Where It All Started

After two weeks of deliberating about whether or not I could make the transition from the restaurant girl who knows how to make drinks, to the restaurant girl who cooks, trying out new recipes came out of necessity, rather than from desire to learn how to cook.  

I was invited to a Ladies' Night with some close friends, when I realized that I was going to be the only one who wasn't going to be eating chips, dips, cakes and cookies, never mind the bottle of water that had replaced the all-to-comfortable martini glass.  For those who have made a similar lifestyle change, you know the difficulty that comes with social affairs.  You don't want to be rude and refuse, but it's unrealistic to think that you can show up somewhere, whether you have eaten already or not, and just stand around while everyone else eats.  And so, my solution, was to start finding recipes that others could enjoy, that were healthy, and that I did not feel guilty about later that night.  And so trying this recipe was the direction I went toward.  I like peanut butter, I like, bananas, and I like cookies.  How could you go wrong?  I was definitely happy with the results.  And owe the credit here:

Clean Eating Club Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. pure maple syrup

3/4 c. unsweetened, natural peanut butter

1 large banana, mashed

1 large egg, beaten

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder.
4. In a large bowl, combine maple syrup, peanut butter, banana, beaten egg and vanilla extract.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl of wet ingredients.  Combine well, but make sure to not over mix.
6. Drop by tablespoon full onto the cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

What I particularly like about the recipe, as well, is that you can freeze the cookies, and when you defrost them, they are still nice a hot and chewy in the center.  Although they have whole wheat flour, something that I'm trying to limit in general, and also contain a good amount of calories, I think we can all agree that they are the healthier choice when placed down next to chocolate chip cookies.  This is where I started.