Recipes > Power Cookies

Power Cookies

Details

These hearty energy cookies are packed with nuts, coconut, raisins and just a little bit of chocolate. Made with spelt flour, molasses and honey these cookies also freeze very well.
  • Serves: 21
  • Active Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Views: 57,132
  • Success Rating: 100% (?)
    0% - I fed it to the dog
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Steps

Step 1: Mixing the Wet Ingredients

Mixing the Wet Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) non-dairy spread butter (or use more coconut oil)
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (can substitute with 1/2 tsp stevia**)
  • 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup flax egg***
  • 1/3 cup soy or almond milk (plain or vanilla)
  • 3/4 tsp almond extract

Method

To start, melt the butter and coconut oil either in the microwave or on the stove top. Once melted, let cool to room temperature.

Next, add the brown sugar (or stevia, if using), honey and molasses. Mix with a wooden spoon to combine. Whisk in the flax egg and then add the non-diary milk, followed by the vanilla and almond extract. Mix everything to evenly combine.

*Note: Here is a link to more information about the Non-Dairy Spread.

**Note: Stevia is a sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the stevia plant. Here is a link for more information about Stevia.

***Note: To make flax eggs, which has a similar consistency of egg whites, finely grind 1/4 cup of whole flax seeds in a food processor. With the motor running, slowly add approximately 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of water. Once all of the water has been added, run the food processor for about 5 minutes. The mixture will thicken and resemble egg whites. Flax eggs will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator. If you have a small food processor, you can make a smaller amount.

For non-vegan cookies, you can use one egg instead of the flax eggs.

Step 2: Mixing the Dry Ingredients

Mixing the Dry Ingredients
  • 1 1/4 cups spelt flour
  • 1 tsp Fleur de sel or other sea salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp ground flax
  • 1 cup large-flake rolled oats

Method

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix evenly. Set aside.

Step 3: Preparing the Remaining Ingredients

Preparing the Remaining Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 1/3 cup pecans
  • 1/3 cup almonds
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 3/4 cup quality, dark chocolate
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
  • hemp seeds (optional, see note)

Method

To prepare the remaining ingredients, first roughly chop the nuts. You can use any combination of raw nuts and/or pumpkin/sunflower seeds in this recipe. You can also toast the nuts in advance, but we prefer the flavor of the raw nuts in these cookies. Also feel free to add a few tablespoons of Raw Hemp Seeds to make the cookies even more nutritious.

Next, measure out the raisins, coconut and chocolate. Chop the chocolate, if necessary, into good-sized chips/chunks.

Step 4: Mixing the Batter

Mixing the Batter

Method

To make the batter, stir the bowl of dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and evenly combine. Next, fold in the nuts, seeds, raisins, coconut and chocolate.

Place the mixture into the refrigerator for about 1/2 an hour to firm up a bit.

Step 5: Shaping & Baking the Cookies

Shaping & Baking the Cookies

Method

Before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F (175° C). To make 18 cookies, portion out 2 ounces (60 grams) per cookie. Roll each portion into a ball and flatten into a patty about 1/2" -inch thick.

Note: Once the cookies are shaped, they can be placed onto a parchment-lined baking tray and frozen. Once frozen, transfer to a sealable freezer bag. Bake from frozen (baking time will be slightly longer).

Place onto a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the batter no longer looks wet on top and the bottom is slightly golden.

Once done, transfer to a rack and let cool slightly before serving.

Chef's Notes

These cookies are my take on the Whole Foods Power Cookies. Here is a blog post about why I called these cookies the “Full 21 – Power Cookies”.

Note: The better the ingredients, the better the cookie will be! The list of ingredients may be quite intimidating, but once you have all of the ingredients, these cookies are easy to make and always satisfying. You can even double the batch and freeze them for later.

The Coconut Oil, Stevia, Non-Dairy Spread (I use Earth Balance) and Flax Seeds should all be available in most health food stores.

