By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD @therecipedoctor
Recently named one of 10 “dietitians making a difference” by Today’s Dietitian Magazine
Rumor has it we are all craving comfort foods during this difficult time. And why wouldn't we? Just biting into a comfort food takes you back to a time when you felt happy and nourished, loved and cared for. It's hard to argue with that kind of power.
In life's trials and tribulations and even in its little celebrations along the way, we tend to turn to our favorite comfort foods. When we are anxious or fearful, we fall back to foods we associate with times of lowest stress--perhaps foods from our childhood. But many of these "feel-good foods" come with a rather steep nutritional price tag: comfort foods are generally high in calories, saturated fat and sometimes sugar. Many of the more nostalgic comfort foods became staples on our dinner tables at a time when Americans actually needed calorie-dense meals to keep up with their physically demanding jobs.
Fast forward to today, can any good come from eating comfort foods? You bet! In addition to possibly functioning as stress reducers, many of the most popular comfort foods may offer significant nutritional value (especially when they've been lightened in calories, sugar and saturated fat and boosted in fiber and other nutrients).
Which brings us to this recipe for Peanut Butter Bomb Cookies! Peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies make most people's top 20 list of comfort foods. I've joined those two favorite cookies together in this scrumptious and satisfying recipe for Peanut Butter Bomb Cookies. Making peanut butter the base starts this cookie on the best path nutritionally because peanuts have the highest amount of protein compared to other nuts (7 grams of protein per 1-ounce serving) and most of the fat is good fat-- 12 grams of the 14 grams total fat are unsaturated -- the kind that we should eat more often.
Bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips or M&Ms dark chocolate compliments the YUM of the peanut butter. Sugar has been cut as low as it can go while whole wheat flour is mostly used along with your choice of light margarine or whipped butter. So at least when it comes to this comfort food, we've got you covered!
Get the recipe for Peanut Butter Bomb Cookies here.