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No-Bake Brownies with Fudgy Fat-Free Frosting

· Natalie 3 Comments

It’s Brownie Week!

Why? Because I just declared it so here at Feasting on Fruit. What does that mean? It means 5 recipes in 5 days: all brownies, all vegan, all raw, all healthy, and all indulgent! So stick around because there is a lot (but not all) of chocolate recipes coming your way.

We’re starting off Brownie Week with a simple chocolate on chocolate treat. But don’t worry, there are plenty of unique flavors and frostings to come.

These brownies are what I call cake-like rather than fudge-like. Typical date and nut raw brownies are really dense, rich, and fudgy. Using oats instead of nuts makes for a lighter texture, flavor, and fat content, so a rich, fudgy, frosting is the perfect compliment. About that rich fudgy frosting…

…it happens to be fat free, fruit-sweetened, raw, and ridiculously easy (3 ingredient easy!), but it doesn’t taste like any of those things. It tastes like thick chocolate heaven. It was so good I kept “taste testing” it from the blender, so there was only enough frosting left for half the brownies. Oh well.

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No-Bake Brownies with Fudgy Fat-Free Frosting

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  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
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Ingredients

Scale
  • Brownie
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 2 cups pitted dates
  • 1/4 cup cacao powder
  • About 1/3 cup water
  • Frosting
  • 1 cup pitted dates
  • 2/3 cup non-dairy milk
  • 2 tbsps cacao powder

Instructions

  1. Combine the oats, dates, cacao powder, and salt in the food processor. Process until the everything is broken down.
  2. Add the water slowly while the food processor is running until the dough starts to stick together.
  3. Press the dough into a lined loaf pan.
  4. For the frosting, blend the dates, non-dairy milk, and cacao powder on high until smooth. Optionally you could soak the dates in the non-dairy milk first for easier blending.
  5. Frost the brownies then refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting and eating. Keep in the fridge.

Nut-Free Chocolate Turtles (HCLF Vegan)

· Natalie Leave a Comment

Even though I know it isn’t true, sometimes it seems like I am the only vegan in a world of omnivores. This feeling has been especially strong lately since my number one, live-in, raw vegan taste tester just moved across the country. Making the food is only half the fun. The other half is sharing it with others who are just excited to try it as I am.

I couldn’t be more grateful for my willing, non-raw vegan taste testers, but they tend to be a bit more skeptical than excited. They naturally compare things to their familiar, conventional counterparts, expecting an identical match. My sister (a.k.a. number one taste tester), now in Oregon, was always elated to try my raw interpretations, taking them for what they were. We would usually go back and forth, exclaiming over how amazing a new recipe tasted, while devouring the whole batch. Non-raw, non-vegan taste testers may be tougher critics, but I can’t help missing the shared excitement of a fellow fruity eater.

These little morsels are my low-fat raw vegan take on turtles. Crunchy mulberries and gooey caramel make for wonderful textural contrast. These guys get pretty messy if left out of the freezer. Not that that is a bad thing, but some finger-licking may be necessary.

Caramel Mulberry Clusters (a.k.a. LFRV Turtles)

Makes 8

Caramel

1 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup dried white mulberries

Chocolate

2 bananas

1 1/2 tbsps cacao powder

  1. Blend the dates, water, and vanilla until smooth. If it gets stuck add a little more water.
  2. Stir in the mulberries.
  3. Spoon 8 large dollops onto a plate. Freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.
  4. Blend together the banana and cacao powder for the chocolate until smooth.
  5. Remove the caramel clusters from the freeze. Generously spoon the chocolate on top of each cluster, letting it drip down the sides.
  6. Place the clusters back in the freezer for 30 minutes so the chocolate can harden.
  7. Store in the freezer.

Raw Fat-Free Ranch Dressing

· Natalie 31 Comments

Finally I have found salad dressing perfection! One of the hardest things for me about trying to eat a low fat raw vegan or 80/10/10ish diet has been finding a dressing that I really love. And with the humongous size of my daily salad, I need to love it. I usually eat around 5 cups of lettuce in my salad topped with carrots and tomatoes and other goodies. It may look as if I’m making a salad for an entire family, but nope, just me.

This dressing isn’t technically 80/10/10 because it still uses salt and nightshades, but it is fat-free and raw and vegan. I like a really savory dressing. The mango and citrusy 80/10/10 dressings just don’t do it for me. When I’m eating fruit nonstop all day, I want something savory and a little salty to balance things out.

As you may have noticed by now, I’m not too keen on cashew-filled recipes. Most of the raw ranch recipes I found use cashews to mimic creamy white ranch, but zucchini is the perfect substitute. With some high-powered blending it can be super creamy too. For that classic white color I peeled the zucchini, but it isn’t necessary to do so. If you leave the peel on, it will be a bit thicker, so add a little water (1/4 – 1/2 cup) to thin it out.

