raw lemon cookies!

I have a confession to make. It's not easy...having the World's Most Insatiable Sweet Tooth. I've been preparing tons of raw desserts lately and fighting cravings left and right. Autumn is the worst time of the year, with all the Halloween treats and pumpkin spiciness. Today, I looked longingly at a ginormous Halloweeny-decorated chocolate chip cookie at the grocery store. Then, I promptly came home and whipped up a batch of these!

Now, before I share the recipe; I want to post a disclaimer: 

• I am completely new to raw food.
• I haven't had THE greatest raw food ever and am not quite familiar with how certain foods and flavours fit together. 

With that said, I thought these were awesome. Tangy, satisfying, texturally appealing, with a hint of sweetness from the agave. Totally different from any cookies I've ever made before and not nearly as rot-your-teeth-out sweet as I'm accustomed; but so darn tasty! Incredibly easy, too. Thanks (again!) go to Laura-Jane the Rawtarian, who provided the base recipe that I modified to my tastes/needs.

Raw Lemon Cookies:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup raw pecans
• 1 medium lemon, juiced
• 2 - 3 tablespoons agave 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Pulse together cashews and pecans in food processor until they are fine, chunk-free, and well-mixed. Add coconut and process again until thoroughly mixed. Add lemon juice, agave, and almond extract and process once more until the mixture is moist and of a dough-like consistency. 

Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough between palms, place on parchment paper-lined dehydrator sheets, and flatten. Dehydrate for 8-10 hours. 

This recipe makes about 10-12 small cookies. 

one week raw.

Already, there's such a distinct difference in how I feel. Following the SAD for so long (that's Standard American Diet, so aptly acronymised...) made me feel extremely sluggish, among all kinds of other things. Raw foods are just so light, and when I'm done eating I feel none of the usual gross "I-want-to-curl-up-in-a-ball-and-die-because-I'm-so-full"-ness. But I'm perfectly satisfied (for longer than I was when just following a vegan diet, I've noticed. Odd.) and seriously energetic.


Raw food takes a bit more forethought. As in, if you want raw crackers and a nut pâté tomorrow, you might have to dehydrate the crackers overnight and soak the nuts for few hours beforehand. It's harder to go off track this way -- you've already done most of the work for your meal before you start even ~uncooking it, so you might as well go through with it! Forethought is good. Forethought is the enemy of value menu french fries and a large Dr. Pepper at Wendy's.


Without further ado, some of the culinary highlights of my first raw week:

raw pesto with zucchini noodles! 

 

The best ice cream ever, and SO easy! 

I just froze strawberries and bananas overnight, and then processed them into a smooth, creamy soft-serve.  I added a tiny swirl of agave for a little extra sweetness. 

A perfect lunch! Yummy spicy red pepper soup leftovers, with an avocado nut burger wrap and raw corn on the cob. 

actual best brownies I've ever had. 

I bought a cookbook, but I haven't found it to be as useful as the internet. I've found most of my simpler recipes on VegWeb, which seems to have a very small but friendly community of raw vegans. Another favourite site to poke around on has been The Rawtarian. She has an exquisite collection of simple, flavourful recipes -- that's where I got the recipe for those brownies! And the mock tuna salad I'm making right now for lunch.


So, here's to another week of raw food fabulosity! (and this week's pictures will be infinitely better, because I found my camera.) Hooray! 


-- Caroline