Raw Brownie Bites
These Raw Walnut Brownie Bites are a delightful healthy treat! They are amazingly simple to prepare, and were inspired by the recipes for “Brownies” and “Flourless Chocolate Cake” in Raw Food Made Easy, by Jennifer Cornbleet.
I’ve always heard that using unsoaked nuts in raw desserts results in a better consistency than soaked nuts, and it’s true that the texture of these brawnies was great. This was my first time making a raw dessert with unsoaked nuts, and although the brownies were absolutely delicious, I intend to continue to use soaked nuts for everything in the future. I thought that the unsoaked walnuts left a slightly bitter aftertaste, and even with my boundless capacity for sweets, I could only eat a few of these brawnies at a time (which could technically be a good thing), a feeling I’ve never had with raw brownies made using soaked nuts. I made significant changes to the original recipes and left out several ingredients, but kept the ratio of walnuts and dates about the same.
To make these brawnie bites, simply process a heaping 1 1/2 cups of raw, unsoaked walnuts in your food processor until finely ground, then add 10 large Medjool dates and a few teaspoons of cacao powder. I like to add a bit of agave nectar and a dash of cinnamon as well, but doing so is optional. Process the mixture until it comes together to form a cohesive dough. Use a cookie scoop to portion out bite-sized pieces of the dough, press a walnut half on top of each scoop, and chill in the freezer for at least a few hours.
Walnut Brawnie Bites are delicious, easy to make, and definitely worth trying!
Strawberry Sorbet
This raw strawberry sorbet is amazingly delicious and incredibly easy to make!
To make the sorbet, all you need are some frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, a food processor and a few minutes. The ratio of ingredients that I use is 1 frozen banana to 1 10-oz. bag of frozen strawberries. First, pulse the banana in the food processor until it is smooth to provide a creamy base for the sorbet. Then add the strawberries and process again. You can adjust the ratio by increasing the amount of banana if you want the frozen dessert to be more like strawberry ice cream. If you want the sorbet to be sweeter, you can also add some agave nectar, but it is totally optional. If you’re feeling creative, you can also add any other flavorings which strike your fancy (for example, the Strawberry Basil Sorbet below). You can serve the sorbet immediately or freeze until firm. This raw Strawberry Sorbet is a refreshing and healthy treat!
Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes
Growing up, I was always more of a waffle person than a pancake person. But since I don’t have a waffle iron in my apartment, I decided to give pancakes another chance. One recipe that I especially enjoyed was the Apple-Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes from the Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen blog.
This was actually my first time making pancakes on my own, and although I had some problems, I thought that they turned out quite well. I made a few changes to the recipe based on the ingredients I had on hand (I substituted brown sugar, used ground flaxseed meal as the egg replacer, and left out the walnuts), but the pancakes still turned out great. My attempts at drizzling on the cinnamon-apple swirl batter resulted in rather hideous pancakes, so I ended up swirling the two batters together in the bowl instead of on the griddle (next time I might try to make polka-dots with the swirl batter, which I think would be doable even with my limited pancake skills). The pancakes had a wonderful taste, and eating a big stack of them with plenty of maple syrup was a fabulous way to start the day!
Vegan Sweet Tooth 