Fudgey Brownie Pecan Treats

I love finding new ideas for healthy recipes. It's so satisfying to know exactly what's in my food and to know that it's all good for me. But coming up with healthy and sugar free dessert recipes that taste good can be a challenge for me. I recently got a book from the library on raw snacks. I love the idea of raw food, although I think it would totally break our budget. But in reading through it, I saw several recipes that included soaked raisins. I was intrigued. I didn't have ingredients for making any of the snacks in the book, so I decided to experiment on my own. Sweets are my weakness and I wanted something that tasted chocolaty and fudgey, but was healthy too. The result of my experimentation was a cross between a brownie and a piece of fudge. Kind of like an underdone brownie. Mmmmm. Deliciousness!

Fudgey Brownie Pecan Treats
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c walnuts
1/2 c + 2-3 T nut butter of choice. I've used both almond and peanut butter with good results
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c carob powder (you could do all cocoa or all carob if desired. I just wanted to cut back the caffeine but still wanted that chocolate flavor)
2 T virgin coconut oil
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 - 1/3 c shredded unsweetened coconut

Place raisins in a bowl and cover with water. Soak 3-4 hours. Drain. Place soaked raisins in a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Add walnuts and process until combined. Add nut butter and coconut oil and process again. Mixture should begin to stick together and be a little bit wet. Finally add cocoa and carob powders and process until well combined. Press mixture into wax paper lined 8x8 pan and top with pecans and coconut if desired. Freeze about an hour before cutting into 1 inch squares. These are a bit crumbly, but the flavor makes up for it. Yield: about 24 squares. Best if stored in the fridge or freezer.