Lentil Raisin Cookies

I know that sounds weird, but i have a thing for lentils.  i love them.  so the other night when we saw that "good eats" (with alton brown) was about lentils, we watched it.  first off was the typical lentil soup.  eh.  i know how to make that.  next, though, was a cookie that used lentil puree in the ingredients.

sounds weird - and so maybe it is.  but, i'd just been to whole foods and gotten several bags of black, green, and red lentils so i thought i'd give it a try.  i'd also bought some carobs with the intention of trying carob chip cookies - so when i tried this recipe the first time, i split it and made half and half.  um, i don't like carobs - not plain, not in cookies.  they are gross and they don't bake well.  i'll stick to chocolate chips.

so for the lentil puree, you just put 3/4 cups of lentil (i used red) into 1-3/4 cups of water and let it boil and simmer until the lentils are mostly done.  it doesn't take but about 20 minutes with the red ones.  you have to watch them like rice, though, because they'll boil over in a heartbeat (and make a stinky mess).  you let it cool - NOT draining it - and i used a submersible blender and made it into a puree - it should look like canned pumpkin.  i don't think the submersible blender is completely necessary because when you stir it, they fall apart.  plus, as you make the cookie, they'd get mixed up even more.  so, don't let your lack of a submersible blender deter you from making this cookie.  this makes about 1-1/2 cup of lentil puree which is just a little more than what you need for the cookie recipe.  you can eat the rest or you can freeze it for later.

alton brown's original recipe can be found on the food tv's website, but i varied from it.  my cookies turned out perfect, so i'm going to put MY recipe on here.

in a standing mixer (i used the kitchen aid) on low, add one at a time and let it GO until well mixed (this is the actual order i put it in):
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
1 farm raised egg
3/4 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup organic brown sugar
1/2 aluminum free baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
(at this point, i put the mixer on med-high until it was sorta fluffy)
1 cup lentil puree
(when i put this in, it didn't want to mix, the puree was kinda slippery compared to the butter-egg-sugar.  i had to scrape the sides a few time and mix it by hand, but it did mix somewhat on medium speed)
2 cups quick oats
2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1-1/2 tsp cinnimon
1/2 tsp allspice
1-1/2 cup raisins (i didn't actually measure this, but it was more than a cup but less than 1-1/2 cup.  kendal and holly like a lot of raisins so i put a lot in there).

 i chilled the dough for a bit (2 hrs?) and then baked them on my pampered chef baking stones (i have 2) on 375 for about 15 minutes.  they don't fall much during the baking (it is a stout, tall, heavy, chewy cookie - that if you have any issues with constipation - one or two cookies will fix it!  or so it did with holly and kendal.  they'd eat 2 cookies and poop!  it didn't do that to me.  lots of extra fiber with those lentils and raisins!  teeheehee)

**the second time i made the cookies i used only cane sugar and added molasses, plus i used green lentils rather than red and the cookies were a bit crumbly.  not sure whether it was the sugar or the lentils!**