RAW BANANA CREAM PIE

 

Seriously you guys... its super delicious.  There's nothing like raw desserts for me.  The freshness and flavor you get with raw desserts is like no other.  Once your tastes buds adapt to it, you may not be able to take as much the artificial sweetness from other sugary desserts.

 

I especially love the raw crust with the creamiess of the pie.  The combination is fabulous.  I hope you enjoy it too.

 

 

For the Crust

 

1 cup macadamia nuts

1 cup dried, shredded coconut

10 medjool dates, room tempurature, pitted

 

Put the macadamia nuts and coconut into the food processor and process until it resembles crumbs. Then add in the dates and process until the dates are well combined.  The stickiness of the dates will kick in and it will hold together. 

 

 

For the Filling

 

1-1/2 cup cashews, soaked 8-12 hours, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup raw agave or liquid sweetener of choice

1/2 cup coconut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup coconut water from a young Thai coconut or coconut milk

1 cup packed coconut meat from a young Thai coconut

2-3 medium bananas, sliced (approximately 3 cups)

1 lemon, juice of

1-2 bananas sliced and dipped in lemon juice for garnish

 

Place all the ingredients except the bananas and lemon juice into a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. You will need to use the plunger or spoon and a little patience to get the mixture moving but it's well worth the effort... Transfer the mixture into a bowl.

 

Slice the 2-3 bananas and toss them with the lemon juice and drain, then fold them into the banana cream mixture.

 

 

To assemble, place the entire crust mixture in your favorite pie pan and press it down evenly all around.  Then, pour the cream mixture on top and spread evenly with a spatula and finally layer with thinly sliced bananas to garnish.  Chill for 1-2 hours and serve.   

 

Enjoy!





Join the discussion!
Do you have a favorite raw pie or cake recipe? We'd love to hear what if is. Please share in the comments below. Links are welcome!

RAW BANANA CREAM PARFAIT WITH MACADAMIA NUT CRUMBLE

Seriously... I mean seriously!  When I went to a raw food party my friend had with Stacy Stowers we devoured a raw banana cream pie that we so delicious.  Way better than any I had before I went mostly plant based and raw.  I mean, you can just taste the creaminess and the freshness of the dessert.  I also had a friend at work taste test this who is neither vegan nor raw, but she does eat both occasionally and she LOVED it!  Next time I will make this into a pie or cheese cake form, but for now, these were delicious and easy to put together.  Raw desserts are really my absolute favorite thing.

Some people have commented to me that there are too many nuts in raw desserts, but if you take a look at the measurements, there really is not much more than you would use in many other regular desserts.  The ingredients are fresh with no processed sugar added.  Pure love, if you ask me.  This dessert is a must! 

RAW BANANA CREAM PARFAIT WITH MACADAMIA NUT CRUMBLE

Crumble

1 cup macadamia nuts

1 cup dried, shredded coconut

8 medjool dates, room tempurature, pitted

Filling

1-1/2 cup cashews, soaked 8-12 hours, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup raw agave or liquid sweetener of choice

1/2 cup coconut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup coconut water from a young Thai coconut

1 cup packed coconut meat from a young Thai coconut

1 medium bananas, sliced (approximately 3 cups)

1 lemon, juice of

For the crumble, put the macadamia nuts and coconut into the food processor and process until it resembles crumbs.  Then add in the dates and process until the dates are well combined into the nut mixture and crumbly.  

For the filling, place all the ingredients except the bananas and lemon juice into a high speed blender.  Blend until smooth.  You will need to use the plunger or spoon and a little patience to get the mixture moving but it's well worth the effort... Transfer the mixture into a bowl.

Slice the bananas and toss them with the lemon juice and drain, then fold them into the banana cream mixture.

To assemble, place a layer of the crumble in the bottom of the glass, then the cream mixture, then more crumble.  Top with more shredded coconut and nuts and and a little sweet syrup, if you so desire.  I only used one layer of cream since the glasses I used were on the larger size, but if you use skinny glasses you can definitely construct several layers to build your parfait.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Bon Apetit!

 

RAW ENERGY BAR WITH DATES AND APRICOTS

 

 

I really wish these bars would last longer when I make them.  Seriously,  they seem to disappear so quickly and probably so because I love giving these to friends to try.  So far, my first energy bar post has been the most popular.  You can find that recipe HERE. 

 

What I love about this recipe is that you can literally use any of your favorite nuts, dried fruits or even oatmeal and switch the recipe up to keep it interesting.  And this recipe is what we like to call super simple.

 



 

Here's the recipe...

 

RAW ENERGY BARS WITH DATE AND APRICOTS

Ingredients:

 

16 oz pitted dates
1 cup dried apricots

3/4 cup pepitas

3/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup macadamia nuts - optional
3 table spoons chia seeds

 

Note: You can also add 1/2 cup dried shredded coconut, which I think I am going to do next time.

Blend the dates and the apricots in the food processor until blended. It will be very, very sticky. Transfer it into a blow and then mix in all the other ingredients. Wet your hands slightly and knead and fold the ingredients togehter by hand. It will be tough but if you knead and fold it will eventually all be mixed togeher.

Tip, don't put in too many dry ingredients, it will make it more difficult to fold, mold and stick together.

Press the ball of ingredients into a wax paper lined 9" x 13" baking pan. Chill for 1 hour in the freezer and then cut into bars. I like to store these in the refrigerator, it keeps them at a nice firm consistency.

Voila!  I know you will love these and make them as much as I do.

Join the discussion!

Do you have a favorite energy or granola bar recipe? We would love to hear what it is! Share it in the comments below. Links are welcome.

 



RAW: BLONDIE WITH MACADAMIA + DATES

 

 

I am always looking for a super easy natural desserts or snack recipes to make for my family.  I use to be really into Larabars.  So, if you like those, you will definitely like this - maybe even more.  I tested these out with my coworkers and friends and it was unanimous!  So gooey delicious!  It has a little richness from the macadamia nuts and the sweetness is mild, that's what I like about it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I adapted my recipe from Amber Shea Crawley of Almost Vegan Chef's 5 Minute Blondies... Her recipe was for an individual size portion. I recently saw  the full recipe on Health Blender Recipes.  It looked so easy and good that I had to try it.   Thank you both!  So delicious!  Here's my adaptation.  I took out the sugar and added more dates and a splash of maple syrup.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 cup raw macadmia nuts

1 cup raw pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon mable syrup or agave

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup organic shredded coconut

15 dates, pitted

 

Combine the macadamia nuts, pecans in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is coursely ground.  Add the vanilla, maple syrup, salt and coconut and pulse several more times until combined.  Add the dates 5 at a time, pulsing between additions, until each date is well incorporated.  The mixture will be sticky.  Transfer the mixture into a 9x13 backing sheet lined with parchment paper.  Press the mixture into the pan with your fingers or a spatula to pack it down tightly.  Freeze the blondies for an hour.  Now its ready to cut and serve.  Store blondies in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

 

Enjoy!