And I’ve made Trail Mix Cookies, but I’ve never baked protein bars into cookies.
The idea came to me in an effort to use some of the oodles of protein bars I bought. I go through spurts every couple years where I fall in love with protein bars, buy them by the case to save money, lose interest, forget about them, and move onto something else. I put my stash to work by dicing two protein bars, made a brown sugar-based dough, and added the protein bars along with my favorite trail mix add-ins.
Oats, dried cranberries, raisins, and pumpkin-spiced pumpkin seeds. The seeds are a seasonal item at Trader Joe’s and they’re dangerously, fabulously amazing. If you prefer sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, or another nut or seed, go for it. Like the last Trail Mix Peanut Butter Cookies I made, the recipe is highly adaptable based on your favorite items and what you have around. I used 3/4 cup dried cranberries and 1/4 cup raisins. Aim for 1 cup dried fruit, mixing and matching from your favorites.
I used one Peanut Butter Supreme Quest Bar and one Chocolate Brownie Quest Bar. I get my bars from iHerb.com. Code AVE630 at checkout saves you $10 off your order. I love iHerb for everything like coconut oil, probiotics, bulk cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, liquid vanilla stevia drops, bulk white stevia powder, medicinal fancy-grade honey, chia seeds, face cleanser, nutritional yeast, and mini chocolate chips. Because protein bars vary widely, results will vary and you may need to experiment with a few types or flavors to find the perfect bar for the cookies. The Quest Bars worked great and I loved both the chocolate and peanut butter bursts of flavor the bars add. The cookies are soft, ultra chewy, and loaded with amazing texture in every bite. I love the way the crunchy seeds and chewy dried fruit complement each other and when baked, the protein bars turn extra chewy.
I ate one before a run and busted out 12 fast miles. That’s my cue to eat cookies before every run. Oats, dried fruit, seeds or nuts, and protein bars. That means the cookies are automatically healthy.
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