A tasty snack rich in quick and slow carbs
These cookies are rich in complex carbohydrates from the oatmeal, which ensures a long-lasting energy. The bananas, cranberries, and honey provide quickly available energy and important minerals such as potassium. And on top of that, there’s peanut butter and egg to provide proteins that are important for muscle recovery. The recipe also calls for pumpkin seeds to add healthy fats and more minerals. These cookies are a very nutritious snack!
When is the best time to enjoy these cookies as a cyclist?
You can enjoy the cookies as a pre-ride or recovery snack. If you’re going on a longer zone 2 endurance ride, they can be a great option for fuelling on the bike too. They have roughly 14 g of carbs per cookie and even though they are not as efficient as energy gels, they certainly add flavour variety. If you want to use them during more intense training rides, you can add some extra dried fruit such as raisins or apricots, and leave out the pumpkin seeds and coconut to limit fat intake which would slow digestion and could cause issues.
Watch the video to see chefs Wim Winkel and Matti Stiens work their magic. These cookies are a favourite for both Yara Kastelijn, Team Fenix–Deceuninck, and Niels Vandeputte, Alpecin–Deceuninck Development Team.
The ingredients below will yield 20 cookies and each of these will have approximately 110 kcal, 3 g of protein, 14 g of carbs, 5 g of fat, and 2 g of fibre. About 5 cookies make a nice recovery snack.
Ingredients
200 g oatmeal, fine
2 bananas, ripe
50 g peanut butter
30 g coconut oil
30 g honey
1 Egg
50 g dried cranberries
30 g pumpkin seeds
30 g coconut, shredded
1 tsp cinnamon
Salt, a dash
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 175°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
2. Mash the bananas with the egg in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Add oatmeal and shredded coconut to the banana-egg puree and mix well.
4. Add peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, salt, and coconut oil to the mix and stir until homogenous.
5. Fold the cranberries and pumpkin seeds through the batter.
6. Spoon small piles of batter onto the baking sheet and flatten them a bit.
7. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 13-18 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before eating.
9. Store the cookies in an airtight container. They stay at room temperature for about 3-4 days, or longer in the refrigerator.