25 Comments

  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    Before anyone asks about substitutions, I thought I would jump in and say this....feel free to experiment with these cookies. This recipe is one that I made up some time ago and I have been happy with the results, but if you want to leave something out or substitute something else for another ingredient, feel free to. Would another oil work instead of coconut oil? I am sure it would. Have I tried it? No, I have not. These are how I have always made them. I used to only make them with non-dairy butter and the stevia, but recently I tried them with butter and brown sugar and I was totally happy with the results as well. In this recipe, I suggest a few alternatives for those looking to make these vegan. Cheers!
  • Tony D
    Tony D
    I have not been able to find "spelt" flour... any good sub? thanks, Tony d
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    I am surprised that you cannot find spelt flour as it is becoming more and more common, even in local grocery chain store. In fact, I just bought a big bag of spelt flour at Costco. Most, if not all, health food stores and places like Whole Foods will carry spelt flour. As for another suitable substitution, I would suggest that you could use another grain flour such as kamut; however, if you cannot find spelt flour then I am sure that this would be equally as hard for you to find. As for other flours, as I mentioned in the comment above, I am sure you can make substitutions; however, I have not tried any other flour myself. You could try using regular flour but the texture might be different. Again, I am not sure as I have not tried it myself. Cheers!
  • Faye C
    Faye C
    Thanks for developing a take on the power cookie-I've tried to figure it out once too but didn't put a lot of effort into it. Is there any way that you know of to obtain a nutritional analysis on this and any other recipes? Congrats on the training and have a great race!
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    We do not really focus on calories or nutritional information as we focus on the skills and techniques behind cooking and recipes. Although we have many instructional recipes we are not a recipe site. There are many sites and books out there where you can obtain nutritional information. The only trouble I find with many of them is that they are often quite vague or more like estimates rather than exact counts. I tend to just look at ingredients of what I am making to determine how "healthy" it is. For example, these cookies have quite a few nuts and seeds in them, so I know they will be higher in fat, yet I also know that it would be a good fat. I also know that before I eat these cookies I am try to go for a run first so I don't really worry about the extra calories :-) I did do an online search for you and found this site which gives the nutritional count of the Whole Foods Power cookies, which is similar but I am not sure how similar. Hope this helps. Cheers!
  • Amanda R
    Amanda R
    Over the past 5 years I have been learning more and more about what I would call the 'natural health' foods. I have yet to see a cooking show about this topic! :::hint hint::: I love to see your recipe here, using spelt and coconut oil etc.... I have been milling my own grain for a while, and I am always happy to see a new recipe that can be used with the more unusual grains...I pretty much only make sourdough with spelt, so It's nice to have another option! Thanks for sharing, and I hope to see more recipes like this in mainstream media...
  • Hesham K
    Hesham K
    Faye, if you're interested in the nutritional information on any foods you can get a pretty accurate analysis done by using Wolfram Alpha's computational knowledge engine. Here is a link to some examples of what it can do regarding food and nutrition (it also does a heck of a lot more!). http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/FoodAndNutrition.html So you might be able to get an analysis of these cookies if you typed "1/4 cup butter + 1/4 cup coconut oil + (continue listing ingredients...)" Note that this should work if you use any units, grams, milliliters, etc.. Wolfram alpha is adept at unit conversion. N.B.: I'm not affiliated with Wolfram Alpha in anyway.
  • Joe G
    Joe G
    Here's another one that you might find helpful. http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php Check it out. Make sure to set the number or servings as well. You'll actually have to cut and paste the ingredients from each step but works quite well.
  • Kimberley S Rouxbe Staff
    Kimberley S
    These cookies are a yummy treat even if you aren't signed up for the Full 21 :) I made a big batch, shaped them and put them in the freezer. I bake a few off whenever I need an extra boost with my afternoon coffee. Good luck at the race on Sunday Dawn & Joe!
  • Mirna T
    Mirna T
    Where i live, we have Carob molasses, raisin molasses and date palm molasses....is anyone of these good for the recipe or i have to found the sugar cane molasses ? I think the taste of the cookies will definitely change because each one of them has its own strong flavor.
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    The type of molasses I used is sugar cane molasses. I have not tried any other kinds. I would suggest that you use the one that you like the best flavor-wise. Alternatively, you could try using black treacle (which is quite similar to molasses), dark corn syrup, maple syrup, honey or you could try using more brown sugar (approx. 3/4 of the volume). As I did with these cookies, I experimented to see what worked and what I preferred. Hope this helps. Cheers!
  • Mirna T
    Mirna T
    Thank you Dawn for your reply , of course it helps :) I think i am gonna use honey or maple syrup instead , it will be a good substitute. The other types of molasses have a very strong and totally different flavor. But I will give them a try some day and let you know the difference. Thanks for the recipe, I am going to try it very soon.
  • Bonnie D
    Bonnie D
    I learned about this site about a year ago. You can enter your recipe amounts and ingredients and it will figure out the nutritional info for it. Kind of a cool site to bookmark. I was wondering about the nutritional data for Rouxbe recipes too, but understand that the focus of this school is cooking and the techniques behind it. Thank you for a great experience!
  • Bonnie D
    Bonnie D
    Nutrition data: http://nutritiondata.self.com
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    Great link... very interesting guide. Thanks for sharing.
  • Tom D
    Tom D
    I just made these today with blackstrap molasses and they turned out great. I thought the flavor would be a little too strong but it balanced out after cooking. Another successful recipe. Thnx Roube.
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    That's what we like to hear Tom—so glad that you liked the cookies! By the way, they also happen to freeze quite well, both raw and cooked. I generally shape them and freeze them raw and then bake them off whenever we feel like having a treat. Cheers!
  • Tom D
    Tom D
    There's no way I would bake off 18 of these things right away..are you crazy!? They would be gone in a heartbeat in my house. I have 12 in the fridge which I'll freeze then bake them off from frozen; I'll add 2-3 mins to the baking time for those nuggets. ;-)
  • Kalyn S
    Kalyn S
    I have a recipe that asks for yacon powder, but the only thing I could find was yacon syrup. Should I use less of the syrup since it is more concentrated? How much syrup should I use if they ask for 1/2 cup of powder?
  • Ken R Rouxbe Staff
    Ken R
    Hi Kalyn- Great question. I'd use the syrup and just reduce any liquid by 1/3 cup or so. They key is in balancing hydration and recognizing that liquid sweeteners create a wetter recipe formula. You can also, conversely, just increase the level of dry ingredients a bit to balance it out. ~Ken
  • Amanda W
    Amanda W
    There is an '*' beside the rolled oat ingredient; however I do not see a 'note' for it and was wondering if there was a reason (i.e., substitution?) Thanks
  • Dawn T
    Dawn T
    Oops, sorry, the asterix has been removed. Cheers!
  • Amanda W
    Amanda W
    ;)
  • Hazel M
    Hazel M
    Hi Dawn, The link of you blogpost is not working. I am trying to read it.
  • Vicki B
    Vicki B
    Regarding the question of substitutions for spelt flour, I’ve used whole grain wheat flour with great results

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