My Kingdom for a healthy sweet

I apologize for the formatting. I am havin issues with pictures. I will redo as soon as technology likes me again.

I crave sweets. I love them and grew up eating cakes, candies, and chocolates. Loved them. Still do. YUMMMM.

My definition was very narrow: if a dessert included fruit or nuts it was not dessert. Fruit was healthy; desserts are not supposed to be healthy. What were they thinking? It was a parent's way of trying to sneak something I didn't like into my mouth. I was having none of it.

Raw cookie dough -- not the same as raw cookies 

These days though, I feel icky when I eat a lot of sugar. My body now craves protein. I can no longer exist on Sees chocolates through the Easter season. And I need to lose a few pounds (okay, more than a "few"). So what is a sweet-loving woman to do? 

I have found a saving grace. My goal in life is to eat yummy foods but make them healthy. Really healthy. If my sweets are healthy I can eat as many as I like, right? My search began in earnest. I used organic ingredients; replace "unhealthy" flours with more healthy ones. But I still knew I could eat only a little.

Then I stumbled on raw foods. They are made of things that, frankly, I would not have even tried eating as a kid: nuts and dates. However I was willing to try now because all the recipe reviews had people saying they tasted like cookie dough. 

Being a HUGE fan of dough over the baked product, I knew I had to give them a try. 

I made up my own recipe based on the many that you can find on the web. I played with the ingredients until I came up with one that works well and really does taste just like chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal in the dough. 

If you have ever tried that recipe that was sent all over email as the "Mrs. Fields True Cookie Recipe" that had all that oatmeal in it, then you know what I am talking about. 

Laureen's Raw Cookies

Ingredients

1/3 cup raw cashews 
1/3 cup raw walnuts 
1/3 cup raw oat flakes (or steel cut oats for a crunchier cookie) 
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
1/8 tsp sea salt 
2-3 Medjool dates, quartered and pitted
2-3 T RAu drink (or water if RAu is not available in your area)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
3 tbsp raw cacao 
Instructions

1. In a food processor, process the cashews, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt just until the oil starts to come out of the nuts. It will be grainy.
2. Add the dates, RAu or water, and vanilla. Process to combine.
3. Taste the "dough." If it is not sweet enough for you add another date.
4. Next, add the raw cocoa and pulse just to combine. Taste again. My raw cocoa is very bitter and sometimes I need to add another date.
5. Roll the cookie dough into balls about 1 tbsp each and place them in a tightly covered container. You can freeze them to make them more firm but they do not need to be refrigerated.

I bring them on trips and they last for 4 or 5 days without refrigeration. I'm not sure how much longer they would last because I eat them all within that amount of time. :) 

I like being able to eat something that cures my cravings yet is still healthy.