Running. I enjoy running. I enjoy building up stamina, beating goals, and the feeling of accomplishment when you’re done. Don’t let me fool you though—I am by no means a good runner! In fact it’s been almost two years since I’ve really gone for a true run (and the size of my pants is a testament to that). This weekend, I got it in my head that I would pick up running again, and to make it even better, I decided it would be a family affair.
So, Saturday morning, I donned my running gear, laced up my shoes, put the leash on the dog, and…told the kids to grab their bikes or scooters. This would be fun right? I would get to run, the dog would get out for exercise, and the kids would get to ride. Well, if you know where we live, you’d know that no matter what direction you go from our house, you’re basically going uphill. So—peptalk time!
“Guys you know we’ve gotta go uphill for a bit, but we’re tough, right?!?!”
“RIGHT!!!!”
“Great! So, there’s no fussing on the way up cause remember then we get the sweet, sweet downhill!”
“YEAH!!! We loooove the downhill! Can we go fast?”
“You bet!”
So, out we go…around the corner…and uphill. Ten minutes in, I was carrying a scooter while Jax was trailing behind, “MOOOOMMMM!!! WAIT FOR ME!!!!” Two minutes later Jax was balanced on his scooter as I tried pulling it while running. One minute later, huffing and puffing, I caved. “Guys, can we do this? Can we keep going? Or should we turn around and go downhill?”
“Let’s go DOWNHILL!!!”
So much for my first run in two years…it can only go uphill from here, right (hee, hee, hee)!
Even though my first run-run was a flop, my first run on these cookies wasn’t! J Luckily I had all (well, almost all) of the ingredients on hand—I love it when that happens! I didn’t have actual oat flour, but if you grind your oats in a food processor for several minutes, you can easily—and for a fraction of the cost—make your own oat flour. I also love that you can talk yourself into saying that these cookies are “healthy”, they are scrumptious, and Connor gave me two thumbs up…lots of two thumbs up!!
Because my batter was still a bit warm when I mixed in the chocolate, some of it melted into the batter making a chocolate chocolate chip cookie—mmm..mmm! If you want a less chocolately batter, let your mix completely cool, but good luck waiting that long! The cookies bake up nicely, but be sure to let them cool on your pan before transferring or else they’ll flop apart…not that I would know or anything… 😉 Once the cookies are cooled, they are chewy and break apart easily. The kids loved that!
Heart Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups walnuts
3 TBSP canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350.
- In a food processor, blend the walnuts until they are ground into a fine meal. Add the oil, and blend for 2-3 minutes, until the consistency of natural peanut butter. Transfer to a bowl.
- Whisk together the brown sugar and ½ cup of water in a pan and bring to a boil.
- Pour the brown sugar mixture over the walnut butter. Add the vanilla, and stir until there are no lumps.
- Whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Stir the oat flour mix into the walnut mix. Cool the dough for at least 10 minutes.
- Fold the oats and then the chocolate chips into the dough.
- Shape the dough into 2-inch balls and placed onto parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown.
- Cool for several minutes and transfer to wire racks.
Enjoy the cookies, and in the meantime, I hope that with more practice, the uphills won’t be so daunting…for the kids…or for me! So, what pointers do you have for getting back into the swing of things?
It's Truly Scrumptious! 