Whole Food, Plant-Based Recipe Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

• 1½ cups cooked green lentils (or ¾ cup dried peas)
  

• 1 cup natural, unsalted peanut butter, divided
  
• 6 Medjool dates or 12 Deglet Noor dates, pitted
  
• ½ cup raisins
  
• 1 T aluminum-free baking powder
  
• 1 T vanilla extract
  
• Fruit spread (apricot or raspberry)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Purée lentils in a blender or food processor. Place in a bowl and mix in ½ cup peanut butter.
3. Add the remaining ½ cup peanut butter to the blender along with the dates and raisins. Blend until smooth and well combined.
4. Remove from the blender and combine with the lentil/peanut butter mixture.
5. Stir in baking powder and vanilla extract.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat baking mat.
7. To get the most uniformly sized cookies, use a stainless steel cookie scoop (#40 size). This makes a 2.75” wide cookie, or you can roll them into one-inch balls. Press each cookie down with the palm of your hand, or you can use a fork to make a crosshatch. Make a small indentation with your thumb and fill the hole with jam.
8. Bake cookies for 20-25 minutes.
9. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Chef's Notes