combine quinoa, mixed nuts, sesame seeds, and sea salt in a big bowl. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Combine coconut oil, maple syrup, and palm sugar in a small saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir occasionally until the oil and maple syrup are well combined. It’s OK that the palm sugar is not completely dissolved at this point.
- Pour the syrup mixture onto the dry ingredients. Stir to combine and mix all the dry ingredients with the liquid.
- Pour everything onto the center of the parchment-lined baking sheet and spread into an even layer with a spatula. Try to get it as even as possible. The brittle sheet will expand into a thinner layer as it bakes.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan (180 degrees) once to ensure even browning. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Watch carefully during the last 5 minutes to prevent burning. The brittle is done when it’s become deep golden brown in color. (*see footnote 2)
- Let cool completely. Break into bite-size pieces with your fingers.
- Store leftovers in a sealed bag or container at room temperature for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- You can replace this with other type of sugar. Please read footnote 2 if using a different type or amount of sugar.
- Troubleshooting:
If you don’t bake the brittle long enough, it will stay soft and sticky. You won’t able to break it apart, even after cooling.
These are gorgeous Maggi and so easy to make too.
Maggie, how brilliant this brittle recipe is to include quinoa! You’ve just given me the perfect excuse to eat a lot of this without too much guilt. Just a little. 🙂
I love sesame brittle and using Quinoa is just brilliant !! Gorgeous photos as usual !!
Absolutely love it. This brittle has become my weekly must make treat for my kids. Every time I make two batches one contained variations of nuts and one has seeds only for kids to take to school. And lots give to friends, everyone loves it!! They are so easy to make and the results never fails me! Thank you !
I love all things sesame! I never thought about making a brittle – this is brilliant! This is something I could see myself snacking on throughout the day!
This is so interesting with the quinoa, a little spin on one of my old favorite treats during the CNY. I bet your little treat will be hard having around the house as if was there I would be on a mission to finish it off. Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Sesame brittle is one of my favourite Chinese sweets, adding quinoa is an excellent twist for flavour and crunch!
Hey Maggie! What a clever use of quinoa! I always eat mine like rice, but I can’t wait to try this variation in a sweet recipe…thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Nutty and crunchy, I definitely can’t stop munching on these! They look amazing and so delicious, Maggie!
This is brilliant, Maggie!! I’m a huge fan of sesame brittle and peanut brittle. Adding quinoa is genius! Thanks for sharing!!
These seem almost guilt free to eat!
The brittles look so delicious Maggie. This reminds me of fah sung thong a lot, but those are usually thicker and comes in squares/oblongs. I think your way is much easier since I can be purposefully not having to do a “tidy” job of cutting them neatly 😉
My mom loves peanut brittles! We always have that at home during Chinese New Year! Loving your version of sesame brittle with quinoa. Looks delish! These would be fun to munch on for CNY or road trip. Happy New Year!
Thanks Maggi for sharing such and easy to cook chinese cookie recipe, it’s just brilliant to make it via sesame brittle and using quinoa. Thanks for sharing.
What a wonderful way to use sesame seeds in a sweet recipe! This brittle looks delish:)
This is brilliant! Love the addition of sesame. So sorry I couldn’t join in this year but I had no wifi for a week as predicted!!! Not sure how I survived 🙂
Oh no worries at all Nancy! No wifi for a week? I’d be freaking out even it’s for a day! Glad you survived it 🙂
Hi Maggie, I just made this wonderful brittle and my husband and I can’t stop eating it! Very nice!
I’m wondering what would happen if I left out the coconut oil? I substituted butter instead but I don’t like the greasy film I get on my hands after eating it. I’m always trying to keep the fat out of treats. We may not need any fat at all in this? I’m going to try it and I’ll let you know. I’m also going to make it in a smaller pan so it doesn’t flatten out so much, therefore a slightly thicker brittle, 3/16″ instead of 1/8″
Thank you so much! This is definitely xmas present material!
so, I made it again, this time leaving out the added fat and putting in only 2 Tbsp of raw sugar. Also made a “pan” out of tin foil so the mixture flattened out to 1/4″ when done. Came out great with no added fat calories and less sugar. Try it!
well I spoke too soon. Wrote the above before I took it out of the oven. It tastes wonderful, but it sticks to the tin foil and it’s not brittle.
Gotta keep experimenting.
Hi Carol, thank you for sharing the result of your experiments! I think the recipe works if you add less fat. The reason of not brittle is probably because it requires longer time to cook because the added thickness (very different texture due to stages of candy making). When I was testing the recipe, there are times that mine didn’t turn out brittle. So I increased the baking time and the problem solved.
I hope they turn out better next time!
Just found your post. Quinoa is suppose to be washed/rinsed to remove the bitterness. Your recipe did not state this. Is your brittle bitter?
Hi Theresa, before developing this recipe I checked several recipes that uses quinoa in baking. They didn’t mention washing quinoa before cooking. My assumption is the baking process will get rid of the bitterness. My brittles turned out well and did not taste bitter.