These cookies are loaded with plant based protein, fiber, healthy fats and a whole lot of goodies! They’re chewy, satisfying and just the right amount of sweetness. I like to think of them as a hybrid between banana bread and an oatmeal cookie, but I couldn’t resist and got crazy one day cleaning the pantry and decided to throw in nuts and chocolate. I have even swapped out banana, cinnamon and nutmeg and substituted with 3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree and 1tsp pumpkin spice. Swap your coconut for pumpkin seeds and you basically have the best pumpkin cookie ever! Yay for PSL season!

The best part about these gluten free cookies is that you can switch up the toppings with any dried fruit or nut you like. Or leave them out altogether if you want. Raisins aren’t your thing? No problem, use some dried cranberries or blueberries instead. Not a fan of pecans, use walnuts. Want to substitute your peanut butter for almond butter, go for it! My sons favorite add in’s are M&M’s! While mine are hemp seeds. There really is no wrong way to make this cookie. Sometimes when I’m feeling fancy, I drizzle some melted chocolate on the top for some added sweetness.

Tip: To make your own oat flour all you need is a high speed blender or food processor. Just place your old fashioned rolled oats in the blender and whiz them up until they are a flour like consistency. Don’t skip this step, you need the density from the oat flour to help bind your cookies. Almond flour alone will be too loose. (Ask me how I know?!) If you don’t have a gluten sensitivity, you can use all purpose flour in place of the almond and oat flour.

Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 25 min Total Time 40 min

Ingredients

1. 1 ripe banana
2. ¼ cup natural peanut butter
3. ¼ cup avocado oil/vegetable oil/or coconut oil
4. ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (or pumpkin purée)
5. ¼ cup maple syrup (or agave)
6. 2 eggs (you can also you flax or chia seed egg)
7. 1 tsp vanilla
8. ½ cup raisins (or dried fruit of your choice)
9. ¾ cup chocolate chips
10. ½ chopped pecan (or nut of your choice)
11. ¼ unsweetened shredded coconut
12. 1 ¾ cups old fashion oats
13. ½ cup oat flour
14. 1 cup almond flour
15. 1 tsp cinnamon
16. ¼ tsp nutmeg
17. ½ tsp baking soda
18. 1 tsp baking powder
19. ¼ tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, mash up your banana and then mix in the remaining wet ingredients; peanut butter, oil, applesauce, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla until well combined, then set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine all your dry ingredients; oats, oat flour, almond flour, shredded coconut, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Next, combine the wet mixture with the dry ingredient bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined.
5. Fold in all the fun stuff.
6. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet for each cookie. (I like to make them large, because they are Monster-iffic after all!)
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown.
8. Once out of the oven, allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to fully cool and set.
9. Optional: In microwave, melt 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips and drizzle over cooled cookies. Let set 1 hour.
10. Enjoy with a tall glass of almond milk or store in an airtight container for 3-5 days (if they last that long before someone eats them all!).

Cookie Storage Tip:

I learned this many years ago from my sweet Stepmother, Lisa. She is the original cookie baking queen. When storing soft baked cookies, place a piece of good old fashioned white bread (or wheat bread) whatever you have on hand, in the bottom of your container. Your cookies will last twice as long!

Friendship.

The dictionary defines of a good friend as a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. A friend is someone who provides support when times are tough, or someone you can rely on to celebrate a special moment with you. You might see them everyday, once a year, or less. Or, you might hardly see them, but keep in touch by phone, email, or online. Some friends will come and go throughout the different seasons of your life, but true friends will stay with you forever. Having great friends to share your life with is a gift like no other.

I am blessed. I have so many amazing friends. I could go on and on about them, they are pretty cool peeps. But today I want to talk about one friend in particular. We met merely by chance, as we are from different parts of the world. She has become one of my favorite people, my girl, Bogi. Bogi and I were introduced to each other in 2009. She was the fiancé of my then boyfriend’s best friend, now my husband. She has so many amazing qualities. She is silly, we are always laughing when we are together. She is inquisitive, and super smart. My favorite thing about her is her heart. She is the truest person I have ever known. She will never judge you, or make you uncomfortable. She is genuinely concerned for the well being of her friends. Maybe it is just her culture, she is Hungarian, but I think its just her sincere personality. She is a very special person and I am so happy the universe brought us together. (Even though we are apart right now) — insert crying face here.

Combined we have spent more years that I can count trying to conceive. We have both been through some pretty hard times in that department. She is now the mother the most adorable twin girls, Sophie and Ella. You will meet them in Champ and Nessie, they are twin sea turtles. Like their Momma, they are apart of our journey to help encourage us to not give up. They are little rays of sunshine and we could not be more in love.

Hello and Welcome to Champ & Nessie! My name is Sherry Frayne, momma to a wonderful son, wife to the most amazing man, working girl, writer and now blogger! Writing about myself is the last topic on earth I would ever choose to write about. But I feel it’s necessary to introduce myself finally and say hello! I recently launched Champ and Nessie’s blog in April 2019 in preparation for our upcoming book release August 29, 2019! Yay! Follow along on Instagram for giveaways, updates and details, @champandnessie.

Along with book content and fun facts surrounding the setting and creatures in our story, I will be sharing my own interests that range from books, interesting articles, crafts, recipes, mom life and more. Writing is a dream I have had for a long time. Since college when my English Professor told me I should be a writer. However, I was working as a clerk in the Emergency Room and then I was promoted. I was also caption editing for the New York Post, a gig my Professor put me onto. But the years just flew by and I decided not to pursue a career in editing. Sometimes the universe just has a different plan in mind. Along with my full time day job, I have been working as a freelance content creator for many other awesome blogs, but that’s a story for another day.

I feel so grateful for the opportunity to share our story, and our actual “story”, Champ and Nessie. It has been a long and bumpy road that led us to our book launch this August. I have learned so much along the way. Sometimes the imperfections and mishaps in life bring us to the version of perfection we need most. What can I say, I am a type-A, Italian tempered, control freak and I am an Aries.

Becoming a Mom has been absolutely the most humbling, moving, frightening, exhausting, and wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. But it left me wondering, how do we balance Motherhood (a whole world in itself), our marriages, work, friendships, and our own personal hobbies or interests? The struggle is real! You kind of know on some level, but no one tells you when you become a Mom you sacrifice your body, sleep, social life, spending money, drinking hot coffee, peeing alone, patience, energy and sanity. But we do it all unapologetically for LOVE. If you ask any mom (or dad, or caregiver) they will say the same thing, “Its worth every second and inconvenience.” And/or “I would do it all over again.” Every day I learn I have new strength I didn’t know I had, and deal with fears and concerns I never knew existed. Its a delicate balance between having a nervous breakdown, and just knowing I am doing the best I can.

My hope is that this Blog and our book will be a way to connect with fellow moms, dads, writers, children’s book lovers and anyone who feels like dropping by our page. I look forward to exchanging tips and sharing stories.

Please take a moment to explore our website, check out the Fun Stories About Us section! I look forward to connecting with you all!