Power Cookies

Last night, the snow fell as over-sized flakes and we tried to catch them on our tongues, like we were 5 years old. Just two days ago, I was in a tank top looking for a mountain bike trail. This is Colorado springtime.

These Power Cookies enjoy all sorts of outings and fare well through all sorts of weather: throw them in your day bag for a hike, or munch on them while riding the ski lift. They are jam-packed with ingredients to give you energy. Peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips (how could I not include chocolate chips?) pecans, and coconut. That's why they're perfect for the Trail Snacks recipe series I'm working on! 

Why is it called a “Power Cookie?”

This cookie recipe sits somewhere between granola bar and cookie. But if you've ever made granola bars you know that they call for a lot (a lot a lot) of sugar in the form of honey, maple syrup, or (usually) rice syrup. That syrup is all there is to hold everything together. And don't get me wrong -- it's delicious! And there are some genius recipes that don’t call for quite as much sugar. But many have so much sugar, they are far too sweet for me. THESE cookies get the help of an egg, peanut butter and some almond meal, which helps them stick together without half as much syrup. YES: more whole foods, less processed syrup. 🙌 So, it’s a power-bar slash cookie, making the final results a Power Cookie.

I mentioned my friend Brian (Sports Nutritionist and author of Climbing Nutrition) in my first post in this Trail Snack series -- Mocha Almond Energy Bites - and he has some really well-explained and thoroughly researched articles on how to get the most out of your food while you're out climbing (or doing whatever it is you love to do). 

But, these Power Cookies are really inspired by my dad, who was the first person I knew to make a "energy cookie." He had a recipe similar to this on top of his fridge, in an over-stuffed manila folder. When I started baking a lot on my own (some time in high school), Power Cookies were one of the things I would make. This recipe is different -- the original is lost to me - but similar enough to be given the name "Power Cookies." 

Hope you enjoy, whether you take them on an adventure or eat them right here at your computer, while they're still warm! (They are good either way — you do not need to be out and about to enjoy these. They make a GREAT mid-afternoon power up when you start feeling that 3pm slump, and since they are not so syrup-heavy, they keep you going longer, with real nutrients).

Power Cookies

Published March 27, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 24 cookies   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup nut butter (try peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter)
• 1/4 cup honey 
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional - the cinnamon flavor comes through, so if you do not like cinnamon, skip it!) 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup rolled oats 
• 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the nut butter, honey, butter, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer until smooth.
3. Add optional cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl, and beat into wet ingredients until incorporated.
4. Now, add the rolled oats, coconut, almond flour, and mix until a stiff batter forms. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold the chocolate chips and pecans into the batter.
5. Scoop the batter by the heaping tablespoonful onto a cookie sheet fitted with parchment or a Silpat (affiliate link!). Cookies will not spread as they bake, so flatten them slightly with the back of a spoon.
6. Place in center wrack of oven and bake for 8-12 minutes. Cookies will be golden on the edges, but still soft—they will continue to set as they cool. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon, Berry + Pecan Baked Oatmeal

This cinnamon, berry and pecan oatmeal will fill your house with the smell of toasting nuts and maple.

Even if you don’t usually like oatmeal (I don’t) you should give baked oatmeal a try. The edges are crispy, almost like the topping on a crumble, and the middle is custardy. It doesn't have the same texture as a bowl of porridge--and to me, that's a plus. Baked oatmeal is almost like a breakfast cake (one you can feel good about) and it's super adaptable: you can add pretty much anything that suits your fancy, like bananas, peanut butter, or even chocolate chips. This version calls for pecans, which are one of my favorite nuts when toasted. Here, they add little bites of crunch between bursts of berry.

The full recipe serves about eight, six if the crowd is really hungry.

I would say this is a brunch recipe, good for any holiday, but I made it on Monday morning. What away to start the week! We topped to each slice with a dollop of Greek yogurt, but for a special occasion, whip cream sure would dress it up nice. The mint leaf on top is optional, but I love how it freshens it up.

Looking for more brunch recipes to serve a crowd? 

