Date Caramel Cashew Thumbprint Cookies with Cacao Nibs

 Hello world, so I have finally taken the jump and told the parents I've gone VEGAN so I am now officially vegan, I guess. I know it's not much but it's a start! So to celebrate I wanted to make something I have wanted to make for a while.. Date caramel. I have never been a chocolate fanatic, I mean it's nice but I can live with out it. No, what I adore it caramel and fudgey things, so to hear you could have a healthy caramel was mind blowing. I have been afraid to make it cause my blender is awful and extremely noise but it succeeded so it i can make it with 90's blender so can you! These are full of protein so get em' down your gullet and get some guns to rival Popeye's! Or just for good skin and hair, what ever, big cartoon muscle arms are cool but ya know, your life. Anyway here are my...

Date Caramel Cashew Thumbprint Cookies

I am genuinely so so so so so proud of these.. like so proud.

Date Caramel 

Ingredients 

7 dates

3 prunes

1 tbsp of raisins

1 tsp vanilla bean seeds / 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

-Soak you dates, prunes and raisin in 5 tbsp of water for about half an hour

- Reserve a tbsp of the soaking liquor (for the cookies) then add the rest to the blender along with the salt and vanilla and blitz till smooth

Cashew Cookie

Ingredients 

1/2 cup of raw cashews

1/4 cup oats

tbsp of plain (or vanilla) protein powder (mine's vegan but its not certificated raw, you can however get raw certificated protein powder online to make this 'fully raw')

1 tsp vanilla bean seeds / 2 tsp vanilla extract

4 dates

2 tsp of granulated sweetener of choice (stevia, coconut palm sugar etc)

1 tbsp of agave

1 tbsp of date caramel soaking liquid

 Pinch of salt

1 tbsp of cacao nibs (optional)

- If you have a stubborn blender, like mine, roughly chop up your dates and nuts. Then throw into your blender with the rest of your ingredients (apart from your agave and soaking liquid).

Ingredients going into the noisiest blender ever

- Blitz in till the nuts and oats have been fully ground down and are starting to clump together into a dough, then add your agave and soaking liquid to help it along and blitz till a dough does form.

- Remove from blender and stir in your cacao nibs (you could use vegan chocolate chips also which would be sweeter but not as healthy and full of antioxidants as cacao nibs, plus I like the crunch you get from the nibs)

- Roll in to balls the size of a large marble the flatten and make a dimple in the center of the cookie (for the caramel)

Ready for the caramel!

- Fill the dimple with the caramel and serve!

KEEP CALM AND MAKE THESE

Raw Slaw and Goji Berries

Hellooooooooooooooo! As my friend Fi has kindly informed me that she was disappointed in me that Healthy Hungry Hippos hadn't been updated in a while I thought I better clean up my act and cook and blog with all my heart.

Recently I bought some goji berries. I LOVE these things and i used make 'power detox juice' by steeping a hand full of goji berries in green tea with some lemon then letting it cool and transferring to my water bottle of the day. It was Antioxidant central! However, I wanted to investigate them in a savory dish like you would put raisins in a carrot and rice salad to add a sweet sharp note. So I look in the fridge and we have a shit load of crunchy vegetables, white cabbage, carrots, bok choi and onion.. SLAW TIME! This slaw has an eastern inspiration, so no heavy fatty creamy dressing just a light tangy and slightly spicy flavor. Perfect side dish or with the satay drizzle a nice summer lunch or dinner.

So here is my Raw Slaw with Goji berries and Cashews with a Satay Drizzle, I hope you like..

Raw Slaw with Goji berries and Cashews

Ingredients

Slaw
2 cups shredded white cabbage
1 large celery stick
1 small bok choi
1 small red onion
2 small carrots
10 dwarf beans
hand full of corriander
hand full of raw cashews
handfull of goji berries

Dressing
3 tbsp of grapefruit juice
1 lime
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of rice wine vinager
1 tsp of agave
2 tsp of grated ginger
1/2 tsp of grated garlic
2 tsp of your favourite dried curry spice mix
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of corriander
1 chilli
pinch of cayenne powder



-In the bottom of a large salad bowl combine all dressing ingrediants apart from the chill. Score the chill with a knife and add to the bowl. This will allow the taste and some mild heat to be added to the slaw with out it becoming chilli central.

