Apologies for the recent hiatus - summertime is generally a weird mix of busy and relaxed, so when I’m not running myself ragged, I’m a lump in a chair with a book. I’ve not really had the motivation to cook lately, though I’ve created a few interesting things that I will share here over the next week or two.

Lately I’ve been dabbling in raw food as I’ve had a ton of weird health issues over the past few years and I’m looking to increase my healthy food intake and limit my junk food obsession. Raw food allows you to eat a lot of the things that you would normally try to stay away from by making them out of healthy ingredients such as nuts, honey, fruit, etc. I’ve had some awesome pies over the past few weeks that would count as three of your daily servings of fruit. Not bad!

My latest endeavor was raw cinnamon rolls. I know it sounds weird, but they were so fabulous that they tempted many of my omnivorous and anti-vegetation friends at a recent campout. They are quite rich though, so one will probably do it for breakfast - and the protein contained within these little babies will keep you going for hours!

Raw Cinnamon Rolls

1 1/4 cups almond meal
1 1/4 cups ground flaxseed
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 pinch sea salt
1 cup soft pitted dates
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup raisins, plus a little extra
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Combine the almond meal, ground flaxseed, dash of cayenne pepper, 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon and pinch sea salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a food processor or blender, process dates, water and vanilla into a paste. Remove half of the date paste and add it to the dry ingredients, along with the olive oil and agave. Mix these ingredients with your hands until it forms a dough. You may need to add a little water and/or agave if it is too dry, but be careful not to add too much.

Spread the dough out on a piece of parchment paper, and flatten/shape it into a 1/4-inch thick square.

Add 1/4 cup raisins and 1 Tbsp. of cinnamon to the rest of the date paste left in your food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Then, spread a thin layer of the paste onto the dough square, making sure to cover the whole surface, and top with a sprinkle of extra raisins and the chopped walnuts.

Using the parchment paper to help hold everything together, carefully/tightly roll the square into a log. Chill in the refrigerator, and then slice into about 1-inch thick rounds. I usually make about 8 cinnamon rolls out of this recipe.

Rolled, chilled, and sliced:

These cinnamon rolls can be eaten right out of the refrigerator or warmed on a dehydrator. Here are mine on the tray - I dehydrated them at 108 degrees F for 12 hours:

The frosting recipe I took from here:

Cashew Cream Frosting
1 cup raw cashews or pine nuts soaked 4 or more hours
1/8 cup water
6 Tbs honey or dates
juice of 1 small tangerine and the entire peel
1 tsp vanilla

Blend until smooth and creamy. Add a little extra water if you want it thinner. Drizzle on top of dehydrated cinnamon rolls.

Frosting in the food processor:

Keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to dehydrate them. After they’ve been dried, you can keep them in an airtight container in a dark place for a few days.

And the finished product!