Choose-Your-Trail Mix Cookies for Rebecca Rusch

We all have a lucky charm of some sort. A token, that favorite pair of socks, that special treat in your pocket…something that evokes good feelings, memories + has the power to perk us, power us + save the day. So a Trails Less Traveled Trail Mix Cookie for Rebecca Rusch felt most fitting for this this second installment of #HeroCookies where as I ask some of the most inspiring athletes around what flavors, ingredients and memories are fueling them forward, and make a recipe to match!

As the Culinary Director at Skratch Labs, I distinctly recall delivering a tray of warm rice bowls and homebaked cookies to Rebecca Rusch’s PR camp at Sea Otter where the ground-breaking adventuress and endurance legend Was holding an event. “Rebecca Rusch was fueled by MY COOKIES!” I thought.

So you can imagine the joy in actually collaborating with her to create a cookie recipe. The result? These Trails Less Traveled Trail Mix Cookies for Rebecca Rusch are the second recipe in my #HeroCookie series! (Insert adult-like squeal of glee.)

Trail Mix Cookies for a Trail Blazer

I expected that a cookie epitomizing a woman as honestly badass as Rebecca was going to be a serious challenge. Would it be something nutritionally dense that could survive a 1000-mile trans-Alaskan quest? Perhaps she wanted a waterproof cookie that would remain un-soggied as she rows a flimsy canoe across the South China Sea? These are not strange requests for the likes of Rebecca Rusch.

Echoing Robert Frost, Rebecca has also taken the road less traveled when presented with the option. And it’s made all the difference for her as well. “Each and every day we’re faced with choices that shape who we are,” she says. “And those choices can be decided with pressure or passion.”

Oh the places cookies can go

Rebecca has chosen passion over pressure, always. As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Rebecca tied on a pair of cross country sneakers and ran out the door. She found a love for exploration, movement, teamwork and, yes, the road less traveled. Rebecca still in those shoes, and has spent the past 30-year long career “chasing firsts” around the world.

{I’ve} “lived for days with my feet off the ground in Yosemite; spent hours under the hood of my truck with grease up to the elbows; picked leeches off my team mates’ private parts in Borneo” she says. The accomplishments she’s most proud of are “my longevity, evolution and integrity as an athlete and a human.  I am proud to be maintaining a career that continually challenges and inspires myself and others to Be Good.”

Rebecca’s #HeroCookies

I’m so proud to create a recipe to fuel Rebecca’s tenacious adventurism, and more. Here’s what she had to say about her #HeroCookies:

What’s your hero cookie? (Or is it a cookie hero?) 

{My #HeroCookie} answers the question – “what’s around that corner? What’s over there?” This cookie would be fueling, healthy, soothing, comforting, fun, inspired, adventurous. For the trails less traveled. Rocky, dirty, undulating. Comforting, but unpredictable.”

If you close your eyes and imagine yourself eating this cookie, where are you?

“Outside, high on a mountain peak…somewhere new and unknown…sweaty, tired, elated from the work. Celebrating the gift of the summit and the view and already looking at the next peak over there….”

What’s fueling you through these challenging pandemic times?

You can’t sit still. One must evolve. Do not give up. This is hands down one of the most challenging times ever.  I have to keep inspiring and challenging myself.  It’s hard but essential. We are only half way through this race and it’s time to dig in and not quit. Giving up is not an option. Community is  key. “

Cookies for the Trails Less Traveled

These cookies! My Trail Mix Cookie for Rebecca are even better than waterproof or freeze-resistant; you actually choose your own cookie adventure as you bake! My recipe is inspired by the original trusted energy source – trail mix! So, it’s crammed with toasted nuts, dried fruit, hearty oats, and chocolate. ANYTHING can become “trail mix,” so as you bake your cookies, you decide all the delicious little nubs and surprises to include.

Here are a few combinations Rebecca + I have taste-test approved:

• mix of mango, cranberry, blueberry and almond, hazelnut, walnuts with chocolate
• mix of ginger and cherry with pumpkin seed, almond, sunflower and chocolate
• apricots with mix of cashew, almond, sunflower, pumpkin seed, chocolate
• and next up I want to try a combination with all the nuts, golden raisins and butterscotch!

Notes from Rebecca on Choosing Your Own Adventure

If you’re looking for some additional ways to choose your own adventure, and Be Good, Rebecca has some ideas for that too:

Rebecca hopes that when you bake + enjoy these cookies, you’re inspired to be brave. To be bold. To use that cookie power to Be Good, and to do good for others too. And, to not just embrace the unexpected, but to enjoy it. And, she has a few ideas for places/actual adventures where your trail mix cookies will fit right in!

• If you’re looking to ride through the winter, build some character + your winter base join her at Basecamp.

• Registration for Rebecca’s Private Idaho opens in December! Keep an eye out!
• AND, if you’re an MTB Coach + looking to give back, consider joining her + The Be Good Foundation through their MTB Equity Coaching Coalition!

Notes from Lentine on Trail Mix Cookies

Quickly before you get baking:

This very forgiving recipe can easily be manipulated to be made vegan, dairy-free or gluten-free. Simply use your favorite swap for butter and eggs, gluten-free oats or a cup-for-cup gluten free flour.

Happy baking, friends! Get out there, enjoy the adventure!

‘Trails Less Traveled’ Trail Mix Cookies for Rebecca Rusch

servings: 12 cookies

ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups favorite nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc)
• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 large egg
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 2 Tbsp granulated cane sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup dried fruit or candied ginger (preferably unsweetened)
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks or dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (preferably whole grain)

instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Spread the nuts and oats over a baking sheet and toast until fragrant + just golden – about 5minutes. Watch carefully as you don’t want the smaller seeds to burn! Pull the sheet pan from theoven and allow the nuts and oats to cool to room temperature.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, sugars, vanilla and salt until acohesive mixture is formed. Allow the mixture to stand while the oats and nuts cool.
4. Add the dried fruit or ginger and chopped chocolate to the egg mixture. Stir to combine. Add the flour, the baking soda, and then the nut and oat mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon (or with your hands,) squeezing and pressing to combine.
5. Allow the cookie batter to chill 2 hours, or up to 3 days. This allows the cookies to set, and for the baked cookies to have a lovely texture.
6. Preheat your oven to 350°F again if it’s no longer on. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Usea 1⁄3 cup measure to scoop cookie batter out onto the sheet pan, pressing down the dough intodisks. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
7. Bake the cookies until golden around the edges and very fragrant, 11-13 minutes.
8. Allow to cool on the baking sheet. Then pack + enjoy often!