Gluten & Sugar Free Vegan Good Times in a Ball – Monday Made

This is sort of like a rum ball. But without the rum. You could put some rum in it. I’m sure it would taste great.

I actually think you could lots of different things to this recipe to make awesome new tastes. Like using peanuts and a pinch of salt instead of almonds. Or add an orange rind. Or some peppermint oil. Cinnamon and ginger. The possibilities are endless.

I have just made a basic recipe here for chocolatey yummy protein packed vegan treats. If you used raw cocoa powder, they could even be RAW food.

Some trivia: One can of chick peas drained weighs 245g.

What you need:

• 120g Chickpeas (half a can, drained and rinsed)
• 100g dates, about a cup (doesn’t have to be medjool)
• 1 1/2 tbsp rice malt syrup (non vegans can use honey)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 100g natural almonds (could also experiment with oats if gluten wasn’t an issue)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 70g shredded coconut, about 1 cup
• extra coconut or cocoa for covering the outside.

What to do:

1. Blend the dates, chickpeas, rice malt syrup and vanilla in a blender until fairly smooth.
2. Add the almonds and cocoa. Blend until almonds are finely chopped.
3. Add the coconut. Don’t blend it so much that the coconut gets completely obliterated.
4. Using wet hands, roll the mixture into balls and then roll in coconut or cocoa. Mine made approximately 20 balls.

Raw Brownies – Monday Made

“Raw food desserts are the gateway drug to healthy eating.”~Kevin Gianni

I’m writing this post pool side. At an island Eco resort. Living the dream. The 1950s swimwear, big sunnies, floppy hat, freshly massaged and pedicured dream. For 4 days, anyway.

I left my kids at my parent’s house with a batch of these fudgey brownies in hope that my kids don’t get too sugared up while I’m away. I have carefully crafted them into children who think chocolate is Lindt 70%, who think the contents of a chocolate milkshake is milk, banana and cocoa powder and don’t know what soft drink is. What they don’t know, they don’t miss.

The recipe is originally from Lola Berry’s site. I’m going to order her cook book when I get home. My alterations aren’t major. The only reason I made any were that I don’t like walnuts and I couldn’t find the cacao nibs.

Coconut oil is like a better version of copha. It is solid at room temperature so you need to melt it to use in the recipe. I didn’t find that it added a real coconut taste.

My mistake: I used my blender. I had to stop and stir the dates every 10 sec as they clumped! Rather annoying. Use a food processor.

What you need:
2 cups medjool dates, pitted
1 cup almond meal
1 cup chopped Hazelnuts
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1⁄2 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons organic desiccated coconut

What to do:
1. Put all the ingredient in a food processor, except the desiccated coconut, and blend.
2. Press into a tin lined with baking paper and sprinkle with coconut.
3. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Enjoy!