Raw Carob & Cashew Nut Cookies

Went to eko market to get this almond butter and carob powder (looks and tastes like mild cocoa powder, substitute for chocolate), this is one of the raw dessert recipes I found online which looked so good and easy.

Mixed the following ingredients in a food processor, leave the cashew nuts for a little bit chunky. If too dry, add a little water or almond butter, in this case I added tiny bit of squeezed orange juice but not too wet either – you want the dough to be firm and sticky enough to mold into cookies. Shape dough into cookies shapes or roll into balls. Store in the fridge after :) They add some honey & salt in the original recipe but I didn't use any and they taste sweet and good enough!

- 3/4 cup cashew nuts
- 1 tablespoon of Almond butter (Original recipe was cashew nut butter)
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup carob
- 4 dates

Why I used carob powder instead of chocolate? Here's some interesting facts by Dr. Michael T Murray (Naturopathic Medicine):

Although carob powder is somewhat bland compared to chocolate, carob improves upon chocolate in a number of beneficial ways:

• Carob is stimulant-free and requires no additional sweetening, while cocoa contains the potent caffeine-like stimulant, theobromine, and requires the addition of a sweetener - one reason why carob has only one third the calories of chocolate.
• Another is that carob is virtually fat-free. In contrast, even low-fat cocoa contains 8 g of fat per 100 g, and high-fat cocoa delivers a whopping 23.7 g of fat, much of it saturated, in 100 g.
• Both carob and low-fat cocoa powders are low in sodium and high in potassium-a desirable quality for individuals with high blood pressure or congestive heart failure, whereas cocoas with moderate to high fat content are often quite high in sodium since they are typically processed with an alkali to enable them to dissolve in water.
• Both carob and cocoa contain calcium, but carob provides twice the amount of calcium found in cocoa (290 mg in 100 g of carob versus 123 to 153 mg in 100 g of cocoa). Plus, unlike cocoa, carob contains no oxalic acid, which interferes with calcium absorption.
• Carob pods are also free of phenylethylamines, small nitrogen-containing molecules found in chocolate that, in susceptible individuals, can trigger migraines.
• Also unlike cocoa, carob powder is high in protein and rich in fiber, particularly pectin.