On Friday, before heading out of town for a weekend-long camping and hiking trip to the Michaux State Forest in Pennsylvania, I decided that chia seeds had won a few battles, but that they would not win the war—at least not without a fight on my end.
To review: chia fresca tasted like chunky snot; chia in yogurt was OK, but only when masked with fruit and nuts; chia bars were delicious, but left my sensitive stomach feeling kind of icky.
Nina at Transition Multisport posted a delicious-sounding chia cookie recipe on a previous blog post on this topic, so I decided to try my own version, with foods I knew to cooperate with my stomach.
I started with stomach-friendly ingredients.
I combined two tablespoons of chia seeds, half a cup of oatmeal, some Truvia, some vanilla, an egg, and a pinch of baking soda in a food processor.
So far, so good ...
I divided the batter into two globs, then baked in the toaster oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. The results were totally delicious—the chia seeds actually tasted like poppy seeds, making me think a bit of lemon juice would make these suitable for a healthy dessert!
Yum!
The jury’s still out on how these sit on my stomach. I’m typically fine with fiber-licious foods, so if there’s a problem here, it’s definitely chia-specific. I’m going to do a few more test runs (literally) before adding these to the repertoire.
As for the long-lasting energy promised in “Born to Run,” the jury has finished deliberations, and has decided that I feel absolutely no different after consuming chia seeds. I discussed this phenomenon with my running buddies on the aforementioned camping trip this past weekend. I was the only sucker—erm, kitchen adventurer—to have tried the seeds, but we all agreed there was a simpler, more sensible way to guarantee long-lasting energy: peanut butter, which fueled our 10-mile hike that day.
What’s your go-to food for long-lasting energy? If you’ve tried chia seeds, how did they work out for you: magical superfood, or just another ingredient?
Amy Reinink 
I’ve never tried chia seeds….hmm very interesting-might have to cook some of those cookies.
Well duh, there aren’t any chocolate chips in these cookies! Thats why you aren’t feeling totally energized 😉
Maybe it’s the angle of your camera but they look enormous.
Lemony cookies sound good to me!
Ha! SO true! Is there any better fuel than chocolate chips AND peanut butter? These cookies are ginormous, and they actually do OK with my stomach, after another test run … worth a try, at least!
So far… no magic powers with chia for me! But I do like the taste and texture it adds to oatmeal. However, I have had some uncomfortable digestion issues since I incorporated them and I hadn’t linked the possibility of the chia being responsible until you mentioned it. Maybe that’s the case… Hmm…
I love that you’ve been so experimental with these!! Just catching up on your posts and I see bars *and* cookies? Both successful? 🙂 very impressed.