View the list Camera How to make carrot-coconut-banana raw vegan balls, cookies, or frozen desserts.

(Anne Hart, Photography.)

Anne HartChildren's Nutrition Examiner

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September 7, 2013

Kids can make their own raw vegan snacks without using the stove or oven. Or they can watch adults prepare the foods and participate in getting the ingredients ready. Carrot coconut balls, which also can be made with canned pumpkin instead of carrot make great snacks for kids instead of sugary cookies. You don't have to heat, dry, or cook any of the ingredients. These snacks become finger food for kids or anyone else. To make carrot-coconut-flax seed meal no-bake vegan, gluten-free cookies or frozen dessert, put a package of organic peeled baby carrots in your blender and two bananas, 1/4 cup of brown sesame seeds, dash of cinnamon and cloves, and about 16 ounces of carrot juice. Then add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and two tablespoons of flax seed

meal. Puree or emulsify in your blender the mixture of carrots, bananas, flax seed meal, sesame seeds, coconut and carrot juice. Now pour this mixture into a bowl and add a cup of oat bran. Mix and form into balls. If too wet, add more oat bran until you can form the mixture into balls. Then, on each batter ball, sprinkle sesame seeds or your favorite crushed nuts or seeds on top, such as toasted pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, or ground walnuts or pistachio nuts. Put the balls in the refrigerator for a few hours to allow the oat bran to absorb some more of the liquid and hold together. You also can freeze some of this mixture in small dessert cups and eat like ice cream. The coconut and carrot mixture gives a smooth taste to the frozen dessert. You could also dehydrate the carrot-coconut-banana balls if you didn't want to eat them raw Another alternative is to dehydrate the balls, if you press them flat like round cookies and dry out in a dehydrator for a few hours or for an hour or less in a low oven at 200 degrees. You would dehydrate to the point where the balls would not fall apart, but stick together more like a cookie. Another alternative is to bake them in an oven at 350 degrees F. for a half hour or up to 45 minutes or until they hold together like a cookie. Or you can just eat the carrot coconut balls raw after they're in your refrigerator for at least an hour. Carrots pureed in carrot juice with a dash of cinnamon or canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice such as ginger, cinnamon, and cloves could be used as the basic ingredient to be mixed with shredded coconut and two bananas Instead of carrots, you can substitute canned pumpkin with the same recipe. Or simply use carrots and carrot juice pureed in your blender as the main ingredient and thicken the emulsion with shredded coconut. Then blend again in the blender until smooth. You could freeze and eat with a spoon or add the oat bran to thicken the puree to form into balls. This is a healthy snack for kids that can substitute for ice cream or cookies.

The banana sweetens the carrot and carrot juice mixture, and the coconut thickens the puree as well as oat bran, which absorbs much of the liquid. In a dehydrator, you can turn the balls into cookies. Just flatten the balls into ovals or rounds. For more crunch, roll the balls in whole brown sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, or crushed nuts. For a variety of recipes on how to make raw vegan cookies, check out the sites, " Raw, Vegan Carrot Raisin Walnut Cookies - Choosing Raw " and "No Nut Carrot Pulp Raw Food Dehydrated Cookies | Raw Glow Blog." Or see the Examiner.com site, "Raw vegan fruit or nut balls rolled in sesame seeds." Or See my YouTube video on how to make vegan, raw nut balls. Two kinds of raw vegan dessert balls can be made -- with or without seeds and nuts Without nuts or seeds, you add chopped apples. With added nuts, you roll the balls in sesame seeds to coat them just before chilling. If you're on a reversal diet of a maximum of10 percent oils or fats daily without added nuts or seeds, use raw rolled oats (raw oat meal), and oat bran, chopped apples, raisins, goji berries, a dash of cinnamon, two medium-sized sliced bananas and a dash of cloves and ginger. You can add chopped pitted prunes if desired. More alternatives: You also can use one cup of rolled oats (raw oatmeal) to 1/2 cup of oat bran (fine). Another variation is a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to the mixture, but it will have a slightly bitter taste. So the chocolate flavor is optional. If kids get tired of carrot-coconut balls or cookies, try variations with flax seed meal, oat bran, and pureed fruit, vegetables, and vegetable juices such as carrot juice. Sweeten with a banana or any other alkaline fruit. Just chop your apples and dried fruit such as prunes, raisins, goji berries, and two sliced bananas and add the oat meal and oat bran. Don't cook anything. Moisten with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of almond milk if you're vegan. You can also moisten with Greek-style strained nonfat, unsweetened yogurt if you're into dairy products. If you're vegan, any milk substitute works whether it's almond milk or soy milk.

