A little something sweet: Lentil cookies are grain-free and oh so chewy

So I was at Regina's Farmer's Market recently, and found a new flour, made of red lentils. I've used lentils for soups and curries quite a bit, but haven't baked with them much. (It's possible with whole lentils that are freshly cooked or canned, too. See lentil.ca for recipes.) 

Compared to typical grains like wheat, lentils are much higher in two key nutrients, fiber and protein. In fact, in a cup of dry lentils (the closest comparison available), there is 58g of fiber and 50g of protein. Enriched all-purpose flour, in contrast, contains just 3 or 4g of fiber and 13g protein per cup. Lentils also have white flour - even enriched white flour, with some vitamins & minerals added back in - beat when it comes to iron and B-vitamins like folate. Cup of dry lentils = 80% of your daily value for iron, and 230%DV for folate. Regular flour has less than half that. 

So, while I love whole grains, including whole grain whole wheat flour for baking, lentil flour has it beat in the nutritional comparison. Only question now is: how does it taste? 

Lentil Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

Oh-so-tasty! Be careful not to overcook these, and they'll be soft and chewy and feature all the flavours you expect from a peanut butter cookie. 

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 

2. Mix together: 

• 1/2 cup red lentil flour (or other flour you have on hand)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy preferred)
• 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar blend (or 1 cup white or brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

3. Scoop heaping teaspoons of batter into clean hands, and form into balls, flattening to cookie shape. I got about 15, plus a little extra batter to taste raw (not recommended if you are at all prone to food borne illness).

4. Bake about 10 minutes. Cookies are done when they appear puffed, and the bottoms are starting to turn color, but the tops remain quite pale. 

5. Allow to cool, then enjoy! 

Nutrition Info
This is a healthy-ish dessert item that's all about the pleasure of eating a little something sweet. If you're hungry or need specific nutrients, please look elsewhere.  

Each cookie contains about 120 calories, 6g of mostly-healthy fat, almost no sodium (50mg, 2%), but some potassium (170g, 4%), carbs comparable to a piece of bread or medium apple (17g), a little fiber (2g), and yes, some sugar (10g, about 2.5tsp), plus a little protein (4-5g). Key vitamin present is folate, at about 10% of daily requirements. If you choose to make this, though, please tell me it's not for the folate. :)