Recipe: Almond Shortbread with Sweet Pea and Mint Icing

This is one of a collection of A+ plant-based recipes from Brian and Christina Skinner at Kelowna’s Frankie We Salute You. 

Vegetables in dessert? Well, we’ve already got carrot cake, sweet potato pie, zucchini cake, pumpkin loaf!—why not peas? They’re sweet, and they’re in season. And let’s be perfectly honest—any kind of icing is going to be hard to resist. Makes 24 small cookies

Almond shortbread

• 1 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups almond flour
• 5 tbsp cold water

Sweet pea icing

• 1 cup vegan butter, melted (Earth Balance is best)
• ¾ cup green peas, fresh or defrosted
• ½ tsp mint extract (optional)
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream together icing sugar and softened coconut oil (microwave in 10-second intervals if necessary). Start the mixer slowly to prevent getting icing sugar over your entire kitchen. Mix on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add flours and mix until dough is crumbly. Lastly, add the water and mix until a dough is formed.

Form dough into flat ¼-inch-thick cookies, and bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just starting to turn light golden brown. Set aside to cool.

To make the icing, blend the melted butter, thawed peas, mint extract and salt in a high-speed blender until super smooth. Transfer the pea purée to a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer. While mixing, add icing sugar, adding ½ cup at a time to prevent clumping. Store in the fridge to allow it to firm up.

When you are ready to ice, place cookies in fridge for 30 minutes—this will make the icing easier to spread. (Any extra icing will freeze just fine, or drizzle it on pancakes with fresh raspberries.)

Originally posted July 6, 2020.