Hello everyone! Amidst the smoky air and COVID, here is something that might brighten your day:

Protein cookies! They taste good and they’re extremely healthy. By combining dried fruits, oats, peanut butter, and small amounts of sweeteners, you can create a snack that you’ll eat over and over again. Just ask my dad…

A week ago we got the recipe from our family friend Aunty Grace. After trying one on a hike, my mom decided to make them, filling the house with smell of protein cookies. My initial reaction was: “Are these cookies salty or something?” They’re blandness had overwhelmed me so much that my brain started making up flavors to attribute the snack with. But I kept chewing, and later on discovered the “true colors” of the protein cookies. The cinnamon and peanut butter, hidden in the layers of oats, started to come out. They take a while to appear, but once you get ahold of them, your “bland” cookie goes from “bland” to “Yeah, I can eat this!”. Somehow, I was attracted to the “hearty” feeling of it all.

What got me the most excited was the fact that they really did seem healthy. There wasn’t a lot of butter and very low amounts of sugar as well. A few chocolate chips and cranberries here and there give you something to look forward to every now and then, but ultimately, they’re really not too bad (healthier versions of oatmeal raisin cookies/snicker doodles). And of course, I haven’t mentioned that they’re easy to make, and especially in big batches too. So if you’re bored during quarantine and want a way to fill your house with some yummy snacks that you can eat over and over again with no regret, try making these protein cookies. How healthy they are will make you surprised at first, but hey, isn’t that the whole point?

Recipe (credit to Aunty Grace for showing us)