Well this is a first. I’ve made hundreds of different cookies between blogging and two cookbooks.
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.
I put my stash of protein bars to work by dicing two bars, made a brown sugar-based dough, and added the protein bars along with my favorite trail mix add-ins including oats, dried cranberries, raisins, and pumpkin seeds. The recipe is highly adaptable based on your favorite items and what you have around. The cookies are soft, ultra chewy, and loaded with amazing texture in every bite. Crunchy seeds and chewy dried fruit complement each other, and when baked the protein bars turn extra chewy. Because protein bars vary widely, you may need to experiment with a few types or flavors to find your favorite.
Yield: about 1 dozen medium cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, for chilling
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats (not quick-cook or instant)
1 teaspoon cornstach
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
about 4.25 ounces protein bars, diced small (about 1 scant cup)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (or use sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, etc.)
1/4 cup raisins
Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
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