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Truly great vegan frostings are hard to come by. That’s part of what makes the plant-based peanut butter frosting in Samah Dada’s new cookbook such an absolute joy. The truth, though, is that it’s just plain delicious regardless of its dietary identifiers.
The dairy-free frosting starts with just four ingredients: peanut butter, unsweetened shredded coconut, pitted dates, and almond milk (although that last ingredient is adjustable—feel free to use oat milk, soy milk, or whatever alt-milk you keep on hand). You toss everything but the milk into a blender, then blitz in the milk bit by bit until the frosting is velvety and emulsified.
It’s important to go slow on the milk, because the moisture content of your peanut butter and dates can vary by brand or time of year. The almond milk, too, can vary greatly by brand. Add just enough to make the frosting thickened to your liking. The blender does double duty here, pulverizing the coconut and dates while whipping air into the mix, which makes the frosting light and fluffy.
The results are earthy-sweet, floral, and nutty with a wonderfully creamy texture. Want to make it ahead? Even better: I stuck some of the blended frosting into the fridge and found that texture even more delightful the next day—the dried coconut had absorbed some of the moisture, making it thicker and even more plush.
In her book, Dada swoops and swooshes the frosting over a carrot sheet cake, and I must say that I’m very interested in the idea of pairing carrot cake with peanut butter frosting. But there was another recipe which gripped my focus even more: cookie sandwiches. Dada’s peanut butter cookies are just as plant-based as her dairy-free frosting. They’re sweetened with maple syrup and given nutty, wholesome flavor with a combination of oat and almond flours.
These cookies won’t spread much, so be sure to flatten them out to your desired width. You could even use a cookie stamp to give them an embossed surface since they hold their shape so well. No stamps? Use a meat mallet to give them a honeycomb-like texture—or use the tines of a fork to give them a classic peanut butter cookie look.
The assembled cookies are good to eat right away, but I found that I liked them even better after a night in the fridge. Freshly baked, the cookies are on the crisp side, but given a night to meld with the frosting, they turn soft and chewy, having absorbed some more moisture from the frosting.
Eaten cold from the fridge, they have an air of ice cream sandwiches (without the hassle of melting ice cream). Dada compares the flavor to a Nutter Butter, a classic store-bought sandwich cookie (which you can also make at home if you’re so inclined). And while the connection is there, Dada’s cookies have something that Nutter Butters don’t: frosting you’ll want to eat by the spoonful.