The finely chopped dried fruit and two sliced bananas sweeten the mixture enough If you're cooking for kids and are not on a reversal diet where you strictly limit your daily oils, fats, nuts, and seed intake, you can make nutballs. Or you can roll the vegan balls in unhulled sesame seeds, if you're allowed to eat seeds. This dessert doesn't require baking. When it's chilled, the oat bran and oat meal keep the balls together so they don't quickly fall part when you pick one up and eat it. It's a great substitute for cookies when kids come home from school asking for the more familiar commercial processed cookies and milk. A plus is the fiber. Raw vegan cookie balls with fruit and raw oat meal Here's a way you and your children can make healthier snacks together without cooking the raw vegan 'cookies.' Make nutballs with your kids. Why serve cookies and milk to kids as a snack when they arrive home from school? As an alternative snack, ask your children to help you make make raw, vegan snack foods with you from nuts, oat bran, and oat meal moistened with a little soy or almond milk, and formed into balls. These snacks are great for including in lunch boxes. Just pack them in baggies next to the luncheon foods kids take to school. The nuts and oat meal/oat bran combination with ground sesame seeds and a tablespoon or two of flax seeds (ground to a meal consistency) along with the almonds and walnuts supply some omega 3 fatty acids to help balance the dietary needs of people of all ages. Instead of overloading on snacks containing too much omega 6 fatty acids, try a combination of nuts, seeds, and oats along with some dried fruit. Eat in moderation. It's healthier than eating a box of cookies between meals. Eat a handful, not a can full of the nuts and seeds or dried fruits. And these raw vegan nut balls also provide some fiber. Ingredients: 1 cup of raw almonds 1 cup of raw walnuts

1/4 cup of sesame seeds 2 tablespoons of flax seeds 1 cup of raw oat meal (Old Fashioned Quaker Oats is fine). 1/3 cup of raw coarse oat bran 1/2 cup of pitted prunes, chopped 1/2 cup raisins 1/3 cup chopped pitted dates and/or dried figs (optional) 1 organic banana, sliced in thin circles (Optional) - 1/2 cup of finely chopped raw apples to mix in before you form the balls. 1/2 cup of liquid such as soy milk, juice, water, rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk, or any non-dairy milk substitute. If you eat dairy products, you can use Greek-style nonfat, unsweetened yogurt. Use enough to keep the grains sticking together. Optional: Roll the formed dessert balls in sesame seeds to coat them before chilling in the refrigerator for a few hours so that they hold together better. The oat bran in the dessert balls helps keep the raw oatmeal moistened with almond milk sticking together as finger food. You can substitute for the prunes dried nectarines or apricots for prunes. Or use your favorite flavors of chopped, dried fruits such as dried blueberries, dried cherries, or any dehydrated chopped fruit of your choice. Directions: 1. Grind the nuts and seeds in a dry grinder, coffee grinder, or other grinding machine, such as a Vita-Mix dry grinder, until the nuts and seeds combination is the consistency of meal. Place the ground nuts and seeds in a large glass bowl or other container. 2. Add the oat meal, oat bran, and chopped dried fruit.

3. Add the liquid, such as soy milk to create the consistency of a meat ball so that the nuts and oats stick together to form a ball. If too dry, add more milk substitute, juice of your favorite fruit, or water. If too wet, add more oat bran and oat meal. 4. Mix everything together and form into balls about the size of meat balls. You can add 1/2 cup of finely chopped apples spiced with a dash of cinnamon (optional). 5. Put the nut balls into a large covered glass bowl or similar container and refrigerate for two hours. 6. Serve chilled as a raw, vegan snack, dessert, or cookie substitute. Or serve with a cup of mint or decaf green tea on the side. The ground nut balls can last in the refrigerator about two to three days.