The Raw Dessert

Brownie Bites with Buttery Vanilla Frosting

Sometimes you just want some comfort food.  This weekend was one of those times.  I woke up on Saturday morning, wondering what I was going to bring to the raw pot-luck that day.  My mind was filled with thoughts of easy to make, savory stand-by’s, but nothing jumped out at me.  As I looked at the what I had in the cabinets, it dawned on me that it might just be a comfort food kinda day.

I couldn’t be more pleased with how these turned out.  Folks at the pot-luck gave them a big thumbs up and of course, the plate was empty when the pot-luck was over.   Soft, sweet, chocolaty, just like how a brownie should be, but with the frosting on top, these will take you right into comfort food bliss!

For the brownie bites
3 cups Pecans
2 Tbsp Almond Butter
1/4 cups Agave
1/4 cups Cacao
Pinch of quality salt

For the frosting
2 cups Cashews
2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cups Agave
1/2 cups Water

Equipment needs
Food processor
Pastry bag, cone, press, etc.
Optional: high speed blender

The How-To-Do-It
Let’s start with the frosting as it needs a few minutes in the fridge to set.  Dump your cashews into the food processor/blender and process into a fine flour.  Add in the vanilla, agave and half of the water into your processor/blender.  Because this frosting is going to be thick, it can be hard to get it all mixed up by the blades.  Add in more and more water (no more than the 1/2 cup) to thin it out and pause every few seconds to mix things up by hand.  Be careful of the temperature of the frosting, it will heat up fast.  Once you have the frosting mixed up, fill up your pastry bag, cone, press, etc. and set it in the fridge to firm up.

Now for the brownie goodness.  Dump the pecans into your food processor and process them down to a fine flour, then until it stops moving — some of the pecans will break down and release their oil and they will start to clump and turn into pecan butter (yum!).  Give it a good stir by hand and then toss in the rest of the ingredients.  Continue to process until the mixture forms a solid ball.  Transfer to a bowl and give the dough a good stir by hand to make sure it is mixed well.

Grab a small amount of the dough and roll into a ball with your hands.  Press the ball down with your thumb to flatten it out and make an impression in the middle.  Place the flattened brownie bite onto a plate.  Prepare the rest of the dough in this fashion.   Next, take your frosting out of the fridge and have at it!  Fill up the indentation of each brownie bite with ‘a healthy amount’ of the frosting.

These can be eaten right away, though the brownie dough is soft at room temperature.  Put into the fridge for thirty minutes to firm up, or if you will not be serving them right away.

Take it further
Well, you could use this brownie dough to make a pan of brownies, but then I wouldn’t be able to post a brownie recipe for you in the near future!  So, don’t do it!

Yield
About 24 brownie bites