Come On, Get Happea

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)

Incorporating vegetables into dessert has long drawn the ire and skepticism of food enthusiasts across all boundaries- And for good reason. Aside from the untouchable legacy of the carrot cake, most attempts to enter into this arena have never been about enhancing flavor, but decreasing guilt. Red flags should immediately arise anytime food is not created with the taste being of foremost importance. Largely perpetrated by health food gurus trying to “hide” a bit of added nutrition into everyday cookies and cakes, such efforts have only been to their detriment. It’s no wonder that something like Green Pea Cookies would warrant further explanation to wary Americans still haunted by childhood demands to eat their peas and carrots before getting dessert. Turns out that this concoction is far from avant-garde in Singapore, where this simple snack was born.

Despite the vibrant coloring, there isn’t the least bit of “green” or vegetative flavor to be found. Instead, each delicate if slightly crumbly dome imparts a strikingly nutty impression, not dissimilar from classic tea cookies. The difference here is that without a cloak of confectioner’s sugar shrouding the outside, a much more nuanced, balanced taste is able to come through. Plenty sweet but offset by a notable punch of salt, the overall experience is something far more impressive than the humble appearance suggests. Crunchy pieces of dried peas speckle the insides throughout, keeping the texture enjoyably varied from start to finish.

Providing celiac sufferers with a gluten-free alternative was certainly a thoughtful brand extension, but I’m afraid that this version falls a bit short of the mark set by the originals. Vastly drier, there was more powder than cookie in my sample package, and the slightly bitter cereal note of rice flour was immediately obvious. That said, they would no doubt have fared much more favorably if I didn’t have the gluten-full treats to compare them to.

Also available for the sweet pea connoisseur is a growing family of pea cookie flavors. While I didn’t have the opportunity to sample the cranberry cookie, the chocolate-dipped variation successfully brought these green nuggets up to the next level of dessert decadence. The sturdy sheath of dark chocolate coating does have a tendency to slide off like an over-sized slipper, but tailoring be darned, it’s still a perfect fit in my eyes.

If you’d like to see vegetables treated with more respect come the final course of a meal, look no further than Green Pea Cookies. Help support their mission (and get in on the pea cookie action for yourself) by contributing to their KickerStarter campaign, going on now.

Samples were provided by the Green Pea Cookie company but I was not compensated for my time. All opinions, photos, and recipes are solely my own.

16 thoughts on “Come On, Get Happea”

  2. Now that chocolate ‘slipper’ is a challenge! I am thinking, hulling 10 of those scrumptious little babies and wearing them like fingernail extensions. I wonder how long they would last till they melted? I am off to see if I can find a recipe for making green pea savoury snacks now as you have me wanting crunchy green treats Ms Hannah :). I will have to make the green pea flour as well but as my old granny would have said “in for a penny, in for a pound!” Drastic (pea free) times call for drastic measures! :)

    1. I’m afraid the nutritional information isn’t available yet, but I can tell you that the ingredients are: roasted green peas, white flour (or rice flour in the case of the gluten-free version,) powdered sugar, sunflower oil, and salt.

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