Monster cookies

I've been holding out on you. I made these cookies for my thesis defense party several weeks ago and haven't gotten around to sharing the recipe until now. I wanted to space out the dessert recipes a bit, but it's been a month since the last one, so I think it's about time for some sweets! The recipe for these cookies came from the Baked cookbook. I had never heard of monster cookies before I came across this recipe, but apparently they are well known in certain areas. If you are unfamiliar with them, monster cookies are peanut butter oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and M&Ms. According to the authors of the recipe, they are called monster cookies because they are the Frankenstein's monster of the cookie world - a mashup of different components. (Also, I got 60 largeish cookies when I made this, but the recipe says it yields 36, so the cookies that they serve at the Baked shop must be pretty monstrous in size). Now, I think oatmeal chocolate chip cookies beat oatmeal raisin every time, and I love peanut butter, so mixing it all together sounded great to me!

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with these cookies when I first made them. They were good, but not amazing. But then I stuck a bunch of leftover cookies in the freezer after the party and ate them over the following weeks, microwaving them briefly to thaw them. Well, microwaving did the trick and made me love these - it softened them up slightly and made them a little warm, but left the chocolate chips and M&Ms solid, just the way I like it. Perfect with a glass of milk as a snack or dessert. Too bad I finished the batch - I could really go for one right now...

Granola bars

This past Sunday, I ran my first half marathon. A year ago, I never could have imagined that I was capable of running 13.1 miles. I would have told you that half marathons are for crazy people, because no sane person would ever run that far by choice. But now...I guess I've become one of those crazy people! I started running last May because I wanted to do cardio exercise more regularly and improve my fitness for health purposes. I slowly built up my mileage over several months and found that I really enjoyed long runs, even in sub-freezing temperatures. I eventually decided to run the Half of Quincy and couldn't have asked for a better experience for my first half marathon. The weather on Sunday was gorgeous, and the first few miles of the race were along the ocean, which I loved. My training paid off and I felt great on race day, although I'll admit that miles 11-13 were very challenging, both mentally and physically. My goals for the race were pretty modest, since I'm a new runner - I wanted to run/jog the whole thing without walking breaks, and I wanted to finish with a smile on my face. I'm proud to report that I accomplished both those things, and I already can't wait to do it again!

While I was training, I made a conscious effort to refuel properly after running. I wasn't trying to lose weight, so I tried to replace the calories I was burning by adding some healthy snacks to my routine. One of my go-to snacks was granola bars. I tend to find that packaged granola bars are often too sweet, too dry, or have some components (like certain nuts or fruits) that I don't care for. So it seemed obvious that I should develop a recipe of my own that is suited to my particular tastes! This granola bar recipe went through a couple iterations - the first version I made had nice flavor but the texture was too soft and the bars didn't hold together well. I made several changes and finally ended up with this version, which I love. The texture is chewy rather than hard, but the components of the bars still have good crunch. They are full of ingredients that you can feel good about, and have really great flavor with just the right amount of sweetness. I'll definitely be keeping a supply of these bars around as I train for my next race!