Recipe by: Olin G of Corvallis
MONEY SAVED: $5-$10 worth of past-prime ingredients
Whenever I’m in Salem I stop at the See’s Chocolates store, and last time I bought a box of assorteds for a future Valentine’s Day. Not wanting to spoil the surprise for my sweetie, I tucked them away deep in the cupboard — and forgot about them! When I finally discovered them (about 1-1/2 years later), the creams had dried-up inside and went into compost. Surprisingly, the thick milk chocolate covering still tasted OK and could be shaved off with a knife.
Also in my cupboard I found a container of outdated chocolate whey protein (01/2018) and pancake/waffle mix (“best by” 10/22/2017). In my fridge, I found some very old (~5 years) shredded coconut and merely-old coconut oil (“best by” 05/2020).
Undaunted by those so-called “expiration dates,” I looked up recipes using chocolate, whey powder, and coconut.
On muscleandstrength.com, I found a recipe for mini coconut chocolate chip protein cookies, using whey protein powder, coconut flour, and oat flour. I decided to substitute the flours with the pancake/waffle mix by weight. I substituted the chocolate covering from the candies for the chocolate chips. Finally, I doubled the recipe to use up more of my outdated ingredients.
RECIPE (leftover ingredients clearly identified):
1/2 cup (120 g) of chocolate whey protein powder*
1-1/2 cups of pancake/waffle mix*
1/2 tsp baking soda (in addition to that already in the mix)
6 large egg whites (save yolks for something else!)
1/2 cup reduced-fat coconut milk
6 tbsp coconut oil, melted*
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut (or 1/4 cup more for a drier, firmer cookie)*
1 cup milk chocolate shavings from candies (or chips)*
1/2 tsp stevia extract powder, or as desired for sweetness
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Sift together dry ingredients, whisk together wet ingredients, then combine in bowl and fold-in coconut and chocolate bits.
Drop batter onto parchment paper lined baking sheet in tablespoon size servings.
Bake for 12 minutes, then cool for 20 minutes.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Option: Frost with a nut butter.
Other thoughts, details, ideas to share
These cookies are not sweet for a dessert, and would make a suitable breakfast protein pancake.
As the photo shows, I decided to store them in the original Valentine candy box!