YOU GOTTA LOVE RAW VEGAN EGG NOG

You asked for it. No, really; you asked me to make a raw vegan egg nog recipe.. so I did. And dang, I sure am glad. This is delicious, warming, smooth, sweet and satisfying all at once.

I am hoping these photos look okay to you, because I edited them on my tiny little lap top screen instead of the large monitor I usually use. The colour is also funky on my lap top screen so my fingers are crossed that these pics aren't terrible. Please forgive me if they look gross. I just realized how completely trippy it is that I am writing this in my bedroom right now, just typing out my thoughts as they come into my brain, and soon YOU are going to read them! And probably think "Wow, who IS this girl? She's lost it. I'm outta here."

But wait! I made you egg nog!

RAW VEGAN EGG NOG

1 cup pecans
4-5 cups water
1 cup dates
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Blend it all up. Use hot water if you want a warm drink. It should have the consistency of egg nog but if it's too thin, add more dates or pecans. If it's too thick, add more water. Change the spice amounts as you like. Mmm... This will serve around 4 people.

CINNAMON ROLLS with COCONUT FROSTING & CARAMEL RAISIN FILLING

Yeah, baby - I WENT there and made raw vegan cinnamon rolls - you know you love me. And even if you don't love me, you will love this recipe; so in a non-direct way I am receiving some love and I will take what I can get. It's a hard-knock life.

I ate three of these in mere minutes - it's part of my duty as a food blogger, alright - while moaning "oh my god... better than cinnamon buns... mmmm... what is happening..." And I meant it! Somehow these really do taste better than the baked version, though they don't taste exactly the same. Maybe it's because I know that they are super good for me, and nobody had to get hurt to make them. Maybe not. Maybe they just taste damn good for other reason than that. Either way, I am very pleased with how these turned out and I DEMAND you make them as soon as possible. Just kidding. I don't wanna tell you how to live your life. But I would gently SUGGEST you make them as soon as possible.

If you think these look or taste too good to be healthy - think again. (I love you! Why would I give you unhealthy recipes? DON'T YOU TRUST ME.) The main ingredients in these cinnamon rolls are oats and buckwheat groats, raisins and dates, coconut, and cinnamon; let's see what these fabulous foods do for us, shall we? 

Buckwheat groats regulate blood sugar and cholesterol, are rich in fibre, disease-fighting flavonoids and magnesium, fight against heart disease and have an enormous amount of phytonutrients like phenolics which are now being found to prevent disease. Raisins and dates are excellent for oral and eye health, alkalizing in the stomach, rich in bone-strengthening calcium, blood-building iron and copper and cancer-preventing antioxidants. Coconut is finally being recognized as the super food that it is: toting antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic properties that keep your immunity strong; they are rich in fibre, calcium, potassium, amino acids, magnesium and electrolytes. Coconut is almost identical to human blood plasma and can actually be used for blood transfusions (best when mixed with green juice which has almost the exact same make up as human hemoglobin)!

Here's to health! 

cinnamon rolls with coconut frosting and caramel raisin filling: makes 6-7 servings

dough:
3/4 cup gluten-free oats
3/4 cup buckwheat groats
3/4 cup raisins 
3/4 cup dates
Pinch of salt (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
Dash of cinnamon 

coconut frosting:
1 heaping cup young coconut meat
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
4 tablespoons agave syrup (or other preferred sweetener) 
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Water, as needed

caramel raisin filling:
1 cup dates
1/4-1/2 cup coconut water 
Cinnamon powder, to taste
1/4 cup raisins

To make the dough: pulse the oats and buckwheat groats in your food processor until they become a rough flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it all begins to stick together. Roll the dough into a square about 1/4-1/2 cm thick. Put this in the fridge for 1-2 hours. 

To make the frosting: blend all the ingredients together until it's smooth and drizzly. Set aside.

To make the cinnamon caramel filling: blend all the ingredients together - except the raisins - until smooth and thick like a paste. Set aside.

Cut the dough (which should now be a little more pliable) into strips and spread the filling evenly on each one, then sprinkle on the raisins and gently roll the strips up. Cover with the frosting and freak out at the awesomeness of the planet.

coconut mango tarts with figs, walnuts, cinnamon + ginger

I bought a few mangoes yesterday and wanted to use them a in recipe, since lately I've been using mainly frozen fruit - variety is the spice of life! I love mango and coconut together, and also walnuts and figs. So I combined the two delicious pairs and added cinnamon and ginger... because why not? These are a simple treat to make if you ever have a couple fresh mangoes (or other colourful fruits) you want to use in a creative way. 

