Quinoa Cookies

You know I am back to training when I put my pj's on at 5pm without a second thought. One nice thing about the shorter days is that I am forced to finish training before the early sunset, so my evenings are rather relaxing. 

Tonight I finished my ride on the rollers at 4:30, ate dinner just after 5, lounged around and baked some cookies a little later. Yes, I am a big NERD sometimes. 

These quinoa cookies are fairly healthy and tasty. They may be a little too healthy-tasting for someone needing a real treat, but packed up in your jersey on a long ride, they would be perfect! I will test them out on my ride tomorrow just to be sure ;-)

My inspiration came from an ingredient that I actually really dislike. I have had this box of quinoa flakes sitting around for too long, but it wasn't until this morning that I finally came to the realization that as much as I love quinoa, I hate the flakes. I find they taste nothing like quinoa, with a chalky taste and texture. I have tried drowning them in agave nectar, adding frozen fruit and even some dark chocolate chips one morning, but could never make them palatable. I found a recipe on the back of the box that called for a full-cup of this stuff, so I had to at least give it a try. And, I figured you can't really go wrong when butter and sugar are involved. So, if you happened to buy a box of this stuff and feel the same way I do, then these are definitely worth a try.

Here's the original recipe and I have added my changes in brackets:

1/2 cup honey (1/3 cup agave nectar)

1/3 cup organic brown sugar

1/2 cup organic butter (I used a little less)

1/2 cup organic peanut butter (almond butter would be good too)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

3/4 cup quinoa flakes (1 cup....need to use them up!)

3/4 cup rice flour (stone ground whole wheat flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup nuts (walnuts)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat honey, brown sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy. Combine flour, quinoa flakes, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add to mixture and beat until well blended. Add nuts. (at this stage, I had to add a little almond milk and extra nut butter to make the batter sticky enough). Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes, or until light golden brown (I baked them until they were crispy on the bottom but still soft on top).