Banana Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. Vegan. GF.

Banana Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. Vegan. GF.
Banana Coconut Oatmeal Cookies. Vegan. GF.

Happy Tuesday friends!  Today is my daughter’s last day of spring break.  We are getting ready to head to the farmer’s market but I wanted to get this post up. These cookies are a favorite.  A crunchy perimeter and soft and chewy inside.  They have a lovely banana/coconut flavor too making these acceptable for a breakfast on the run too – or at least my kids feel that way.  Gluten and dairy free.  Vegan.  You can add raisins for a more traditional oatmeal raisin cookie.  These will be a favorite in your home – I promise!

Ingredients:

2 cups of gluten free rolled oats (I prefer Bob’s Redmill)
3/4 cup of oat flour (ground down rolled oats to flour)
1/3 cup of coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of flaxseed meal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 banana
1/3 cup of coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup of toasted coconut, toasted flakes

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment.  Set aside.

Into your food processor, blend 3/4 cup of rolled oats and pulse until a flour is achieved.  Add that to a large dry mix bowl and add rolled oats, sugar, salt, powder, soda and flax. Whisk to combine.

Empty your food processor out and add your banana, coconut oil and syrup.  Blend until creamy.  Then pour that out into your mixture bowl. Add your coconut.  Stir to combine.  It will be a wetter mixture but that’s fine.

Using a small melon baller/scoop, scoop out your cookie dough and place on your prepared pan. Leave an inch or two in between each cookie.  Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cookie browns around the edges. Let cool completely on the cookie sheet then, using a spatula, take off and serve or store in an airtight container.

fitness_update

Let’s talk pre-workout, during workout and post workout fuel.
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I will admit, just a few months ago – pre-marathon training, I didn’t fuel before working out.  Ever!  In the past I did use the occasional gel but really – nothing.  Fast forward to marathon training and speaking to many experts – I had to change my plan.  This time around I’m a vegan – totally plant-based. Love or hate that “label” I don’t eat meat, eggs, dairy —you get the point.  I needed to find a fuel that would work within that spectrum.  I’ve been a huge fan of VegaSport and it was the obvious choice.  I’ve been blogging for them and started talking to their nutritionists and my awesome social media guru, Trevor and they helped advise me along my journey.  Seriously, these people rock!  The support was insane.  Texting me advice, things to try.  Asking how my runs were.  Talked post workout fuel.  Recovery.  All of it.  And today I wanted to share my favorites that help me run… and recover.

First things first.  I have an industrial strength stomach in my regular life.  I eat jalapeños like candy.  But put me on the road for long distance and pretty much anything will churn and burn in my stomach leaving me in great perils.  I won’t elaborate.  So Vega products are all natural and so similar to my regular diet – no chemicals, nothing processed I was hoping this would be my big score.  I did have some stomach issues with more of sustaining bars – too much for my stomach but here’s what worked for me.

The pre workout Energizer is supposed to be used for that purpose.  Energizer to jump start your workout. I used this during my entire run.  Two scoops in my large water bottle and I was good.  I sipped at each mile and felt great.  It gave me the edge and just enough caffeine to keep me humming along.  Not overly sweet.  It was perfect!  I would use their gels sparingly as my stomach struggles with solid foods while running.   Then post workout it is imperative that you refuel within 15-20 mins.  I struggle here.  I’m not hungry after a long run.  Period.  But I did force myself to make a smoothie using their Accelerator powder.  I would add it to my smoothie and off I would go.  My stomach had no issues.  My leg turnover was great. Now recovery from my marathon is taking time, which is totally normal.  I continue to use both products along with many of their other products daily.  My all time favorite are their protein mint bars – which are insanely yummy frozen.  All vegan protein!  Love.  Will be featuring more of my favorite products in my upcoming posts. Hope they help you fuel your run!

So my recap today was good with the caveat that my heart rate peaked again over 200.  I did feel much stronger today.  Short run then weights and core work today.  Splits:  warm-up 8:53, 8:28, 7:57 and .53.  That 7 made me very happy as my legs have been taking their sweet time recovering post marathon.  Plus I think new springy Mizunos made me run faster.

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Recap:

Sunday:  Easter (rest)
Monday:  6 outdoor miles
Tuesday:  3.12 treadmill progressive run, weights – legs, shoulders and biceps and ab work

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— Knead to Cook

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5 Comments

  1. Made them this morning, and they were delicious! I added 1 tsp vanilla extract and subbed brown rice syrup for maple syrup plus added 1 T almond milk to make it more liquidy. Also toasted the flakes at 350 for 3 min. I’d love to feature them on my blog, yum!!