Chewy Brownie Balls

This recipe is inspired by Jennifer Cornbleet’s Learn Raw Food.com.  I’ve made a few adjustments based on what I had on hand.  You’ll love her web site, so be sure to check it out.

Ok, this is about as easy-peasy as it gets to satisfy your brownie cravings!!  Less than 10 minutes and your Brownie Balls are ready to eat.  Oh and they are oh-so-delicious!!

Makes:  20-30 Brownie Balls depending on how small you create them.

• 1 cups raw walnuts, unsoaked
• 1/2 cup raw cashews, unsoaked
• 8 pitted medjool dates, unsoaked
• 1/3 cup cocoa or carob powder ( (although not raw I love Cuisine Camino Organic Cocoa Powder, and it’s prepared locally in Ottawa!!))
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons water

Medjool Dates

Add nuts to food processor with S-blade and process until coarsely chopped.  Remove 1/4 cup (to be added later to provide texture to your Brownie Balls).  Continue to process nuts in food processor until finely ground.  Add medjool dates and process until creates a ball and sticks together.  Add cocoa and vanilla and pulse to blend well.  Add water, cranberries, 1/4 cup reserved nuts and pulse briefly until mixed.

That’s it!!  I find them very rich so I prefer a wee bite or two at a time so I created small Brownie Balls from the dough, makes about 30 balls.  You can also pack firmly into square pan, which would create about 16 brownies if you like a punch of cocoa in one serving.

I like to store in the freezer as this makes them more chewey, but you can also store in the fridge.  They will keep in the freezer for a few weeks …if they last that long :-O, or keep in the fridge for about a week. Store in sealed container.

Enjoy!!

Added a couple of days after the original post: Oh Oh… and then today I took a few (yes three) of the wee chewy brownie balls out of the freezer and added a wee dollop of raw almond butter on top…. oh my!!  Oh my, oh my!!  Yes, you got it!!  A keeper

P.S.  If you like these I bet you will also love my Cashew Cranberry Chews!!

Inspired by my Cashew Cranberry Chews and Cocoa Chews, I was just itchin’ to create a new snack that doesn’t include added oil – so I rummaged through the kitchen and found lots more to be inspired by!!

Cashew Orange Chews – Ready for the freezer!

• 2 cups raw cashews
• 2 cups medjool dates (approx 17-20)
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 2 oranges, rind & juice
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 2-1/2 cups oatmeal flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh cherries, cut into tiny squares (or use 1/2 cup dried cranberries – I didn’t have any so used cherries instead as I wanted to add flecks of red )

Blend cashews in food processor and process until like a find powder.  Add dates and apricots and process until well blended.  Add rind and juice from oranges, process until well blended (will be very wet).  Add pumpkin and sesame seeds and pulse 5-15 times to blend but keeping chunky.

Transfer to a large bowl, add oatmeal and cherries and blend well.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread mixture evenly on cookie sheet, score into squares. Put in the freezer for a few hours to firm up a little and then transfer to dehydrator sheets.  You can skip the freezer step, but I find they are easier to handle if the squares are in the freezer first (as they are VERY gooey!).  Dehydrate at 105-115 degrees for 8-12 hours to desired chewiness/firmness.

Make about 50 squares.

All this talk about Cuisine Camino lately and it just made me think of the Cuisine Camino Cocoa Powder that I have in my cupboard.  So I thought “how about I make a chewy cocoa treat?”

And here it is… my creative endeavors for the day

I know they look like my Cashew Cranberry Chews, but it’s a different picture (no really!!).  Similar chewy texture but these Cocoa Chews have a yummy cocoa flavour!!

To keep the chewy texture it’s important to keep them in the freezer (out of sight, out of mind – yeahhh, not so much!!!).  The recipe makes about 40 squares!!  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw cashews
  • Note: for nuts and seeds raw is always best (I also use organic), in their natural state and easiest to digest!  To make nuts even easier on the digestive system you may choose to soak the nuts and then dry then in a dehydrator before you grind them in the food processor
• 8 pitted medjool dates
• 8 dried apricot
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • Note: with any dried fruits like apricots and cranberries, etc. always try to use sulfite free, i.e. they will not have the original bright orange/red colour but will be a darker almost brown colour, I also use organic when possible
• 2 Tbsp Cuisine Camino Cocoa Powder (did I mention it’s a local company that produces this!! Love to support our locals!!)
• 1 Tbsp agave
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions:   Add cashews to food processor and process until fine like a flour (I prefer a fine grind, but you can also make more chunky).  Add dates, apricots and cranberries and process further until well mixed (will be a little gooey but still somewhat flakey).  You may need to adjust the quantity of dates/apricots/cranberries depending on how fresh they are, I think I added a little extra today.  Add cocoa powder, oil and agave and process until nice and “gooey”.  Press into cookie sheet and put in freezer for an hour or two.  Once they have hardened a little cut into squares and store in freezer.  Enjoy!!