I’ve always had an interest in raw foodism and like the idea of adding more raw fruits and veggies into my diet. While these are not as rich as their cooked and sugar-laden counterparts, they were tasty and made a great snack. Plus, they’re pretty easy to whip up if you own a food processor and I didn’t feel so guilty eating half of the batch in one sitting, one huge benefit!

Raw Cranberry Vanilla Vegan Brownies

After some experimenting, here is my perfect raw vegan brownie with dates, pecans, cocoa and walnuts as the main ingredients.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 10 brownies

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup dried dates plus 2 more dates
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup walnut pieces
  • 1/3 cup raw pecans
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar I used dark this time and liked it better
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Instructions
 

  • Put everything in food processor.
  • Chop that shit up.
  • Press into an appropriate container.
  • Freeze for an hour.
  • Put in fridge and then eat all of them at your leisure.
  • I liked this variation better than my first batch without the cranberries et al, though if the tangy taste of cranberries in your brownies freaks you out go with the recipe below.
Oh, and if you have no idea what I mean by raw, feel free to peruse this Living Foods FAQ for information. I’m not a raw foodist, but I have a couple raw cookbooks and I think it’s pretty interesting. Not to mention a challenge and a different way of cooking/eating, so I like to take this challenge on every now and again like with these tasty brownies.

Plain variety in case cranberries freak you out:

Raw Vegan Brownies

-1/2 cup dried dates
– 1/2 cups dried cherries
– 1/3 cup cocoa powder (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup, but I like things chocolatey)
– 1 cup unroasted, unsalted walnuts
– 2 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey, if you eat it)