In my years as a vegan, I haven’t tried many superfood powders. Why? One simple reason: they’re expensive. I know a little bit goes a long way, but the price tag still deters me. But after hearing so much about the butterscotchy, energy-boosting maca, I had to get my hands on some.
An 8 oz. bag for $35, I don’t think so!
Bulk bins to the rescue! There on the bottom row next to all the grains and nuts and powders was red maca. I know nothing about the brand or quality, but its a good place to start. I walked out with a decent-sized scoop of maca powder for less than $5! Perfect for the maca-curious like me who isn’t ready for a bag-sized investment.
My take on the taste • Some superfood powders hit you over the head with their funky flavor (I’m looking at you lucuma). But maca was subtle, a bit nutty, a bit earthy. I can’t say I picked up on the butterscotch note, but other brands might be better. If you have any brand suggestions, let me know.
After tasting a finger full, my imagination began to wander in the recipe direction. The obvious option would be to blend up a smoothie. But why smoothie when you can cookie? And these superfood-laced cookies are almost as fruit-packed as a smoothie would be.
Maca is the real star in this splendid snack. But also on the ingredient list are dates to sweeten, oats to offset the date stickiness, and dried berries to look pretty. Substitute dried white mulberries for the oats and you have a raw version of these Bejeweled Maca Cookies.
Yield:
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PinIngredients
- 1 1/2 cup pitted medjool dates
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 tbsps maca powder
- Assorted dried berries for bejeweling (goji berries, mulberries, raisins, blueberries, goldenberries, etc.)
Instructions
- Grind the oats in a food processor.
- Add the dates and maca. Process to form a dough.
- Roll into 6 balls and flatten into cookies.
- Decorate with the berries.
- Refrigerate.
I may be new to maca, but other people have been doing great things with it for a while, like…
- Putting it in hot chocolate
- Baking up a stack of maca pancakes
- Maca caramel…enough said
- Pairing it with orange and cinnamon in muffins
- Or blending it into maca nicecream
I’ve got to get me some Maca! I’m also interested in trying Lucuma powder!
You can try Lucuma, but I don’t really recommend it. I have a little box that’s still 3/4 full sitting in my cabinet because it just tastes kind of funny. In my opinion it’s not worth the money.
AWESOME recipe! I do not go one day without oats or maca! Total hormone-balancing superfoods for ladies!!:) Love how simple these ingredients are!
Well then these guys are like an all-in-one hormone balancing package…and I didn’t even intend for them to be 🙂
Oh they are so pretty! I’ve used maca in smoothies and protein shakes, but never thought to try using it in cookies. Yum!
I haven’t tried it yet in smoothies haha. I’m not much of a smoothie drinker to be quite honest, but cookies I can do 🙂
I’ve never used maca before, but now I want to! Thanks for sharing, these cookies look so good. Did you buy the maca at a bulk bins in Whole Foods?
It’s always fun trying new flavors! Sadly no I didn’t get it at Whole Foods because the nearest Whole Foods is over 2 hours away from me 🙁 It was just a local health food store. I have dreams of living near a Whole Foods one day haha 🙂
These cookies are so pretty! I love making all different kinds of bars with dates so I can’t wait to try making these cookies.
Thank you Mona! It’s all about the decorations, makes ’em look a little fancy 🙂 I’m sure you could have fun decorating your bars too, I love a little art project with my baking!
I believe these cookies actually gave me so much energy! I like the taste of maca so these were lovely, I had them before my workout and they kept me going! lovely recipe Natalie x
Or maybe you’re just naturally a healthy energizer bunny who loves cookies 😉 haha