4 ingredients? No refined sugar? No bake? SIGN ME UP!
One of my dear college friends recently visited from the West Coast and told me all about this to-die-for dessert. She knew that I was trying to cut back on eating sugar, and since this dessert only involves sugar from dates, she thought it would be a good treat for me. And boy was she right. Thanks, Kerry! Kerry found this recipe on the website My New Roots, a healthy, inspiring, and beautiful food blog with lots of exciting and interesting recipes. (This blog is amazing and you should definitely check it out).
Ingredients:
You can purchase all these ingredients in any health food store.
* 1 cup whole walnuts
* 1 1/4 cups Medjool dates, pitted
* 1/2 cup raw cacao
* a dash of sea salt
Directions:
* Place walnuts in a food processor or high quality blender and leave on high until the nuts are finely ground.
I love how easy it is to grind up nuts in a vitamix blender. The blades are serious knives!
* Add the cacao and salt. Pulse to combine.
Doesn't this remind you of those tubes with colored sand in them?
Blurry picture of the three ingredients combined. My version of art.
* Remove pits from the dates (annoying, I know, but I couldn’t find organic high quality dates without pits. Harumph.)
Wrinkly dates in a bag.
Taking the pits out of the dates. Although annoying, it is a lot easier to remove pits from a date than say, pits from an olive.
* Add the dates in little sections at a time. You want everything blended throughout and the dates should make the mixture hold together (they are very sticky like glue).
* Press the mixture into a small lined pan (with wax paper).
Wax paper is so underused. It makes the cleanup fast and allows you to not have to grease the pan.
* Place the pan into the freezer for at least 4 hours and you are ready to store. The cold air “cooks” the brownies. AND TADA! BROWNIE TIME!
Cutting the brownies after being in the freezer is a little hard (I have weak arms which probably makes it harder). But it is key that they are cold when you cut them.
I had these in Tupperware but Ken made me switch to a plate. Thank you!
Store the brownies in an air-tight container, either in the fridge or room-temperature. Delicious, I swear!
Notes to self:
* This is more of a fudge brownie than a dry brownie.
* I presume using a cuisinart is substantially easier than using a vitamix. A vitamix is a strong power tool that I can’t live without. That said, it is not a food processor even though I like to pretend it is.
* I promise you, cross my heart, hope to die, that this tastes like a brownie. It is absolutely worth giving this recipe a try. PROMISE.
On the My New Roots website, she lists all the great qualities from each of the ingredients. A must-read blog and one of my go to’s on the internet. Also, check out her website to see prettier pictures of these brownies….although they taste amazingly like a brownie and are delicious, my photos do not do them justice. I don’t think I have the tools to be a food journalist.
Hope you like it as much as I do! Let me know what you think and please forward any other ideas for healthy desserts in my last weeks before giving birth!
Have a great weekend!
Anika Yael Natori, aka, The Josie Girl
Follow @JosieGirlBlog
Blog Home Page
Loose definition of brownie, but looks good!
Just checked out my new roots. looks like a great site. thanks for the lead!
girlfriend, you are WAY too healthy!
kerry + yael = magic. nice work ladies.