Quinoa, Peanut Butter, and Oat Cookies.

Name: Quinoa, Peanut Butter, and Oat Cookies.
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 7
Ingredients: 2 cups cooked quinoa; 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter; 3 Tbsp. real maple syrup; 1/3 cup chopped dates (pitted :)); 1/4 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup rolled oats; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used vegan dark chocolate.)

by Monica 12 Comments

I confess: When it comes to cookies–I get in a rut.

I’ve been making my low fat banana oatmeal chocolate chips cookies, A LOT, for a couple of years now, and they really are so good. But I wanted to put some healthy ingredients together to come up with a new go-to cookie for our family. It’s time for a new cookie-rut.

I have zeroed in on making a cookie from quinoa, because we use so much of it, (like in This Salad, and in These meatballs,) and it seems like there is always just a couple of cups leftover. Clearly it makes sense to to turn leftovers into cookies. amiright?

After many attempts, I finally did it. I mean–I really DID IT! These cookies are absolutely delicious…and I’m happy to tell you that they have no bad fats or processed sugars.

Introducing the new It-Cookie in my household:

it took me many tries to nail these cookies because: Quinoa…well, it does have its own unique texture, doesn’t it? You can’t just toss quinoa into any old cookie and have it turn out well.

It turns out that the secret to this quinoa cookie success is using both real maple syrup, and chopped dates. These hold their shape, are moist, and full of flavor.

Side note: If you happen to NOT be a date lover– (first: what’s wrong with you?) it will be ok. These CAN BE done without the dates. They just might turn out a tiny bit more crumbly. (and not nearly as delicious–but we can agree to disagree.)

If you’ve got cooked quinoa on hand, these are actually really quick and easy to make. And the good news is–there isn’t anything in them to feel bad about.

Unless you feel bad about things like mini vegan dark chocolate chips, in which case we should probably have a little talk.
Mini dark chocolate morsels are like mini-love-nuggets from heaven.

I hope you’ll try these! Your family will thank you for making amazing cookies, and you’ll feel good about them too.

Side note #2: If you must leave out the chocolate chips, no problem. (I made a batch when I accidentally ran out of the chips. and they were still very tasty!)
*Just do not–I repeat–do not, leave out both the dates and the chocolate chips because then we maybe can’t be friends.

Like anything with chocolate chips, these are best served with cold milk. On a sunny lanai.

Have a great week!

I’ll be battening down the hatches (or whatever you do) in anticipation of a couple hurricanes that are reportedly headed our way. We are all hoping it turns to a tropical storm which passes mildly, except my boys, who are all like “YAY!! BIG STORM–BRING IT!” Haha.

Talk to you soon!

Aloha,
monica

PS Pinning and Sharing help spread the ALOHA…Thank you so much!!