Say what?

What was that you put in these here cookies?  Beans.  Did you say beans?  Yup, beans. You mean like jelly beans right? Nope, I mean like legumes, a whole can of great northern beans.  But these cookies are good.  I know.  They don't taste like beans.  Cool, isn't it?

And so goes the conversations about one of the cookies I did this week, which I believe are very inappropriately named "Marathon Cookies" from Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com.  She has one of my favorite cooking blogs with a quality of photos I'll never come close to matching.  But 'Marathon Cookies' would lend one to believe you could eat them before or during a run ... well you could, I guess, but I wouldn't advise it!  But after a run or workout?  Absolutely!  Go to town on these - while not specifically 'low calorie' they are filled with fiber and some protein  and whole grain goodness and just a fraction of the fat in a regular cookie and all from a healthy oil.  The flavor is refreshing and boosted by the combination of anise seed and lemon zest and chopped dates & sesame seeds only add to the great texture.  Perhaps not your average 'cookie' in the traditional sense of the word, but a great, and healthy, snack none the less!

Now I'll confess, while I LOVE this cookie personally - and through my Weight Watchers cooking escapades have had some exposure to beans in baked goods in the past (black bean brownies anyone?) - but still I was nervous to provide this as an option for the cookie project.  I envision people eying it suspiciously, unwrapping and smelling it - breaking off a piece to take the tiniest of tastes .... then spewing it across the room and tossing the rest in the garbage! But my sense is the folks at Gilda's Club are far too polite for that - so, uh, instead they'd probably spit it in a napkin as they pretended to cough and then crush the whole thing up in a ball and shove it in their pocket so they could throw it out when they get home!! :)  But on a serious note, I'm sure people will try these, and some may even like them, and for the health conscious the pulsed oats and pureed beans along with all the other ingredients really make for a very refreshing, if not different, treat.

So then of course, to counteract the possible backlash from the Marathon Cookies I proceeded to pair them with one of the ultimate decadent cookies - Pecan Raisin Drops.  We're talking loads of butter and brown sugar and nuts and salt and raisins and the only thing that you could possibly do to improve this one would be to dip the whole thing in chocolate!  Hey, now there's an idea ... maybe next time ...