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. You really can tell when you're eating pure, raw, whole foods because they give you energy and make you feel light and joyful. That's my experience, anyway. I certainly felt that way after one of these, and I look forward to sharing them with my family so can feel the same way. 

Spread love, in it's whole form. 

coconut mango tarts with figs, walnuts, cinnamon + ginger: makes about five

Tart crust:

1/2 cup walnuts

1 cup dried figs

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 cup coconut flakes 

Filling:

1 or 2 mangoes, peeled sliced in strips 

Cinnamon and ginger powder

Coconut flakes

To make the crusts: pulse coconut and walnuts together in your food processor until they become crumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it stick together. Press into tart tins lined with coconut oil and put in the fridge to set for about an hour. Take them out of the molds and fill with mango slices, dusting the tops with cinnamon and ginger and sprinkling with coconut. Enjoy!

berry ice cream cake with chocolate eggs, pistachios and cinnamon

Here is my Easter gift to you! I actually had no idea what I was going to make until I began getting out ingredients yesterday morning and even as I was making it, I still didn't have a clear idea what it was going to end up being. But look how it turned out! It's just a sign of how easy raw food recipes are. Yeah, man. Yeah. 

I'll give it to ya straight: this recipe is an ice cream cake made of bananas and cashews with different layers of strawberry and blueberry. On top is a nest of cinnamon sticks surrounding coconut cream eggs. The "eggs" are simply dates filled with coconut oil, covered in raw chocolate. I also sprinkled on some chopped pistachios for colour and edged the cake with more cinnamon sticks. 

I admit - I have been making mostly banana ice cream cakes lately, but I just can't stop. They are so easy and you can do almost anything you want with them, as you can see in my last few recipes. Anyways, Easter colours are usually light shades of pink, green, blue and yellow and so I think I got most of those covered with this recipe. Not the yellow but hey, I can't do everything. Wait a sec - does sunshine count?

Before I made this cake, I was really wanting to make SOMETHING with some kind of raw vegan creme egg because they are such a popular Easter dessert component. But I was at a blank for ideas. Then it hit me when I took out my dates as I was making the ice cream part - I could make eggs from dates! So I filled them with coconut oil, covered them in raw chocolate and sprinkled on some chia, hemp and black sesame seeds. They turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. *Proud face*

berry ice cream cake with chocolate eggs, pistachios and cinnamon: 

Vanilla ice cream cake layer:

1 banana

2/3 cup cashews

1/3 cup dates

1 tablespoon liquid coconut oil

1/3 cup water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Strawberry layer: 

1 banana

2/3 cup cashews

1/3 cup dates

1 tablespoon liquid coconut oil

1/3 cup water

1/4 strawberries

Blueberry layer:

1 banana

2/3 cup cashews

1/3 cup dates

1 tablespoon liquid coconut oil

1/3 cup water

1/4 blueberries 

Chocolate cream eggs:

3 dates

1 teaspoon coconut oil (optional) 

Raw chocolate, in liquid form 

Garnishes:

Cinnamon sticks

1/4 cup chopped pistachios 

To make the ice cream cake layers: blend the ingredients from each list separately and until smooth, adding as little water as possible. Then spread each layer into a spring form on top of one another, gently stirring together some parts of the layers with a spoon. This will give it a swirl effect. Put in the freezer for a few hours until it's set. 

To make the "eggs": take the pits out of the dates carefully, not pulling them apart completely. Fill each one with a tiny bit of coconut oil, if using, then cover in liquid chocolate and put in the fridge or freezer until hardened. 

Assembly: take the cake out of the spring form pan. Place a few tiny cinnamon stick in circle like a nest, and put the chocolate eggs in the middle. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios around the egg nest and line the sides of the cake with cinnamon sticks. Enjoy! Store in the freezer if you don't eat it all right away. 

chia caramel pecan pie with cinnamon chocolate sauce

I am so proud of myself. Today I - Emily von Euw - woke up, wide-eyed and ready to use my noggin' - at 7:30 AM. I have not risen so early in approximately a year or so. Oh, stop that applause now, that's enough. Why in the world did I break from my slumber so early? To write a final exam. I think I did well. Now we will move on to more important matters...

