These Lentil Cookies are easy healthy, high-protein cookies made from canned lentils. There’s no protein powder needed to reach 8 grams of protein per serving. You will love that the cookie dough is gluten-free, vegan, and ready in 5 minutes by blending all the ingredients in your food processor.
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!
While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!
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Lentil Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Canned Brown Lentils - rinsed, drained
- ¾ cup Peanut Butter (Unsalted) - (note 1)
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup - (note 2)
- ⅓ cup Homemade Oat Flour - (note 3)
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¾ cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips - (note 4)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Line a cookie tray with parchment paper. Slightly oil the paper with coconut oil. Set aside.
- In a food processor place the rinsed, drained canned lentils with the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips!
- Blend at high speed for 30 seconds, stop, scrape down the bowl of the food processor, and repeat a few times until the batter is smooth and there are almost no lumps of lentils. It should not take more than 2 minutes in total.
- Pour the dark chocolate chips and pulse a few times to incorporate evenly in the cookie dough.
- The batter should be a bit sticky and thick. Spray a cookie dough scoop with oil, scoop some dough from the bowl, and release it onto the baking sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough, leaving a thumb of space between each cookie dough ball.
- Slightly wet your fingertips and flatten each cookie a little. These cookies will not expand in the oven, the shape you give now is the shape you get after baking them.
- Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) until the cookie base is golden brown and crusty on top. The cookies stay very soft, and that is normal, they are fudgy cookies.
- Let the cookies cool on the rack for 10 minutes, then slide a spatula under each, to transfer them onto a cooling rack.
- Cool for 1 hour or until they reach room temperature before eating.
Notes
Equipment
Nutrition
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.
Place the lentils and the other ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.
Process until it forms a thick mixture and remove the blade.
Incorporate the chocolate chips with a spatula and scoop the dough with a cookie scoop.
Flatten the dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them at 350 °F (180 °C) for 15-18 minutes.
Carine’s Baking 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.
I was surprised how good these turned out. My husband said it’d be good for hiking because it reminds him of a cliff bar.
Thank you!
Hi! ❤️ Could I replace peanut butter with Greek yogurt?
No, it won’t work, the peanut butter act as a sticky binder due to its fat content.
Right! Olive oil could be an alternative?
No, nut butter can be swap by nut butter or seed butters only. Olive oil is fat, but no fiber, a liquid that won’t bind anything.
I just made these cookies exactly as the recipe described and just perfect and yummy! you would never know lentils were in them
Question though- I made 19 cookies out of the batch and your recipe says it makes 8 cookies. that would be a huge cookie! Can you please clarify. Thank you!!
I am so happy you love them! I do like big cookies and make only 8 cookies from the dough. However, it’s perfectly fine to make smaller cookies as you did.
will red lentil work for this recipe?
I haven’t tried that, I am pretty sure the ratio will be different as red lentils gets very mushy after you cook them, and they contains more proteins that will impact the cookie dough.
Loved your recipe. The cookies came perfect. I added hemp seeds. Texture and flavours were very good. Took some to share with my friends and they enjoyed too. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I am so happy to hear that!
Are there really 291 calories in 1 cookie?
Yes, that’s pretty standard and low for a cookie, a classic from the bakery is easily 450kcal! And this recipes has proteins, fibers and healthy fats to keep you full.
Hi, will powder, no fat peanut butter work?
thanks
This is tricky, regular peanut butter act like a binder in this recipe, it stick everything together. Rehydrated defatted peanut butter powder is liquid, it will not bind the ingredient together. It means you will have to add more dry ingredient, or play a lot with the recipe to form a dough.
They don’t sell brown lentils near me just black. I buy organic Westbrae natural? The recipe sounds delicious. Would the canned black work as a su?
I have never seen black lentils before, but I am pretty sure any canned beans will do well.
can I use boiled lentils instead of canned lentils?
Sure!
I have lentil flour I want to use in this recipe. I wonder if I add water to the flour to make a lentil-like consistency if it would work? Anyone tried this? Thanks
I have no idea, and I don’t think this recipe is suitable for lentil flour. Lentil flour is similar to wholewheat, it’s easier to use a wholewheat flour cookie recipe and adapt from there