Breaking news! Stop the presses! I, Badass Colavecchio, am officially giving you permission to eat cookies and pudding for breakfast. Yep, you read that correctly. Creamy pudding. Chewy cookies. Before 10 a.m.!
Of course, I'm not talking about just any old chocolate pudding or chunky chocolate chip cookie. I am talking about pudding and cookies worthy of feeding these temples of Badass we're building.
The pudding recipe, I am proud to say, I made up myself one morning as I looked in my refrigerator and thought, hmmm, what to eat? I spotted a container of the nonfat plain Greek yogurt I love, but I was out of berries to mix in. And for whatever reason, I remember the chocolate protein powder I always have in my pantry. So I mixed in 1 scoop, and voila! 'Pudding.'
Creamy Protein Pudding
- 1 6-ounce container of plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I like Fage or Chobani)
- 1 scoop protein powder, your fave flavor (I like chocolate, Muscle Milk light)
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
Mix it all together and spoon the deliciousness into your hungry mouth! Less than 200 calories, about 30 grams of protein), and less than 15 carbs.
The breakfast cookie recipe comes courtesy of my brother's lovely girlfriend, a devoted Badass Fitness reader who is workin' on her fitness and healthy eating. Rita found this recipe from her new food Bible, "The 1,500-Calorie-a-Day Cookbook." They are high in fiber and calcium, and give you a boost of vitamins A and C.
Rita likes to make a batch on the weekend, and then she bags them up as to-go breakfast for weekdays when she is on campus. Great idea! Same concept as the No-Bake Protein Bars I made last week. And I'd even keep these around for a mid-afternoon snack to replace a granola or protein bar, or for a healthy dessert when the sweet tooth strikes.
Breakfast Cookies
- 4 cups high protein, high-fiber cereal, such as Kashi GOLEAN Crunch!
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 large egg plus 2 egg whites
- 2/3 cup dried cherries
Preheat the oven to 350.Place the cereal in a food processor and process to a crumb texture. Add the remaining ingredients, except the cherries, and process until well blended. Remove the blade and stir in the cherries.
Line a large cookie sheet with foil, and coat the foil with cooking spray. Spoon batter in 1/4 cup amounts onto the cookie sheet, leaving a 2-inch space between the cookies. Bake 12 minutes or until slightly golden on edges.
Do not overbake; the cookies will not look totally done at this point, but they will continue to cook while cooling. Slide the foil (while the cookies are still on top) off the cookie sheet and let stand 7 minutes before removing the cookies. Makes 12 cookies total. Serves 4 (though you could just eat 2 at a time and stretch it out to 6 servings. 350 calories (based on 3 cookies), 7 grams of fat, 14 grams of protein, 62 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fiber.
Coming up: It's Friday! Shake that groove thang!
