I love making cookies without regular wheat flour and load them with healthy ingredients, like I did for my Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies, Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies, or Hemp Cookies. It makes a super-healthy alternative to classic cookies and the recipe is even easier to make!
Ingredients and Substitutions
You just need a few basic ingredients for these cookies:
Canned Brown Lentils – Choose low-sodium or no-salt-added canned lentils. Cooked green lentils can be used as an alternative. Peanut Butter – I use natural, unsalted peanut butter. Almond butter or sunflower seed butter can be substituted for different flavors or allergies. Maple Syrup – Use pure maple syrup. Agave nectar, coconut nectar, or date syrup can be used as alternatives. Oat Flour – Choose gluten-free certified oat flour if needed. You can make your own by blending rolled oats into a fine powder. Vanilla Extract – Use pure vanilla extract. Almond extract can be used for a different flavor profile. Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips – Select dairy-free dark chocolate chips. Cacao nibs or chopped nuts can be used for variation.
How to Make Lentil Cookies
This is quite an easy recipe to whip up, and it starts with pulsing the lentils.
Expert Tips
Rinse the canned lentils thoroughly to remove any excess sodium and improve the texture of the cookies. For a smoother texture, blend the lentils separately before adding other ingredients. If the batter is too wet, add more oat flour one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. For a firmer cookie, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before shaping and baking. Try different mix-ins like dried fruit, nuts, or seeds for added texture and flavor. To enhance the protein content further, add a tablespoon of chia seeds or hemp seeds to the batter. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for up to a week.