Alton Brown’s Lentil Cookies Are ‘Sneaky Eats, as Well as Good Eats’

If the thought of cookies featuring lentils just doesn’t sound right, think again.

Celebrity chef Alton Brown’s moist and hearty legume-filled cookies are easy to make and wholesome snacks. And they’re a kind of clever way to get a nutritional powerhouse into a yummy treat.

Brown’s lentil cookies are like other cookies … almost

The chef’s just-sweet-enough cookies call for whole-wheat pastry flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, sugar, unsalted butter, an egg, vanilla extract, rolled oats, dried fruit, unsweetened dried shredded coconut, and a lentil puree of blended lentils and water.

“Lentils are very good at playing, well, not lentils,” Brown said in an episode of his hit Food Network show Good Eats (link to video can be found below). “For instance, they’ve long been used as a meat substitute. You might even say that they are the penitent man’s protein, since anybody who couldn’t afford fish used to eat lentils during Lent. … What if I told you that lentils also work and play well in the world of baked goods? Interested? I thought so.

“… Historically significant, nutritionally magnificent, lentils are versatile, easy to prepare, and darn tasty. Who wouldn’t love a vegetable that can turn into a cookie without anyone being any the wiser? That’s sneaky eats, as well as good eats.”

Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.

The chef’s cookies are easy to make

Using red lentils for the recipe, Brown simmers them in a pot with water for about half an hour, “until the lentils are just barely tender.” When they’ve reached that softened state, they can be pureed in a food processor or blender and set aside. Allow the lentils to cool as you prepare the rest of the cookie ingredients.

In the meantime, the dry ingredients are whisked together in a large bowl and the Iron Chef host explains why he prefers pastry flour for this particular cookie.

“Pastry flour is important here because it has a slightly lower protein content than all-purpose flour,” he said. “Less protein, more tender baked good.”

The sugar is creamed with the butter in a mixer, after which an egg is blended into the mixture as well as the rest of the wet ingredients, including the pureed lentils. Once the lentils are “thoroughly integrated” into the mixer ingredients, then the flour mixture is gradually added.

“I like to use just a paper plate for this, it’s a little easier to dose,” Brown notes. “Might have to turn down the speed a little bit, so everything doesn’t fly all over the kitchen.”

Brown’s final step is stirring into the batter what he calls “the chunkies”: the oats, dried cranberries, and coconut flakes. Spoon the batter onto a baking sheet and place it in a 375-degree F oven for about 17 minutes.

Reviewers were more than a little surprised at Brown’s delicious lentil cookies

At first glance, any recipe titled Lentil Cookies just seems weird. But many home cooks chimed in to Food Network’s site to report that the little treats are actually satisfying, tasty, and a new favorite.

“I have never cooked with lentils before but trust Alton Brown’s recipes. The lentil puree doesn’t smell or look appetizing but these cookies are delicious. You’ll never bake oatmeal raisin cookies again,” one person stated.

Another reviewer appreciated the snack’s hidden wholesomeness: “I am always looking for a healthy cookie recipe. This one is great, you wouldn’t even know there were lentils in it unless you were told.”

Alton Brown’s lentil treats will teach us to give a cookie recipe a shot despite its strange name, and this one is clearly worth the effort.