Raw Brownie Bites

Lately, I've been pretty curious about raw foods. I know this sounds kind health nutty of me but what can I say, I am kind of health nutty? But seriously, what raw foods promise is rather enticing: smoother digestion, enhanced energy, better health- sounds pretty good to me. Aside from all that, I'm also interested in the fact that raw foods move away from something we're all accustomed to doing: cooking our food. In addition, many of the raw dishes I've heard of strive to emulate, and often taste like, cooked food such as raw tacos, raw lasagna etc.

About a month ago I tried the raw tacos at Vegadeli (a vegan deli, as the name suggests) in St. Louis and though they weren't that much like real tacos, they were pretty good. I can't say I felt expcetionally energetic after eating them or any better than I feel when I eat cooked food, but maybe those effects take some time? Now that I think about it though, I definitely felt WAY better than I would have after eating real tacos. Anyway, the point is that these tacos piqued my interest in raw foods even more. Thus, I decided to experiment with some raw "cooking" at home (much more feasible now that I have a CUISINART- yes!).

I played it pretty safe and decided to make something I'd have the least chance of hating or messing up- a dessert of course! So I made these raw brownie bites and wow, they were so yummy, not to mention quick and easy. Just the dates and cocoa powder alone tasted like delicious brownie batter. Plus, you don't even have to turn on the oven or the stove- what more could you ask for in the summer?

Raw Brownie Bites
Adapted from Angela

Ingredients
1/2 cup dates, chopped and pitted
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder [come to think of it, I don't know if this is really raw]
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
1/2 cup raw walnuts
1/2 cup raw almonds
~ 1/4 unsweetened shredded coconut, for rolling

Preparation
Place the dates, cocoa powder and agave into the food processor and process until well blended. Next add the nuts and pulse a few times until the nuts are chopped into tiny pieces. Next, use your hands to roll the mixture into donut hole sized balls and then roll these balls in the shredded coconut. Store the brownie bites in the freezer until ready to eat.