- Chop into thin batons the celery, onion and bok choi. Add to the bowl along with the shredded cabbage. Throughly mix coating it thoroughly in the dressing. Leave in the fridge for 30-40 mins to brine.

-Meanwhile peel and chop your carrots and dwarf beans into battons and roughly chop your corriander.

- When the slaw has finished its time in the fridge add your carrots, coriander, cashews and goji berries.

Violaaaa! RAW SLAW!

Satay Drizzle  

Ingredients
1/4 peanutbutter
1/4 cup water
1/4 grapefruit juice
1 tsp of rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp of maple syrup
2 tsp of grated ginger
2 tsp of your favorite curry spice mix
pinch of salt

- Combine all ingredients till smooth drizzle is made
- Assemble!

I made it in the peanut butter jar, anything to avoid washing up

Its like a healthy rainbow!

Raw freezer oreos

As an obsessive tea drinker I often fantasize about having biscuits with my cuppa however biscuits are..

1- addictive, the pringles (and many other things) once you pop you can't stop and you can often find yourself have 4 or 5 if not the whole pack. With the average digestive bring 70-80 calories a pop that's some painful math for a 'snack'
2- often full of butter and refined sugar, the mcvities milk chocolate digestive has 3.9g of fat per biscuit
3- have little to no nutrional or health benifits.. unless you count the raisins that some of them have in it but lets face it those biscuit stay at the bottom of the tin once people find out its dried fruit rather then chocolate chips, eh?

So here I have taken the most sinful of biscuits, the Oreo, and made it nutritional. This new version of the Oreo is made with dates and almonds so is full of fiber, protein and healthy fats and makes it a perfect natural energizer. It is sugar free and only uses the natural sweetness from the dates and agave  so your blood sugar levels don't go on a roller coaster. Also this recipe is raw so the antioxidants from the cocoa powder and the vitamins and minerals from the dates, banana and almonds are not lost through cooking. These 'Oreos' are so good they come with a dip.. yes that's right, a mother fucking chocolate banana mouse dip. 

What you waiting for..

Ingredients

Oreos
1/2 cup almonds (raw unbleached)
1/2 cup pitted dates
2 heaped tbsp of raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp of agave
1 tbsp of vanilla soy milk (or other vanilla plant based milk substitute)
pinch of salt

-Blitz almonds, cocoa powder and salt till they are the texture of sand. Then add your dates and blitz till fully combined.
- Add the rest of your ingredients then blitz for 10 seconds more. Remove from blender and place in a mixing bowl.

- Bring together the dough with your hands until the mixture sticks together and forms a ball. Transfer to a board and roll out the dough in to a cylinder. Wrap in cling film and place in the freezer to firm up for about 30 mins (enough time to make your dip by the way)
- Once firm, remove from fridge and cling film and slice in to rounds.

- Slice a banana into rounds about the same thickness as your chocolate rounds. Then assemble sandwiching a slice of banana between two chocolate rounds. (you can make double stuffed ones if you add two slices of banana, genius!)
- Place back into freezer in a container so the dough remains firm and the banana does not discolor. Because these are freezer Oreos they are refreshingly cold and make a great healthy substitute to naughty freezer desserts like cookie ice cream sandwiches.

Nom nom nom nom

Double stuffed fuck yeah

Chocolate Banana mouse dip

1 1/2 banana
2 heaped tbsp of raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp of agave
1 tbsp of vanilla soy milk (or other vanilla plant based milk substitute)

-Blitz bananas then push through a seive to create a smooth banana puree

- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a whisk making sure there are no lumps, viola!

Double stuffed Oreo and dip

Dip drenched Double stuffed Oreo

Double Oreo taking a swim