Raw Fat-Free Ranch Dressing

3 medium zucchini, peeled

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sweetener of choice

1/2 clove garlic (optional)

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt (optional)

Pinch of black pepper

1 tsp each of fresh dill, parsley, and chives (or any combination thereof)

  1. Blend everything together except the fresh herbs. Let it run on high for a bit so it is really creamy and smooth.
  2. Add the fresh herbs and pulse to mix them in without turning everything green.
  3. Pour overtop of a salad or use as a dip for carrots or other veggies. It will last for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.

Vegan Marshmallow Cheesecake

· Natalie 12 Comments

This is a bit of a deviation from my usually tutti fruity style.  Why the detour?  Well Chocolate Covered Katie inspired me with her question of the day a few weeks ago: “What would be your dream cheesecake flavor?” Instantly marshmallow cheesecake came into my mind.  I made it, and then I tasted it, and it was so amazing it felt wrong to keep it a secret.  So I am sharing with you this very sticky and sweet indulgence.

It’s not raw, but it is vegan.  And it is really easy to make…like 3 ingredients + a crust easy.  And no baking is required. Oh and it’s addictive too.

marshmallow-cheesecake.jpgmarshmallow-cheesecake.jpg

When I became vegan it wasn’t cheese or butter or ice-cream that I missed the most.  It was gelatin-based things like jello and gummies and marshmallows.  Luckily Dandies has vegans covered on the marshmallow thing.  I haven’t yet figured out how to make a raw marshmallow, but don’t think I haven’t tried…and will keep trying.marshmallow-cheesecake.jpg

marshmallow-cheesecake.jpg

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Vegan Marshmallow Cheesecake

★★★★★ 5 from 1 review
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 480 minutes
  • Total Time: 510 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Ingredients

Scale
  • CRUST
  • 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (warmed to a liquid)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • FILLING
  • 2 cups vegan marshmallows (I used about 24 Dandies Marshmallows)
  • 1 package silken tofu (12 oz)
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil (warmed to a liquid)

Instructions

  1. FOR THE CRUST: Process the oats in the food processor until they are in crumb-sized pieces. Add the remaining ingredients for the crust, and process until combined. It should be moist and stick together when squeezed.
  2. Press the crust into a 6″ springform pan. Refrigerate.
  3. FOR THE FILLING: Melt the marshmallows in the microwave. Keep an eye on them because they will puff up and over the top of the bowl. Just stop and give them a stir so they deflate.
  4. Process the silken tofu in the food processor until smooth.
  5. Add the melted marshmallows and coconut oil to the food processor, and process until smooth.
  6. Pour on top of the crust and refrigerate overnight.
  7. Run a dull knife around the edge of the pan to loosen it before releasing the spring. Slice and eat.

marshmallow-cheesecake.jpg

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Raw Zucchini Muffins

· Natalie Leave a Comment

Zucchini bread holds a surprisingly large place in my memories of childhood.  It was a staple around my house.  I’m not really sure how that evolved, but my mom kept the freezer stocked with individually wrapped slices of homemade zucchini bread all the time.  And she doesn’t even like it.  These slices showed up in my lunchbox a lot, and even at classroom events and field trips.  It was always called “spice bread” when other kids (and sometimes adults) were around, because if vegetables are mentioned it tends to make second graders wary.  I could handle the vegetable part, but I didn’t find out there were raisins in it until I had been eating it for years.  My mom ground them up pretty well in the food processor.  I must say I felt a little deceived when I found out that she had been sneaking fruit AND veggies into me at once.

There are a few things I remember most about the zucchini bread I grew up with…

It was always baked in a bundt pan, so three sides had a smooth crust, but the top, which became the bottom when flipped out, was all nubbly.  I hated that nubbly side and usually picked it off.

It was spiced with cloves and cinnamon.  No ginger, no nutmeg.  And there were never any nuts either, even though the recipe calls for walnuts.

It was blended so thoroughly that there were no little green flecks to be seen.  But I like the little flecks, so I left these muffins with a few shining through.

So here’s a throwback to my childhood with a few alterations…okay maybe a lot of alterations.

Raw Zucchini Muffins

Makes 15 mini muffins

1 cup raw buckwheat groats

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup + 2 TBSP flax meal

3 TBSP agave

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp vanilla powder

1/4 tsp salt

  1. Grind the buckwheat groats in a dry blender until they form a flour.  Dump the flour into a mixing bowl.
  2. Add the flax, salt, spices, and vanilla powder to the bowl, and stir so all the dry ingredients are well combined.
  3. Squeeze the shredded zucchini in a nut milk bag or towel to remove as much liquid as possible.  Set aside
  4. Add the raisins and agave to a food processor. Process until it forms a thick gooey paste without any large chunks of raisins left.
  5. Add the dry mixture and zucchini to the food processor.  Process until everything is well mixed.  It should form a slightly sticky ball.
  6. Roll the dough into balls, and press into a lined mini muffin pan.
  7. Place a raisin on top for garnish if you want, then place in the fridge so they become firm.