Those cookies are made from lentils?! Crazy! Crazy good!

 Raisin spice (lentil) cookies


So, in constant pursuit of ways in which to sneak in protein to my picky son's diet, I have given these cookies a try.

If you've been following my posts, you already know why we should be eating lots of lentils anyway. Making them into "healthy" cookies is just pure genius. I mean really, if you have kids you probably have at least one picky eater. Just don't tell anyone what is in them!

Here is the recipe I came up with:

3/4 cup brown lentils, uncooked

1 1/2 cups water or coconut milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup pumpkin (I keep cubes of frozen pumpkin the freezer for recipes such as this. Cut up your leftover pumpkins and freeze them for muffins, stews, curries, smoothies, etc. You can also use canned pumpkin)

1/2 cup unbleached flour

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour(next time I make these I will add in some quinoa flour to the mix and see what happens)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoons orange peel

  handful of raisins and dried orange cranberries- you could toss in some chocolate chips if you are so inclined and of course any nuts you might have on hand.

Rinse lentils and combine with water in a pan. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and cover pot. Simmer for 40 minutes or until tender. 

.

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add honey/syrup and butter and cream until smooth. Add the vanilla, pumpkin, and cooked lentils, use an immersion blender to puree into a smooth mixture. In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt, baking powder, spices and orange peel. Add to the lentil mixture and combine well. Fold in dried fruit.

Drop by teaspoons on a parchment lined or greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 12 minutes, or until they look done. 

 Yup. They were good. And Remy ate three of them in one sitting.

xo Jo