Recipe Fail? Chocolate Lentil Cookies

I'm still deciding whether I failed or won. Really not sure yet. So my daughter asked if we could bake some chocolate cookies and I said yes (while secretly thinking about what healthy ingredients I would sneak in...muahahahaha). I scoured my pantry and pulled out a can of lentils. Chocolate lentil cookies could work! Or so I thought. We came up with a recipe that I thought would work out.

She's pretty excited to bake!

The end result? My daughter truly loves them but no one else does. My husband called them "brown styrofoam". I myself am unsure and I have very healthy tastebuds and will pretty much eat anything. I tried to save them by freezing them and turning them into Yonanas ice cream. Surely Yonanas can save the day! The end result? My daughter loved the "chocolate ice cream". I'm still unsure. Tastes a whole lot like cold clumpy chocolate oatmeal. So what exactly is the point of this post since my recipe failed (to everyone except my daughter)? We are not perfect. Skimming through our blog the other day made me realize that we may come off like we are perfect moms...annoyingly perfect. But that's the beauty of a blog and even Facebook. You have time to edit your work and post the perfect pictures. We don't have that luxury in real life. Real life throws curve balls at us all the time and we do what we can to survive. Like today, I am at home with two sick kids and you better believe there will be some screen time and pizza delivery! Here is the imperfect recipe for all those who like brown styrofoam or have kids that eat anything. Any ideas to improve it? Butter perhaps? ;)

Ingredients

• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 can (540 ml) lentils 
• drained and rinsed
• 5 pitted medjool dates 
• 2 very ripe bananas 
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup grape seed oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
   
3. Combine lentils, dates, bananas, egg, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Blend until smooth.

   

   She had so much fun baking...that's what really matters, right?

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
   
5. Use a tablespoon or a small ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of dough on a parchment paper lined baking pan. Cover the bottom of a drinking glass with parchment paper and use to flatten the balls down.
   
6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy?
   

Going to attempt to tweak this recipe next week to see if I can come up with a culinary delight! I will be sure to share:) Now back to my imperfect day of parenting.

They looked so delicious!

Update! I decided I may have won. My daughter loved the cookies and requested them for breakfast the next morning. My 1-year-old son also devoured them (frozen as a teething cookie). They are all gone and she has asked to bake them again! Be warned that my kids are NOT the norm ;) Oh, and my husband still refuses to touch them with a 10-foot pole.