Carrot Cake Balls
Carrot cake has always been one of my favorite desserts—a moist, fluffy, sweet, and spicy cake smothered in a rich, sweet, and slightly tangy cream cheese frosting… Not many sweets hold a candle to carrot cake in my book. When I was a kid, I probably could have eaten an entire carrot cake in one sitting with hardly any repercussions, but now not so much. Aside from the fact that I know it isn’t good for me, it’s hard for me to take more than a couple bites without feeling sick from all that sugar. In an effort to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings without all the consequences, I decided to try making a healthier, refined sugar free version of my favorite dessert—the result: these raw, vegan, gluten-free carrot cake bites. YUM!
| Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 dozen 1-inch balls | 15 mins. | 0 mins. | 15 mins. |
Ingredients:
- ½ cup shelled walnuts
- 12 pitted dried dates
- ½ teaspoon molasses
- 1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 large carrots
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Ground walnuts
Carrot shreds
Directions:
- Place walnuts in a blender or food processor until finely ground and transfer to a medium size mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Place dates in blender and blend until ground. Add the ground walnuts, molasses, cinnamon, cocoa powder and nutmeg to the dates and blend until everything is mixed together. Scrape the sides of the blender and re-blend if needed. Transfer mixture to mixing bowl.
- Peel carrots and chop off one end. Holding the un-chopped end of one of the carrots, begin shredding with a small shredder, until the carrot is too small to continue shredding. Repeat with second carrot. Add shredded carrots to mixing bowl. Mix carrots together with walnut-date mixture until everything is combined.
- Add raisins and pecans and stir together until incorporated.
- Scoop one tablespoon of mixture into hands and roll into a ball between palms. Repeat with remaining mixture.
- Pour shredded coconut onto a plate and roll carrot cake balls, one at a time, into the coconut until coated.
- Pop one into your mouth and enjoy!
Toddler Tip:
Let your toddler roll the balls and coat them in coconut! This is a fun dessert to make with toddlers because they can help with the mixing and the rolling. It's a great way to introduce them to a healthy dessert alternative and they may be even more eager to try them if they helped make them!