Pie.

This pie actually began as butter tarts. In my effort to rawify all the holiday food favourites, I remembered a Canadian Christmas classic: butter tarts. As you may be able to guess by the name, they aren't the healthiest thing you can put in your stomach. They are pretty much white flour, sugar, butter, raisins, more butter and more sugar. Time for me to step up to the plate and see what I can do (I like to pretend I'm a superhero.) 

The idea was to make a basic raw crust, then make a raisin caramel filling and add in whole raisins. I was going to make them all cute little individual tarts like the real thing, but then I got lazy. I didn't feel like shaping out as many tarts as I had made crust for so I decided to make a giant butter tart instead. Then I saw some pecans and I'm like "Hey! If I throw pecans on top of this baby, I can call it a pecan pie and no one will know! HAH!" Except I just told you.. So there goes that plan. This pie is a deceitful liar that can't be trusted - just eaten mercilessly. 

The filling ended up being a caramel sauce but it was too sweet and dense so I added gelled chia seeds for bulk and to dilute the sweetness; it turned out wonderfully! I made a simple chocolate sauce for contrast, and had leftovers so I made one baby tart and filled it with chocolate sauce. Secret treat for later. 

chia caramel pecan pie with cinnamon chocolate sauce: makes one pie

Crust:

2 cups nuts or raw buckwheat flour (I used pine nuts and cashews)

1 cup dates or prunes

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup dates

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

6 tablespoons chia seeds mixed with 12 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

more water, if needed

1/2 cup more raisins

Cinnamon chocolate sauce:

1 tablespoon cacao 

1 tablespoon nut butter or melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon agave/maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

To make the crust: pulse nuts in your food processor until they are crumb-sized. Add dates and salt and process until it stick together. Press into the bottom of a tart plate. Put in fridge.

To make the filling: process all ingredients - except the last 1/2 cup of raisins - until smooth. It will taste like a divine entity has landed in your mouth, plus chia seeds. Stir in the 1/2 cup of raisins by hand and pour into your crust. Let it set in the fridge then decorate with pecans, pumpkin seeds and chocolate sauce. Or not. 

To make the chocolate sauce: mix all ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle onto your pie. Eat it while

listening to this song.

raw gingersnap cookies

Before going vegan I was not the biggest fan of conventional gingersnaps to be honest with you. But now that I have made a raw version I'm in this holiday cookie's heaven! I mean, when I actually think about it - what is there not to drool over? Cinnamon. Ginger. Dates. Make it into a cookie and sprinkle a bit o' raw sugar on top. Salivating at every word. These are just as good as the baked, more processed version but you can feel completely stoked with yourself for giving these to loved ones over Christmas, because not only are they delicious - they are nourishing.

raw gingersnap cookies: makes a dozen or so

2 cups raw flour (grind raw rye berries or oat groats into flour in your blender) OR almond flour
1 1/2 cups dates or raisins 
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons of fresh, peeled ginger
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon powder 
1 tablespoon unsulphered molasses 
2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional) 
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
raw sugar to garnish

Blend all ingredients together in your food processor until it forms into a delicious ginger-cinnamon ball of raw goodness. Stick this in a bowl in the fridge for an hour and then shape it into as many little balls as you desire. Put these on wax paper and sprinkle on raw sugar. Stamp each one down with the bottom of a jar. Refrigerate overnight or at least for a few hours, then eat. Mmm. Another option is to dehydrate for a few hours so they actually "snap". 

HEY (update): one of my readers is smarter than me and passed on this idea: you can make gingerbread men with this!

spiced chocolate layered with kiwi, figs & orange

I have been enlightened. Never again will I make raw chocolate without orange! It is incredibly delicious, and I mean literally incredible. I added the zest of one orange to the chocolate to include a fruity component so it would pair well with the layered fruit - what a wonderful decision it was.

My boyfriend says these taste like "amazing flying chocolate fruit saucers of deliciousness" and I can go with that. It sounds like a compliment... right? Right.

