When that cookie craving kicks in, but your brain is tellin’ you no.
Well, you can say yes to these munchkins. These peanut butter quinoa cookies are perfect for packing in your adventure bag or your school lunch, but they’re still a winner when it comes to oat milk and cookie dippin’ for dessert.
First of all, quinoa is a complete protein, and then that peanut butter adds even more of a plant protein punch.
Protein protein protein.
On a plant-based diet, you don’t have to worry too much about protein. It’s in every single whole plant food in the perfect package with fibre, phytonutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, minerals and water content. Protein from meat comes in a package that still has vitamins, minerals and some water content, but it also comes with cholesterol, much more saturated fat, natural and sometimes artificial hormones, and more often than not, antibiotics, all without any fibre.
Over all, humans need .8 or .9 grams of protein per healthy kG of body weight per day.
To figure out how much you need, multiply your ideal weight in pounds by 4 then divide by 10.
Example: 125lbs x 4 = 500 / 10 = 50g of protein per day for a 125lb person. This is more than enough per day.
You can go on to Cronometer to punch in a regular day of eating, just to get an idea of how easy it is to get that much protein.
If you’re keen to explore this a bit more, this Dr. Gregor resource is amazing.
Plant Proof also wrote up a great post all about protein.
Worrying about getting enough protein is one stress we can all easily live with out. Not getting enough protein, is a simple issue of not eating enough calories. So, unless we’re trying to bulk up at the gym (getting just enough, and not over dosing is key here) or we’re growing older, there’s no need to spend much time focusing on getting enough protein.
Especially if you chow down on these cookies!
By the way, they’ll be crisp on the outside, chewing on the inside for the first day, but when you store them in a cookie jar, they’ll get a big cakier (which I don’t mind at all).
Dip away, or enjoy on a mountain top!
Wet Ingredients- 2 cups quinoa, pre-cooked
- ½ cup plant milk (I used oat)
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp vegan butter (melted)
- 1 ripe banana
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 flax eggs (mix 2 tbsp ground flax with 6 tbsp water, let sit 5 minutes)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
Dry Ingredients:- 1 cup flour (whole wheat or gluten free oats blended to a flour!)
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips
- ½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F
- Make your flax egg if you haven't already.
- In your blender, blend all wet ingredients.
- In your kitchen mixer, with the whisk attachment, mix together dry ingredients (or use a good ol' whisk, arm power and a big bowl).
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient bowl and mix until well combined.
- Scoop cookies (about 2 tbsp of dough per cookie) onto a parchment covered tray (or reusable baking mat). Press them down! They won't spread into each other.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cookie cooling rack.
- They will be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside!
- Store in a cookie jar with parchment paper (to help absorb some moisture). The next day they will be a bit cakier, but still so delicious!
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