Raw Brownie recipe

I've been looking for an alternative to the chocolate bar I munch at night because something that contains 12763 unpronounceable ingredients probs isn't the best way to end a healthy day.

And then oh my days, I saw this recipe for raw brownies by My New Roots and I had to take it out for a spin. It's so simple YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO PUT THE OVEN ON. All you do is blend the heck out of everything in a food processor and five minutes later… hi there, healthy snack.

For my version I ditched the salt and added maple syrup because yum.  You will need:

2 cups* of walnuts, pecans or almonds

2 cups of pitted medjool dates (I could only find standard dates but medjool are much better quality so get them if you can)

2 tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tbsp pure maple syrup, if you want sweeter brownies

Makes approx 10 small squares.

It seems kind of silly for me to tell you how to make this, given that you just chuck errything in yo blender, but here's a step by step… 

- Blitz pecans until they form a crumb.

- Add the dates and blend again. 

- Add in your cacao powder and syrup, if using, blend again until it holds together in the processor. 

- Spread your mixture out into a baking tray. I'd optimistically grabbed a huge tray but didn't have anywhere near enough brownie mix to fill it because of the cup sitch*, so ended up using a tupperware box. Once pressed down they were still on the slim side, but that just tricked my brain into thinking I could eat more. Win. 

- Pop in the fridge for a few hours before slicing into shapes. Store in an airtight container.

Erm, so, these are amazing. They have a super gooey texture like the middle of a non-raw brownie. The cacao powder gives an immense chocolate flavour, without any of the downsides, and they're quite dense so I find that one two cures my choc cravings.

I know that dates aren't everyone's thing because of the sugar content, so next time I'm going to try out Hemsley + Hemsley's BB Brownies using black beans.

But for now, these are super delicious and miles better than a giant slab of chocolate. 

* LET'S TALK ABOUT CUPS

You might understand them if you're a. American / Canadian or b. clever. Neither of those options apply to me so usually if I find a recipe using cup measurements I avoid it. But I couldn't find many raw brownie recipes which didn't use cups and, after a quick google, some people suggested just using… a cup. Oh, I see what you did there.

I used a small coffee cup, as you can see in one of the pics, but next time I'll go for something bigger so I can cram in more nuts and dates.