Many of us found ourselves digging into Dustin Klein’s EBD YouTube page last month, where Ron and Dustin took on the Oregon Timber Trail's newest published route “Stiletsi & the White Crane,” a Mt. Hood tier loop. We were charmed by Dustin’s enthusiasm and Ron’s hilarious commentary. Anyone that spends hours on the bike the way gravel riders and bikepackers do know the importance of good ride fuel, which is perhaps why Dustin’s snack breaks resonate with us. So when at 2:22 Ron breaks out his homemade Garbanzo Power Cookies, our interest was piqued. Garbanzo cookies? Can those be good? So we asked Ron for the recipe. Spoiler alert: yeah, they’re both healthy and delicious.

Personally, I’m a fan of less sweet ride food that leaves out processed sugar. You know, looking for more of a slow burn. Anyway, we bugged Ron for his recipe. (see below) Thank you for sharing, Ron!

These extremely palatable vegan Garbanzo Turboblasters are packed with portable clean-burning nutrition. Keep them small enough to go down in a single bite and they are super convenient on the trail. The apple, raw nuts, and sea salt create a delicate balance of sweet to savory.

Ron Lewis Garbanzo Turboblasters

Ingredients

- 1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

- 1/2 cup peanut butter

- 1 apple, cored

- 4 pitted Medjool dates

- 1/4 cup raw cashews*

- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds*

- 2 T maple syrup

- 1 t cinnamon

- 1 t sea salt

- 1 t vanilla extract

- 3/4 cup rolled oats

- 1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips (mini-chips recommended)

*Note: substitute whatever nuts you have on hand. We also tried hazelnuts and walnuts instead of cashews and they turned out great.

Directions

Process all but the chocolate chips in a food processor, with the apple going in last. Be sure to get everything evenly mixed but leave small chunks throughout, blend until the apple is mixed in but still slightly chunky.

The nuts you put in your food processor will end up fine ground, so for texture, we folded in some roughly chopped nuts to our batter as well.

When the dough is mostly smooth, stir in the chocolate chips (and any additional roughly chopped nuts)

Scoop the dough into 1-1/2" cookie balls on a parchment/silicone-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes. Let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes before moving.

Also a huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Fifteenmile Trail stewarship event, or any stewardship event for that matter. It’s a treat to see the same backcountry trail being enjoyed by riders just months later, as was the case with Ron and Dustin riding the Stiletsi and White Crane route.

And finally… to maintain these backcountry trails, we couldn’t do any of our planned trail work, projects like the Watson Fire Rehab, the Fugrass Connection, and weekend loops like this one without your donations. We’re working to build community and provide outdoor opportunities for generations to come. Please be a part of our mission and donate this month. Your donations help keep trails like Fifteenmile open and tools and boots on the ground. This is your trail. Get involved today.

VIEW THE ROUTE ➜