Carrot Cake Bites Recipe
Photo: Ali Allen
Carrot Cake Bites
Makes 12–14
Sweet treats don’t necessarily have to be full of processed sugar. The natural sugars found in dates and raisins satisfy those cravings just as well as any chocolate bar or slice of fat-laden cake—but that’s not to say you can’t or shouldn’t have the occasional piece. I’m increasingly conscious of how much cake I consume (welcome to your thirties!) and so I’ve taken inspiration from one of my all-time favorite recipes and given it a somewhat healthy twist by forming it into every seasoned vegan’s standby sweet, the incomparable (but perhaps not so appetizingly named) “raw ball.” And as an added bonus, these bite-sized treats don’t even require any cooking—just process, roll, chill, and eat… now that’s better than messing around with batter any day.
1 small carrot, grated
1 cup medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
2 1/4 cups pecans
1/3 cup raisins
Grated zest of 1 clementine or orange
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Squeeze out any excess liquid from the grated carrot.
Place all the ingredients, apart from the coconut, into a food processor and process until the mixture comes together in a large clump, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times, if necessary.
Line a plate or baking sheet with parchment paper.
Take a teaspoon of the mixture, roll into a ball, and place on the parchment paper. Repeat to make 12–14 golfball-sized spheres in total.
Put the shredded coconut into a bowl and roll each ball in the coconut to coat. Place the balls on the lined plate and refrigerate overnight.
Excerpted from Keep It Vegan by Aine Carlin (Kyle Books, 2014).
More vegan treats:
