Raw Carrot Cake

When I made these I had no idea what I was in for. I had never baked anything that didn't actualy needed to be baked and still considered it a "cake". These are the exception that I will allow into my kitchen any day of the week! These are absolutely faboulous and healthy! Prefect for any no bake diet, which if I had the will power I may consider... or not.

Simple and easy, what's not to like?


Ingredients

Raw Carrot Cake Ingredients:

3 cups shredded carrots

1 cup pitted dates

1 cup raw walnuts

2/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

 

Raw Cashew Vanilla Frosting Ingredients:

2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight

2/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup water (use more or less to achieve desired consistency)

1/3 cup honey

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

pinch of salt

Method

To Make The Raw Carrot Cake:

Pulse together all ingredients in a food processor until well-blended. Press mixture into a mini cheesecake pan or mini 4-inch springform pans or an 8-inch springform pan, or just a simple 8-inch baking pan. Top with Raw Cashew Vanilla Frosting just before serving (recipe below).

To Make The Raw Cashew Vanilla Frosting:

Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until blended. Add extra water to thin to your desired consistency if needed.

Banana Trail Mix

This recipe can be adapted anyway you like to suit your taste more. Subbing in different nuts and dried fruit makes for more interesting and new ways to enjoy the same base of the recipe.

The recipe uses coconut oil  but that could defiantly be swapped with melted butter. As well, the banana could be swapped with yogurt, you just have to be aware that the final product may come out less sweet.

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup oats

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided

1/3 cup chopped candied ginger

1/3 cup chopped dried cherries or cranberries

1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (you can sub in chocolate chips)

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted

1 cup ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup honey

1 large egg, preferably at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon turbinado (raw) sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan (see note below on how to make muffins).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded coconut, then mix in the chopped ginger, dried fruit, pecans and dark chocolate.
3. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, mashed banana, honey, egg and vanilla.*
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Top with a light sprinkle of turbinado (raw) sugar.
5. Bake for until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes or longer. Let the bread cool in the pan before slicing. This bread is dense and not very easy to slice; I found that my sharp paring knife worked better than a serrated bread knife.

*If your coconut oil goes back to its solid state when you’re stirring the batter, just warm the mixture for short 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each, just until it is melted again. *

Banana Muffins

This are absolutely delicious and are prefect on so many levels.

I have a friend who is terrified of bananas:everything about them scare her. Even the sight of bananas makes her cringe. Me being me, I snuck one of these in front of her without her knowing the flavor. She absolutely loved them!! I have cured her insane phobia and got a free complement out of it!

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 sticks butter

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup buttermilk (milk or coconut milk can be used here as well)

1 cup shredded coconut (I skipped them since I didn’t have any in hand)

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with a kitchen mixer using paddle attachment. Add sugar and beat for a few minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time while continue to beat at low speed and vanilla. The mixture will be silky smooth – add banana and lower speed.

Mix in the flour and buttermilk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour.

3.Fill into cupcake pans (fill up about 2/3-full, you should get approximately 18 cupcakes), bake them for about 18-minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

You Are What You Eat

So many people love to bake... or better yet love to eat baked goods. But in all truthfulness you can just be eating piles of sugar. Switching out certain ingredients or buying your produce from different people can make a lot of difference in your baked goods and your diet.

Buy Smart

Anything you can buy local do it! I'm a strong believer in buying local because your not only supporting people in your community but you are not contributing to the lenghty process of creating and shipping food from across the world. As well cutting out on harsh chemicals that are often sprayed on the produce.

Here is a local Kitchener program you can sign up for to receive locally grown foods from farmers around the area!

https://www.100milesystems.com/baileyslocalfoods.ca/login.php?return=%2Fbaileyslocalfoods.ca%2Fbuyingclub.php

Eat Smart

Think about it this way, everything you put inside your body becomes your body. In a sense its kind of like putting gas in a car, you put gas in it not toilet water. So put fresh food into your body, not processed.

Fruits over ANYTHING.

Fruits are so easy to be added into a recipe because they are sweet and universally loved.

Alternatives

Use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. Whole wheat flour contains less sugar, and more fibre. The whole process of making whole wheat flour is less than all-purpose flour, which has to be more refined and processed.

Myths

Brown sugar and white sugar nearly have the same nutritional value. The biggest difference is that the brown sugar gives your baked goods a more brown colour, and more moistness.