Raw Fudge, Oatmeal Cookies, & Smoothie, Oh My <3

My brother is totally getting into raw food with me, which is awesome because he's only 14. I know at that age, I didn't give a crap about what was healthy or what I ate, and I HATED vegetables. It's gross to think all I wanted was Kraft Dinner & fast food.

I took him to a raw food cafe a few weeks ago, and he fell in love with the fudge, claiming it was the best fudge he'd ever had. So I promised we'd make our own :) I adapted a recipe that I found online.

I also have a ton of dates that needed to be used, and as well as some oats (though oats don't really have a short shelf life). So from that came the cookies. I used one of Ani Phyo's recipes, but again, slightly modified it. The recipe said it yields 10 cookies. Mine made 4. I like big cookies.

The smoothie recipe is also Ani's, and the only thing I changed about that was using vanilla extract as opposed to vanilla bean. Carob, used in the smoothie, is similar to chocolate. I love it. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that a food processor is not a blender...I had a big, leaky chocolate mess coming from my processor that pooled all over the counter. Next time, I'll use my mom's blender (that I didn't realize she had until AFTER I did something that dumb). But all is good :) Everything turned out fantastic. My mom, brother and I sampled it all. Officially teen-tested, mom-approved :)

Raw Fudge

Ingredients:

2 cups almond butter

1/4 cup raw cacao powder

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons agave nectar

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions:

1) Mix all ingredients well in a bowl.

2) Pour batter into a pan and freeze for one hour.

3) Remove from freezer and cut fudge into desired pieces. Return to freezer for storage.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup raw oats

2 teaspoons cinammon

3/4 cup pitted Medjool dates, packed

1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1) Process oats & cinammon until powdery. Add dates, and process until well-combined.

2) Add raisins, and process only until well distributed.

3) Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to remove mixture. You may mold into balls, or press firmly into cookie cutters. Obviously, I chose the latter :) It somehow tasted better being in the shape of a bear.

Carob Almond Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds, soaked for 12 hours and dried

1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates, packed

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons carob powder

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3 cups water

Directions:

1) Use a BLENDER, and mix until smooth.

2) Drink it, love it <3