Originally I was going to sprinkle some nutmeg and cinnamon on bananas and use them instead of the kiwi. I was also going to use fresh figs. But I wanted to make this recipe (it's been floating around in my lofty brain for quite some time now) today and fresh figs and bananas were not available; to my momentary dismay. Then I decided I could just use kiwi and dried figs instead. Nothing lost and gorgeous green colour gained!

I'm certainly in an orange phase right now, as you might have seen my previous recipe was an orange & blueberry "cheesecake". We get the treat of juicy, sweet mandarin oranges here in winter time for the holidays and I intend to take advantage of this. One thing I love to do with oranges after watching mum do it for years each Christmas is gently simmer orange peel, cloves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg on the stove all day. It creates this vibrant, festive aroma that has come to immediately remind me what time of year it is.

spiced orange chocolate layered with fresh kiwi, orange & dried figs: serves 3

raw orange chocolate:
3 tablespoons liquid coconut oil
1-2 tablespoons agave/maple syrup
2 tablespoons cacao powder
zest of one orange
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

fruit layers:
1 kiwi
1 orange
4 figs (fresh or dried)

goji berry coulis:
1/4 cup dried goji berries covered with water
1 tablespoon agave/maple syrup

To make the chocolate: stir all ingredients together by hand until smooth and SO YUMMY. On parchment paper, take a spoonful of the chocolate and spread it into a circle about 2 inches in diameter. Do this until you run out, you should end up with 6 or so. Put in the freezer.

To make the fruit layers: slice all the fruit... duh. 

To make the berry coulis: blend the berries with the sweetener and water until smooth. If you have other berries add those if you like. I did not have any. 

Now put it all together: Take the chocolate out of the freezer, they should now be solid. Decorate plates with coulis as you desire, then layer on the chocolate discs and fruit slices. 

Beautiful. Raw. Love.

raw pumpkin pie

raw pumpkin pie was the first recipe i ever posted on this blog. that was over a year ago now. i have come a long way and can't wait to see where i - and this website - will be in another four seasons. i want to take a moment to thank you all for following my blog as it has increased in popularity and support. for those of you who are new - welcome!

your emails, comments, thoughts and kind words are the sole reason i continue to make recipes, photograph and write about them, then put them on the world wide web for all to see. i feel blessed to have the opportunity to reach and positively connect with so many wonderful spirits (that's you)!

okay - gooey, cheesy stuff outta the way! here is a pie for you. i was just confessing to mother-dearest that i actually was never a fan of pumpkin pie before i went vegan. i just ate it at thanksgiving and christmas because it meant i got a serving of ice cream and whipped cream with it (my infamous sweet tooth could not be suppressed, even when i was little).

but this raw, animal-free version of pumpkin pie is seriously delicious and i love it on it's own! having said that - adding coconut ice cream to anything is never a poor idea. NEVER.

that's a life lesson. you're welcome. 

i live in canada, so our thanksgiving was some time ago now... but i know that all my friends in the states are anticipating the coming holiday so this would be a great option for dessert! show your relatives and loved ones how delicious raw food can be. this has gotta be the lowest calorie, most nutrient-dense pumpkin pie on the planet. unless you just ate a pumpkin straight up and called it "pie"... but then you'd be kinda strange.

anyways, let's appreciate fall for all the glorious colours it brings into the world; the trees are a changin' and so are our lives. live in the moment with people you care about and give thanks for all you've been given, and all that you've worked to achieve. you're beautiful. stay sexy! like a pumpkin.

raw harvest pumpkin pie: makes one pie

crust:

1 cup cashews

1 cup almonds

1/4 cup raisins

1 cup dates

1/8 teaspoon salt

pumpkin filling:

1 sugar pumpkin (about 7 cups), peeled, gutted and cut into cubes

1 cup dates

4-5 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1-4 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & cloves)

to make the crust, process the nuts in your food processor until they are like a rough flour. add the dates, raisins and salt. pulse until it all sticks together in a lump. press into the bottom of a pie dish and refrigerate. 

to make the pie filling, process the pumpkin cubes until they can't get any smaller in your food processor. add in the other ingredients and process until it can't get any smoother. transfer the filling to your high speed blender and blend on the highest setting to get it super smooth like the cooked version. add whatever you think it needs. spread the filling onto your pie crust and let it set in the fridge for a few hours. 

serve with raw ice cream or cashew cream in celebration of thanksgiving, the colourful fall season, or for the simple reason that life is beautiful!