Chocolate Coconut Protein Cookies

I'm a huge fan of peanut butter, protein, and a quick snack especially if it's chocolate! I usually make just Shakeology Protein No Bake Balls but I wanted something a little different. Shakeology is amaze-balls and it's my go-to superfood shake but when I made Shakeology No Bake Balls every week using 1-2 scoops and on top of my daily scoop for breakfast, it started to add up. So I found a new recipe that I thought I could try with just a generic protein brand. I got this recipe from a fellow Beachbody Coach, Reina O'Dell, she is awesome @Rainavsfood on Snapchat is where I got the idea. Mine looked a little different than Raina's, so here is my recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup chunky peanut butter 

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 scoops your choice of chocolate protein 

Instructions: 

Meal peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil in the microwave (stovetop is preferred).

Remove from heat and stir till cooled off add in vanilla, protein, and oatmeal.

Stir and drop spoonfuls on wax paper. 

Place in fridge till hardened. 

Once hardened put in Ziplock baggies for protein control. 

Serving size: about 2 cookies 

Here is my process in pictures:

I usually make these as soon as I'm out because they are my favorite morning snack or evening sweet treat when I'm getting a sweet craving. The ingredients are all healthy and as long as you don't eat more than 4 (trust me I have experience with this) you won't feel guilty or bad about these cookies. 

I usually just microwave my first three ingredients. For convenience and laziness of not wanting to wash a stove top pan I just use a microwave friendly bowl. 

All of my ingredients are fairly inexpensive and mostly from Costco. #GoKirklandBrand

One thing I have noticed is this coconut oil is very hard and scooping into a measuring cup is tricky so I eyeball it. It will also come out in little clear chunks when you microwave it so make sure to microwave the mixture for about 30 seconds take it out and stir well, then place it back in for about 45 seconds to a minute more. Stir until those little chunks are gone. It will be pretty liquidy.

Once your mixture cools down add in your protein. You don't want to add any sort of protein powder into a hot mixture because it will ruin the potency and the goodness and you lose a lot of the protein. So make sure it's cooled off. 

The protein powder I use for this, to keep cost down is one I found at our local Grocery Outlet store here in Bremerton, WA. I haven't made it for a shake or post workout drink yet but it tastes pretty good in these cookies. The scoop is smaller than a regular protein scoop so I use a full 3-4 scoops. For regular larger sized scoops, I would add 1-2 scoops. This is totally a personal preference, though. The more scoops the thicker it becomes and more chocolatey. 

The rest is pretty easy I promise. if you need to thicken up your mixture I find adding more protein is good to keep them super healthy. If you don't mind a few more calories add in more oats or coconut flakes. 

Here is my final product! Kid tested and boyfriend approved!

Enjoy! <3