Banana Pecan Shortbread (You Butter Believe They’re Vegan)

Every now and then my political leanings sneak into a post. Nothing overt, a line, a sigh, a one-liner although I’m pretty sure my feelings are pretty obvious, oh well.  After the election I found myself feeling like that chicken running around screaming “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!  In order to not drive myself crazy, I decided I had to somehow channel that energy.  I had to stop lamenting over my latte’ and do something.

I went to marches and rallies, dressed Sammy up, and took him to marches.  Attended lectures, started reading books that didn’t have recipes, and subscribed to a bunch of podcasts.  Finally, I took the leap and joined a political action group organized by 3 amazing women in my community.  From there, I have met so many AMAZING people that I would not have met otherwise if not for the outcome of THAT election.

See, there is a silver lining to everything

One of which is meeting T&H. I adore them.  They are genuine, smart, funny, a little quirky (love that), compassionate, passionate…I could go on and on.

Wait, what the heck, they’re VEGAN? Dealbreaker

Just kidding.  The other night it was my turn to host our advocacy dinner meeting.  Most of the meal was pretty easy, spicy sesame noodles, a nice toss green salad, fresh berries.  Roasted salmon on the side for non-vegan, meat-eating folks (ME).  Easy peasy until…DESSERT.

What is a no-holds-bar, butter-obsessed, whipped cream-eating, dessert lover (ME again) to do?

So, being a “Big Tent” person, I went on the hunt for vegan desserts.  The first Vegan recipe I tried was an Olive Oil Shortbread with Rosemary & Chocolate Chunks from Smitten Kitchen. Pretty good…for a vegan cookie (ahhh, the qualifier). This time around I found a recipe for a Banana Pecan Shortbread on Minimalist Baker.  This looked promising.

Guess what, they are yummylicious (no qualifier).

The secret ingredient? Coconut oil.  The cookie has a nice fine crumb and a bit of crispiness at the edges. These definitely give traditional shortbread a run for its money.  The pecans and banana add both sweetness and a buttery finish, you really don’t miss the butter.

I used refined organic expeller pressed coconut oil from Whole Foods.  Refined coconut oil has very little flavor and is a great substitute.  I threw it in the fridge for a couple of minutes to make sure it was completely solid and creamed the coconut oil with the sugar, just like butter.  I saw a couple of comments with regard to using coconut oil in the liquid state, but nope.  I’ll leave it to others to experiment.  I molded it into a cylinder, slipped it into my trusty PVC pipe (the secret to perfectly round cookies), and chilled it for a couple of hours. The cookies took closer to 15-18 minutes to bake in my oven, so start checking a little earlier than the stated baking time.

You could probably substitute a gluten-free flour mix to make this not only vegan but gluten-free.  Next time I might try substituting almond flour for part of the flour to see if it makes it a touch more tender cookie.  But honestly, it’s pretty darn good the way it is!

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VEGAN BANANA PECAN SHORTBREAD

Vegan and gluten-free banana pecan shortbread cookies. Crisp with a slight tenderness, nutty and sweet. You won't miss the butter

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword banana, coconut oil, cookies, Shortbread, vegan

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 30 cookies

Ingredients

Creamed Ingredients

• 1 cup refined coconut oil
• 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana 1 small banana yields ~1/3 cup
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar or granulated sugar

Flavor Bumps

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Dry Mix

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup pecans finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon optional but I do add it

Instructions

• Cream oil, sugar and banana. Add vanilla, and salt, blend until incorporated.
• Add flour and blend. (If you are adding cinnamon, add it to the flour). Add pecans and mix once more. Do not overmix.
• Transfer to a large piece of parchment paper and roll into a tight log, ~ 2 inches wide. Freeze for 15 minutes to harden. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Unroll paper and slice cookies into slightly less than 1/2 inch rounds. Use a sharp or serrated bread knife. If it’s too soft, freeze it a little longer. If the dough has become too hard, let it rest for a few minutes at room temp to soften.
• Place on an un-greased baking sheet approximately 1/2 inch apart. They won’t spread much. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until light golden brown.

Notes

With all the wonderful gluten-free flours now.  You could probably sub for the all-purpose flour to make this not only vegan but gluten-free!

Enhance the pecans by toasting them first.  Place pecans on a small baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes.  When you notice the aroma of the pecans they are done!