Okay, the truth is it’s 11:30 at night and I’m truly way too tired to be writing this, BUT regardless of the long day it’s been, these little Raw Carrot Cake Bites are so yummy, I simply have to get the recipe out!
If you’ve been a reader since the beginning {which wasn’t too long ago!} or you happened to read my About page, than you may know that I’m a full-time Interior Designer working in high-end Residential Design in Nashville.
I truly love my job. I love working in a creative atmosphere and helping design spaces that are sophisticated yet inviting, while reflecting the character of the people who live in those spaces. But aside from the gratification of seeing a design come into fruition and eventually result in a beautiful space, I love my clients. I have been blessed to work with so many wonderful people. People who invite me into their home and their lives.
Building a home, renovating a space, or even just furnishing a room is something that is very personal to people. Your home reflects so much of who you are and quite often I get to help my clients build their dream home. A home they’ve likely imagined and visualized for themselves and their families for years. I feel very fortunate to work for the company I work for and realize that all too often I forget just how blessed I am to be doing something I love.
Do you feel like there is a big “But” coming? There’s not. I mean every bit of that. And Spring is a busy time for us; holidays have passed, kids are back in school, and the weather has warmed up keeping construction consistent and on schedule. All this to say, my plate is full, and although at times it is stressful {as I don’t want to let anyone down}, I really thrive in it and love the feeling of being needed.
If you are one of my clients, who is sweet enough to follow along with my little hobby here, please know how very much I love each of you and how worthwhile you make my job.
Here I thought I’d keep it short because of the late hour and instead I’ve gotten all sappy on you!
Let’s spice it up a bit and quickly talk about these Raw Carrot Cake Bites! This is a recipe that has been spinning around in my head for a few weeks. I love carrot cake, but of course don’t need to eat it on a regular basis. I wanted to come up with a way to capture the sweet cinnamon and nutmeg spice, along with the nutty pecan flavor and delicious cream cheese frosting, without all the added sugar and refined flours. I thought back to the dates I used in these Almond Date and Hemp Energy Bars, and the natural sweetness they provided and decided they would be the perfect base for these raw cake bites.
So while these little bites are clearly not the consistency of a moist fluffy cake, the carrot cake flavors are definitely there and the texture is very similar to that of cookie dough! I took a plateful to work, reminded them before digging in that they were “healthy” and sat back watching their reaction, hoping for at least some positive feedback.
Luckily, it was almost all positive! I think the goat cheese I used in the icing threw one of my coworkers off a bit as she is not a goat cheese fan, but other than that, feedback was good! If you are also one of those who does not care for goat cheese, you can definitely use regular cream cheese as a substitute.
I’m always a bit nervous sharing my creations with others as quite often they are a healthy, modified version of a more traditional recipe and I’m not sure how they’ll respond. I’ve become so accustom to eating whole foods that my body truly desires them!
Anyways, it’s now midnight and I have a full-day tomorrow. I hope you enjoy these Raw Carrot Cake Bites as much as we did!
Happy Friday (it’s 12:03AM!) and I hope you each have a wonderful weekend enjoying some warmer temperatures!
Raw Carrot Cake Bites with Goat Cheese Icing
Ingredients
- For the Raw Bites:
- 12 large Medjool dates
- 1 cup pecans
- 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp all spice
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds
- 2 tbsp flax seeds
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 oz goat cheese
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3/4 cup oats lightly pulsed in food processor
- For the Icing:
- 2 oz goat cheese softened
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Remove pits from dates.
- Pulse dates and pecans in food processor until chopped medium fine.
- Add carrots, oats, spices, hemp seeds, flax seeds, vanilla, 1 oz goat cheese and honey. Pulse 6 to 8 times or until ingredients are well blended.
- Transfer date mixture from food processor to bowl and stir in remaining 3/4 light pulsed oats (see notes), stir to combine well.
- Line a pan with parchment paper.
- Roll mix into small balls (approx 28-30 depending on size) and place on lined pan, put in freezer for 30 minutes.
- While cake bites are in the freezer, stir goat cheese, vanilla extract and maple syrup in small bowl with whisk until smooth.
- Add icing to plastic bag and cut small hole in corner, then pipe or drizzle icing across each energy bite. Put back in freezer another 10 minutes to allow icing to harden, then serve!
- Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
I lightly pulsed the second 3/4 cups of oats and added them back in at the end for some additional texture. If you prefer a smooth "cookie dough" texture, you can process these until they are a finer consistency.
Nutrition
