Breakfast Cookies

I hope that all of you had a nice Labor Day weekend.  We certainly had a great weekend.  We went to a soccer tournament, we went to the Hot Air Balloon festival at Calloway Gardens AND we got some much needed work done around the house.

Even though I don't plan on it, it seems like we are always tackling some sort of major home improvement project on Labor Day.  Ben's question is "Why are we always laboring on Labor Day?"  One year we cleared out the whole garage and painted it from top to bottom.  This year we tackled another painting project - the boards around the deck and railings on the deck.  I just want to go on record as saying - "I HATE SPINDLES."  After several hours of tedious spindle painting, I finally decided to call it quits for the day and finish up my Labor Day project - later in the week.  (There will be plenty of time for spindle painting while the kids are in school.)

I spent half my painting time on a really tall ladder so I could reach the back side of the second story deck spindles.  It must have been a good workout because I'm feeling it in my calves today.  (Bonus workout while painting - yea!)  Even though I got a little leg work while painting, I still did a workout when I finished yesterday.

I'm still not completely sure how I talked myself into starting the Asylum workouts again.  (I guess I'm a gluten for punishment.)  The workouts are hard BUT they do get me in really good shape.  My workouts had gotten a little sporadic over the summer so I decided I needed a kickstart to get me back in gear.  What better way to jump start my lack luster workout routine than Asylum? 

Doing Asylum is great because it burns a ton of calories AND it also makes me super hungry - Like All Day!  By 9:00 in the morning, I'm already looking for a snack to hold me over until lunch.  I found this recipe for Breakfast Cookies on recipebyphotos.com. I changed the recipe slightly but I ended up with a perfect post-Asylum workout  snack.  Banana, peanut butter, oats, honey and chocolate chips ... that should help me recover from some of those crazy workouts. 

Breakfast Cookies
1 large banana, mashed (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together banana, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. 

 

 




In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, milk powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. 





 






Stir the oat mixture into the banana mixture until combined. 






Stir in chocolate chips.

   
Using a cookie scoop, drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on silpat lined baking sheets. 
 

With a thin metal or small plastic spatula dipped in water, flatten and spread each mound of dough to a 2 3/4-inch round, about 1/2-inch thick. Once baked, each cookie will be about 3-1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.  Bake, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned.

Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months; thaw before serving.

The original recipe called for crunchy peanut butter but I only had creamy. I think the peanuts would have added a nice crunch to the cookies so the next time I make them, I'll stir in some chopped walnuts or peanuts.

The recipe also called for dried cranberries and I just couldn't get over the flavor combination of peanut butter and cranberries.  I swapped them out for chocolate chips because lets face it, everything is better with chocolate. 

I popped these cookies into a baggie and put them in the freezer.  They are a REALLY good frozen treat after a hard workout.

Ciao!