Friday, March 20, 2009

My Marathon Cookies

Training for a marathon can be grueling, but occasionally it's also delicious. Turns out, things like carbs, salt, and sugar are not just permissible, they are necessary. Got that friends? Muy necesarios. Here's one of my favorite "recovery" foods after a long weekend run. The recipe came to me by way of my friend, who coincidentally goes by the moniker Dish Gal, as she's the anonymous foodie behind the mouth-watering blog DishThisBoston. This cookie recipe originally appeared on MyVeganCookbook.com; however, I've adapted it slightly, here. This variation of the crowd-favorite peanut butter cookie tastes amazing and packs a healthful punch, thanks to whole grains, salt, sugar, and even ground flax seeds to protect joints, not to mention peanut butter, which fuels 90% of all runners (OK, I made up that statistic, but I bet it's not far off!) Enjoy . . .

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 ground flax seed
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
1/4 cup creamy style organic peanut butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir. It's easier to use your hands and kneed the dough a little. Then, drop tablespoon-sized mounds of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Smash them down with a fork. Bake until the bottoms are golden and the edges brown slightly (about 15-20 minutes).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have this habit of seeing recipes and then changing them slightly to make them a wee bit healthier. Now, trust me on this- but just give this a little go...

Instead of sugar, use raw honey (yay for b vitamins and many minerals)
Swap the canola for coconut oil- anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-viral and the saturated coconut oil (which does not get stored as fat like other saturated fats) is an awesome source of nutrient dense energy.
And lastly- try almond butter instead of peanut butter. Almonds are rich in the poly unsaturated and also a super source of calcium... peanuts are just a little moldy is all.

And hey- if you don't give this recipe a whirl, I will! Happy training!

Om Gal said...

Right on, sister! I'll give it a whirl. Thanks. Headed to the grocer today and will add almond butter, coconut oil, raw honey to the list.

Unknown said...

I took meghan's sub-in ingredients and used quinoa flour instead of whole wheat and oat flour instead of oats (only because i didn't have the latter in both cases)... and the batter is delicious. it's a little salty, which would probably change if i actually baked them. i hestitate to do that, though, because i think it will kill the good stuff in the raw honey and raw agave. thanks for inspiring a baking night!

Unknown said...

just made these cookies...they are delish! I sprinkled some shredded coconut, handful of cranberries and dark choc. chips as well...SO GOOD

David said...

Just made these cookies. I used salted peanut butter, but no other salt. I also used honey instead of sugar and held the agave nectar because I didn't have any. I did add in sunflower seeds, almonds, dried apricots, and dried cranberries for a little extra kick! So good. Thanks for the recipe idea.