Healthy & Delicouse Peanut Butter Cookies

I found this recipe for extremely healthy peanut butter cookies on this website.  I decided to try them out for a small party I was having. They were a HUGE hit, and super easy to make!

Here is the recipe; It says it only makes 6 cookies, but I made a dozen pretty good sized cookies.

I used a vanilla flavored Soy based protein powder (Soy protein cooks better than Whey) I think I will try it next time with chocolate, since chocolate and peanut butter are so good together.



1 cup organic peanut butter  (I got the kind you grind yourself at WinCo)
2 omega-3 eggs
½ cup unsalted peanuts, crushed (I left these out since my peanut butter was kind of chunky)
5 scoops chocolate or vanilla
protein powder
¾ cup Splenda
3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, add the organic
peanut butter and omega-3 eggs and mix well. Add crushed
unsalted peanuts. Now, one scoop at a time, add 5 scoops of
protein powder, mixing in thoroughly. The mixture will begin
to get dry, so add 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp at a time, to moisten.
On a baking sheet, form 6 equal portions and flatten with a
fork to form a cookie. Place into the oven and bake for a total
time of 20 minutes. When done the cookies should feel
slightly firm and dry to the touch.
Remove cookies from pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
(per serving)
Calories 484 kcal
Protein 34 g
Carbohydrate 15 g
Fat 32 g
Saturated 6 g
Monounsaturated 16 g
Polyunsaturated 10 g

Cravings

: an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing

I know we have all felt this at least once in our lives. There are studies saying, "Cravings are your bodies way of telling you what it needs"  I think this is a dangerous idea. When was the last time a body needed chocolate cake? Also how can we tell the difference between what our body needs and what it is just used to having?

For example; Lets say that everyday after work you come home and eat two slices of toast with peanut butter and honey. Your body get habituated to this behavior, to the point that every time you come home you "need" to have two slices of toast with peanut butter, even if you just ate.

 Is this a physolocial (your body actually needs it) need, or a psychological (your mind thinks you need it) need?

So how do you know?

The next time a craving hits ask yourself a few simple questions;

*Is this food (or drink) good, healthy, fuel for my body?

               If you want chocolate cake and Diet Coke the answer is NO

*Do I want this out of habit?

             See the toast example above

*Is it time to eat?

              If you just had a full meal 20 minutes ago, you probably don't need a second helping of food, try some water in this instance.

Now that you have established what kind of craving you are having, what do you do next?

If it's time to actually eat, and you are craving something healthy (fresh veggies, and fruits and lean protien) then go ahead and follow through on that craving. Otherwise, we probably need to do a bit more evaluation.

Most of the time when you think you are hungry you can just grab some water and by time you have ahd a glass or so your mind will realize that you were just thirsty in the first place. 

Otherwise let's look at some good replacements for those things we so often crave;

Next time instead of reaching for the rich, creamy, sweet, salty, or fattening snack try drinking some water, and if that does not work try one of these other healthy replacement foods.

Watch your waist shrink and your health improve!

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