It often happens that I give this recipe as the ultimate answer to “How do you manage to make sweets (for kids or not) without sugar?”.
And if there are dates and carob powder around, it takes around 10 to 15 minutes for a demonstration on-the-spot!

Cutted carob sweets ready to be rolled in coconut flakes

On top of being healthy, I find it an interesting and easy recipe to prepare as:

• it takes a very short time to do,

• it has an unknown and pleasant taste for anyone who hasn’t tried carob yet,

• even if the taste is close to the Raw vegan chocolate sweets, it is surprisingly popular because it contains no chocolate,

• everyone likes it ! 🙂

Raw vegan carob sweets

This recipe is a variation of the chocolate sweets, this time coming with a few nice advantages.
The carob is an ingredient that is naturally sweet, so it can be used as an ersatz of chocolate without the bitter taste.
It contains also fibers, phosphorus and calcium, and contains no caffeine.
This combination of properties permits to create nice desserts with no (or much less) sugar and without the hyper-active consequences of the combination of sugar and caffeine, great for the whole family tasting this treat at any moment of the day, even in the evening.

INGREDIENTS for 2-3 persons

• Around 400g of fluffy dry dates

• 2 to 3 tablespoons of carob (locust bean) flour

• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of liquid coconut oil

• 1 tablespoon of white sesame seeds

• 1 tablespoon of crushed hemp seeds (optional)

• Coconut flakes for decoration

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Roughly cut the dates in small pieces. If they are really dry, you can soak them 1 hour prior to start.

2. Prepare to get dirty and sticky: with your hands, mix the pieces of dates together in a bowl. You want to obtain a date-dough that is as homogeneous as possible.
Note: you can skip this part once you know well how the dates react depending on their ‘juicy’ aspect.

3. Then add the coconut oil (you don’t need it to be liquid), the white sesame seeds and the carob flour.

Put together the mixed dates, the sesame and the carob flour (and additional coconut flakes if you are gourmand)

4. Continue to mix everything with your hands.
If the dough seems still humid, add more carob flour or some coconut flakes.
Adding carob flour will dry the dough and make it easier to cut afterwards. If you prefer to add coconut flakes in your sweet, it will keep this humid-oily appearance.
Usually at this point I add carob flour until the dough doesn’t “absorb” it anymore, even if some of the flour remains in the bowl.

After a couple of minutes you obtain something like this:

The dates and carob dough is finished, ready to be turned into sweets

5. Flatten the dough in a plate or on a wooden cutting board and cut 2x2 cm squares out of it.
Depending on your available time and your preferences, you can keep your sweets square or roll them between the palms of your hands.

Rolling the date and carob dough before cutting out some juicy sweets

The final touch: coconut flakes

6. In your bowl, pour some coconut flakes and roll your sweets in the flakes to cover them nicely.

Et voilà! 🙂

You can easily store them in a box and use them as a snack, or serve them at tea time, or carry them up in the mountain and surprise everyone with a delicious energetic treat! 🙂

Note: If you store them in your fridge, they will get a little bit harder due to the coconut oil. Personally I prefer to keep them at room temperature.