Month-of-Mini-Desserts: Carrot Cake Bites

I couldn’t resist sharing this recipe with you in honor of Carrot Cake Day! This is a healthful alternative to the “real” carrot cake I adore. It is probably my favorite cake, but, oh, soooo not good for you!

Are you like me? I cannot help copying down the recipes that come across my screen each day on the Internet. When I saw this one, I knew I had to try it out! What do you think?

This vegan recipe was excerpted from Keep It Vegan (Aine Carlin, 2014). And since it uses no processed sugar, just the sugar from the fruit and carrots, it is a more healthful alternative for all of us. I found it at this site.

I am printing it as pretty much as it appeared on the site:

Carrot Cake Bites (Makes 12–14 balls)

1 small carrot, grated
1 cup medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
2 1/4 cups pecans
1/3 cup raisins
Grated zest of 1 clementine or orange
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Squeeze out any excess liquid from the grated carrot.

Place all the ingredients, apart from the coconut, into a food processor and process until the mixture comes together in a large clump, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times, if necessary.

Line a plate or baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a teaspoon of the mixture, roll into a ball, and place on the parchment paper. Repeat to make 12–14 golf ball-sized spheres in total.

Put the shredded coconut into a bowl and roll each ball in the coconut to coat. Place the balls on the lined plate and refrigerate overnight.

DH’s RATING:

3½ Tongues Up. He said I tricked him that it was carrot cake. It was a fruit and veggie ball. He thought the taste was good, but it violated his definition of cake. Fair enough.