Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

Experiment: Protein Cookies.

The boyfriend is on a real big  'get strong' kick.  

He's already big and strong, but he wants to be even bigger. And stronger.

He says to me, 'I want to make protein cookies. Here's a recipe I found.'

I say, 'Cool, we'll make protein cookies.  We'll make several, experiment a little.'

And so I was in the kitchen cooking and experimenting.  He was napping.  

LOL, okay, okay... he did help.  He's a great dishwasher and a great taste tester too!

These are the first cookies we made.

Since I was pretty timid and unsure about what was going to happen when baking with protein powder, I followed this recipe EXACTLY.  These cookies have ground flaxseed meal, oats, and chocolate protein powder, among other things.

They taste like stale bread with a faint hint of chocolate.  Hmph. 

Moving on, I loosely followed a recipe using pureed chickpeas as a base for the cookie.  

You won't find a pic, they went in the trash immediately.

And then..........

Drumroll pleeeeaseee....

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies! 

They are pretty much your standard peanut butter cookie, but with the added health benefits of added protein powder, quinoa flour, and less sugar! And they're delish! 

They seem to taste less peanut-buttery than a regular PB cookie, and just a bit denser due to the oats and protein powder, but they're so good!

The best part?  While I can normally eat about 10 cookies in one sitting, these are so filling that I can only eat 2 or 3, and they satisfy my cookie craving/ sweet tooth with so much less sugar. 

The boyfriend did a loose nutritional analysis of this recipe.  I was so stinkin' excited when he was adding up numbers, just knowing there wouldn't be much sugar and there would be TONS of protein.  

Turns out there's not really 'TONS' of protein.  The recipe is good and healthier, but I'll be modifying it to cut down the fat and add MORE PROTEIN, such as substituting the butter with 1/4 cup oil to cut down on fat, skipping the mini chocolate chips, and adding more protein powder. 

1 cookie:  115 calories, 7.25 grams of fat, 7 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

You Will Need:

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 1/2 scoops) chocolate protein powder
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
About 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, honey and applesauce.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the protein powder, quinoa flour, oats, and salt.

4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir to combine.

5. Form 1 inch balls using your hands and place on baking sheet.  Use a fork to score the top and press balls down a little.

6. Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until very  lightly browned.  You don't want to overbake these!!

Oh my, I can't believe it!  Success was finally mine!