How was your Valentine’s Day? Donny got back to Colorado about 6pm on Saturday. Our friends McKenzie & Cody rode with me to pick him up at the airport and we all went to dinner for Valentine’s Day. We went to Cholon Modern Asian Bistro. It is so awesome and one of our favorite places to go downtown.
Cody & McKenzie had heard us talk about it but had not been there. Cholon encourages sharing plates, so everything comes out in four pieces. It is fun when Donny & I go together, but you don’t get to try quite as many dishes because you are eating two of everything (not that that is a bad thing!). Cholon has the same sharing concept as Acorn, which I talked about in this post. If you make it to Cholon (which I encourage) for sure get the soup dumplings, the kaya toast, and if they have it, the lobster crepes. They change the menu up quite a bit, but generally always have the toast and soup dumplings.
I took it pretty easy most of Saturday. Since Donny didn’t get in until later, I had the entire day to hang out. Since I hadn’t planned much, I slept in until 9:00am. Yes, 9:00 am! Who am I?!?! I didn’t even go to bed late. I guess I just really needed that sleep.
Needless to say, I was lacking in motivation when I woke up so getting anything done around the house was most likely not going to happen…. I did however manage to make it to the gym!
I did about 30 minutes on the Arc Trainer — 40 seconds moderate, 20 seconds sprint. Every five minutes I would increase the resistance by 10. It got my heart rate going pretty good! I then went a lifted weights for about 45 minutes. I focused on lower body and wanted to lift heavy. No super sets, no tri-sets, just straight lifting. Each move I did 3 sets of 10. I started with romanian deadlifts, glute bridges on a fitball, one-legged step-ups, calf raises, the leg extension machine, and lastly lying hamstring curls. My legs were pretty shaking after it was all said and done!
Let’s talk baking. For the last week or so now, for some reason I’ve wanted to bake cookies. When I got home from the gym I ate a quick lunch and decided to finally make some cookies. I love baking! I don’t do it very often anymore, but I enjoy it when I get to.
One of my mom’s favorite flavor combinations is cherry-almond. She is a pretty smart lady because that combo is fantastic! I had some dried cherries in the cabinet from a NatureBox I’d gotten a few months ago. Also, I always keep almonds around so I knew I had those (I wanted to avoid a trip to the grocery store).
My mom tries to eat gluten-free as much as possible. She is gluten-sensitive, not full blown celiac, but likes to stay away from it. I happen to have plenty of baking ingredients that are gluten-free so I decided I was up for the challenge!
The cookies are mostly made up of almond flour and oats. I used both gluten-free oat flour and gluten-free rolled oats. Oats are naturally gluten-free, they just tend to be processed in plants that also process grains with gluten. Gluten-free oats have just been handled from start to finish without being in contact with other gluten-containing ingredients. Not sure if I’ve explained that or not in past posts.
I didn’t use any eggs in this recipe. Honestly, I’m not sure why. I wasn’t mad about it later though because once the dough was ready I realized that this dough could safely be eaten raw! I love cookie dough way more than actual cookies. I eat the dough even if there are raw eggs in it (bad, I know), but I know that everyone isn’t as crazy and reckless as I am (hope you picked up on the sarcasm…..). If you have kids that like eating raw cookie dough then this recipe is perfect!
The sweetness of the cookies comes from both overripe banana and also pureed dates. I also used Truvia baking blend so that it had the sweetness of a cookie. You could substitute honey or agave if you prefer, or you could even leave it out completely. It would taste more like an energy bite, not a sweet as a cookie. While talking substitutions, you can also use regular oats, aka non-gluten-free oats and oat flour. Obviously, this means the cookies won’t be gluten-free.
If you don’t have dried cherries then feel free to try raisins, dried cranberries, dried apple pieces. Other nuts can be used too. Try walnuts, pecans, or pepitas! Get creative and use what you have.
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 1/4 c dates, pitted
- 1 c almond flour
- 1/4 c gluten-free oat flour
- 1/4 c gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp butter extract
- 2 Tbsp Truvia baking blend
- 1/4 c dried cherries, chopped
- 2 Tbsp sliced almonds
- Preheat over to 350 degrees. Place the banana and dates in a food processor and puree until smooth. Spoon banana-date mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the almond flour, oat flour, and rolled oats. Stir until just combined. Add the melted coconut oil to the bowl. Add the cinnamon, baking soda, almond extract, butter extract, Truvia and half the chopped dried cherries. Stir until combined. Spray a cookie tray with non-stick cooking spray. Roll one tablespoon of dough into a ball. Press dough flat on the cookie sheet until desired thickness is reached (dough will not spread while cooking). Divide the remaining dried cherries and almonds as evenly as possible and sprinkle on top each cookie. Press toppings down slightly into the dough. Bake cookies for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
- Cookies can be placed fairly close together. The dough will not spread out while baking.
