Moving towards healthier eating: vegan sweet snacks

Twelve weeks of cake baking was beginning to take a toll on our waistlines. Not to mention our winter addiction to a five o’clock beer and a bowl of salted peanuts. With spring in the offing, it was time to think about making some healthier snacks. This week I finally heard the cuckoo. I’m sure he usually arrives earlier, and I was a bit worried he’d decided to bypass our corner of the Haute-Vienne, especially when I saw friends’ social media reports of cuckoo sightings (or should that be ‘hearings’?) further north. However, he’s here, along with the families of swallows who have started to build their nests under the eaves of our neighbour’s house. Spring truly has sprung.

With the prospect of warmer weather, it was time to see whether the comfort foods of winter have resulted in us acquiring a few ‘spring rolls’ (no comment!). Unfortunately, the weather’s not cooperating at the moment – the recent sharp dip in temperatures were a bit of a shock after a balmy March. Nevertheless, it was time to call a halt, or at least a pause, in the vegan baking bonanza. So, this week I decided to replace our regular morning slice of cake with a healthy vegan oat bar, plus fill the fridge with some raw vegan sweet treats to satisfy any snack attacks.

Dates form the basis of all my three go-to healthy vegan raw recipes. They’re a bit more expensive than knocking up a quick batter-based vegan sponge cake, but I’ve found one of the cheapest sources of dates is Lidl’s 200g bag of pitted dates. All the recipes use multiples of 200g so there’s no need to weigh and the remaining ingredients are cup or spoon measures – quick and easy. There’s no cooking required either, just combine the ingredients and chill. You can also keep them in the freezer for a couple of months, too.

The simplest recipe is Raw Chocolate Brownies, which I think was inspired by Deliciously Ella. These require just three ingredients: dates (2 x 200g packs), cocoa or cacao powder and nuts of choice. Just about any type of nut works well here. I usually use a Lidl bag of mixed nuts. You can also add an optional dash of maple syrup or agave for a bit of extra unctuousness and sweetness. Simply whizz all the ingredients together in the food processor and press the mix down into a lined 6 inch/15 cm tin. Chill in the fridge for a few hours and then cut into squares – 16 if you’re feeling virtuous or 12 if you’d like a bigger portion.

TIP: Press the mix down with the back of spoon dipped in water to stop the mixture sticking, and press down firmly

Vegan oat bars are great for breakfast on the run, or a mid-morning elevenses snack. I adapted these from a vegetarian recipe by replacing the honey used as sweetener with agave syrup. Maple syrup would also work but is more expensive and has a stronger flavour. Again, just whizz up the ingredients in a food processor and press into a lined tin. I usually start by chopping the nuts, then add the dates, and finally the remaining ingredients. As with the raw brownies, you can make the squares or rectangles as large or small as you wish. If you cut a 6-inch square tin into 12 pieces each portion will have 202 calories.

The recipe for vegan power balls is extremely versatile. Based on a mix of dates, nuts, pumpkin and chia seeds, you can just swap the flavours of juice and spices to change up the variety. The pumpkin and chia seeds will go towards your daily dose of Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids, too. Make the mix in exactly the same way as for oat bars, but instead of pressing into a tin, use a tablespoon to scoop out the mix and roll in between your palms into small balls. I usually make 15 power balls from the recipe below. So far, I’ve made lemon and ginger; lime and ginger; lime, ginger and chilli; and chocolate, orange and a hint of chilli.

Vegan Oat Bars

1 cup mixed nuts

200g pitted dates (1 Lidl 200g bag)

1 ½ cups oats (I’ve even used sugar-free muesli!)

2 tbsp peanut butter

3 tbsp sirop d’agave

Raw Chocolate Brownies

1 cup mixed nuts

400g pitted dates (2 x Lidl 200g bags)

3 tbsp cocoa powder or raw cacao

Design-your-own-flavour Power Balls

Basic:

200g pitted dates

1 cup nuts

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp chia seeds

Add: up to 2 tbsp liquid flavour, such as lime, lemon or orange juice

          Up to 3 tsp of spices, such as ground ginger, cinnamon, cacao and a pinch of chilli