• Caramelized sweet potatoes are a great side dish
• This Denver Omelet Breakfast Casserole is grain-free and stuffed with peppers, cheese, and potatoes
• Try these Banana Nut Waffles made with almond flour!
• Get more ideas in the Foraged Breakfast eCookbook

Cinnamon, Berry + Pecan Baked Oatmeal

Published March 27, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 8   |    Total Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup whole milk yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cup rolled oats
• 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup frozen mixed berries (I used blueberries and blackberries)
• 1/2 cup pecans
• To serve: yogurt & a spring of mint

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter, maple syrup, milk, yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
3. Add oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt to bowl, and stir until a loose batter forms.
4. Fold in 1/3 cup of pecans (reserving the rest for the next step) and 1 cup berries. Stir as briefly as possible — the berries may turn batter purple if over mixed.
5. Scrape batter into a 9 inch x 9 inch glass baking dish and smooth into even layer. Arrange remaining pecans on the top of the oatmeal.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until edges are set and top is golden. Center will still be soft. Allow to cool 5 minutes, then serve on plates with a dollop of yogurt and mint leaves.

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Blondies

These peanut butter blondies are my favorite thing today this month.

Do you like peanut butter cookies? Do you love peanut butter cups? These are for you. ❤️

How these sweet peanut butter blondie babies came to be: A looooong time ago, I went on a hunt for a grain-free peanut butter cookie recipe. I have a few of these recipes stashed away, and have tweaked them and toyed with them until I found my go-to combination of ingredients. The cookies themselves call for only 6 ingredients, which is good because it means late-night cookie cravings are easy to quench (you know, good but also bad 😆).

And those six ingredients? You probably have them in your pantry right now: peanut butter, salt, vanilla, almond flour, honey and (in your fridge) an egg.

✨ Do you know what makes you feel like Wonder Woman (or Superman)? When you hear the words "I could really go for a cookie right now," and then you magically pull a fresh batch of cookies from the oven in 30 minutes. ✨

It’s possible with these bars. Cheers to that!

When they are fresh from the oven, these blondies are super soft, but as they cool they firm up, becoming fudgy. They melt away in your mouth… all that peanut butter goodness — oh gosh, just writing this makes me want to make a fresh batch right away!

If you prefer cookies… You can plop the dough by the spoonful on the a cookie sheet, but I have found that they're even better as bars (AKA blondies), because it gives them the ultimate fudgy center. Also, it’s less work (hoorah for that!).

These peanut butter bars are the household favorite around here — everyone is excited when these come out of the oven.

AND if you’re thinking, I do love cookies — but I don’t need all that sugar right now. WELL GET READY, because these call for 1/3 cup honey! That's it. No refined sugar. Cut into 9 squares, each bar has less sugar than a LÄRABAR or even an RXBar. So bake away my friends! These cookie bars will change your life. They certainly have changed mine.

The finishing touch on these bars is a sprinkle of salt. While I was in Monterey last month, I came by some fancy salts that were 75% off. Normally I'd resist the urge to buy luxury salt, especially when flying Frontier Airlines with nothing but a "personal item" (uuugh). But 75% off was too much to pass up. 

These blondies are sprinkled with the coffee infused salt, but you can use any salt and get delicious results. You can even play around with sprinkling different salts on top, and decide which you like the most! I sprinkled my most recent batch of these cookies with vanilla salt (affiliate link!) and it was stellar. Try fluer de sel (affiliate link!) or even make your own coffee-infused salt.

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Blondies

Published January 25, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 16   |    Total Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter (smooth, natural & organic— stir it well)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the chocolate drizzle:
• 1 ounce chocolate (I used a chopped up 88% dark chocolate bar, but use whatever you like most)
• 1 sprinkle finishing salt, such as vanilla salt (affiliate link!), fleur de sel (affiliate link!), espresso salt (affiliate link!), or homemade coffee salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9x9 inch glass baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, egg, honey, vanilla, and salt. Stir until completely combined and smooth. Dough should be quite sticky, but not runny: when you lift a spoonful from the bowl it should not drip.
3. Press dough into prepared baking dish in an even layer. Then, place baking dish in oven and bake for 20-23 minutes. The blondies should be puffed in the middle, and golden on the edges. They’ll still be quite soft at this point. Allow blondies to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
4. While to blondies are cooling, make the chocolate drizzle: place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and stir. Then, heat for 15 seconds, and stir, repeating (heat for 15 seconds, stir) until chocolate is completely melted and glossy. Use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over the bars in a criss-cross pattern. Now, sprinkle with finishing salt of your choice. Allow to cool 5 more minutes.
5. Slice blondies into squares, and serve. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.