Recipe of the Week

Courtesy of the Angry Vegan Chef 

When I first saw a raw brownie in the refrigerated case at my local health food store, there was only one word to describe how I felt.  YUCK! There was no way anyone was going to get me to eat a raw brownie.

As I have expanded my culinary palate within the vegan world, I've come across a few amazing recipes during my search.  Here is one courtesy of The Rawtarian.  Not only did I make theses brownies, I used the most expensive high quality cacao chocolate I could find.  My version may not be completely and truly raw, but the spirit of the recipe is definitely there.




Raw Chocolate Brownies
1 cup of pecan's [walnuts can also be used]
1 cup pitted medjool dates
5 tbsp raw cacao powder [I use Valrhona 100% cacao chocolate power]
2 tbsp light agave nectar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 vanilla bean [scraping the seeds from the pod]

1. Place the pecans or walnuts in a food processor and chop until the mixture is crumbly 
2. Add dates, cacao powder and process until the mixture just comes together. 
3. Add the remaining ingredients and process until the mixture begins to look like chocolate fudge! [be careful, do take this mixture too far, or you'll risk releasing too much of the nuts natural oils.]
4. Press the mixture into a small square cake pan.  Try to make it as even as possible. I find using a flat spatula works great.  
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and top with raw chocolate icing [oh yes I said icing] 

Raw Chocolate Icing 

1 cup medjool dates 

1/4 cacoa power

1/4 cup coconut butter [also known as raw chocolate]

3/4 cup water 

This recipe is as simple as it gets! If you have access to a strong blender [vitamix] your end product will be as smooth and silky as, dare I say it Duncan  Hines]

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender. Let stand for 15 minutes before blending to soften the dates just a bit.
2. Blend all the ingredients and scrape down the sides from time to time.
3. Keep blending until you achieve the velvety consistency you are looking for.
4. Top your chilled brownies with the icing and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving. [It was hard for my family to wait an hour let alone 2, before they wanted to dig in.  But allowing the icing to firm up a bit, gives you a much better end product]