Raw Date Coconut Macaroons

With just four wholesome ingredients, these raw date coconut macaroons are gorgeous balls of pure bliss.

After I discovered just how delicious my raw coconut macaroons were, I set myself the challenge to remake them entirely out of wholefoods.

And I think I might just have done it.

So if you thought my original raw coconut macaroons were amazing, then these babies will take you to a whole new level of wow.

So simple, so easy, so quick, so delicious – with just four simple ingredients.

Coconut, dates, vanilla beans and a pinch of salt.

That’s it. Nothing else.

Which makes them gluten-free, nut-free, vegan and paleo.

Oh, and a taste to die for. Or maybe to live for. Even to thrive for!

And they’re so easy to make. Process coconut, blend dates, mix, scoop, dry.

They’re almost as easy as making raw caramel fudge. Almost.

In all fairness, I have to warn you. It’s really hard to eat just one.

I’m not even going to tell you how many I ate while I was trying to take photos of them.

Oh dear, there goes another one. Ooops, ate that one too.

Quick! Take a photo before they’re all gone!

It’s just as hard to stop yourself eating them while they dehydrate.

And once they’re actually ready, well then you’re a goner.

Just. Too. Delicious.

Enough teasing. Go make yourself some.

Raw Date Coconut Macaroons

These raw date coconut macaroons have just four ingredients - coconut, dates, vanilla and salt - so they're gluten-free, nut-free, vegan and paleo.

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Category: Dessert

Cuisine: Paleo, Raw, Vegan, Wholefoods

Tags: dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, oil-free, soy-free, sugar-free

Cook time: 20 minutes minutes

Drying time: 1 day day

Total time: 1 day day 20 minutes minutes

Makes: 40 macaroons (10 serves)

Calories per serve: 317kcal

Author: Nikki, Eating Vibrantly

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups shredded coconut (230g)
• 3/4 cup medjool dates , pitted (190g)
• 3/4 cup water (188g)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
• 2 cups shredded coconut (170g)

Method

• Process 2 3/4 cups of shredded coconut in your food processor until it is completely smooth and creamy. Stop often to scrape down the sides.
• Blend dates and water in your blender until completely smooth (use tamper to help with blending).
• Mix coconut butter, date puree, vanilla bean powder and salt in a large bowl.
• Add 2 cups of finely shredded coconut and mix well.
• Scoop small tablespoons of mix onto a dehydrator tray/sheet.
• Dehydrate at 42ºC for around 24 hours, or until the macaroons are dry on the outside but still soft in the centre.

Preparation

• Before: -
• During: 20 mins
• After: Dehydrate for 24 hours
• Need: Blender, food processor, dehydrator

Nutrition Information

Serving: 4macaroons; Calories: 317kcal; Carbohydrates: 23.8g; Protein: 3.1g; Fat: 25.8g; Saturated Fat: 22.9g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1.1g; Sodium: 73.1mg; Potassium: 349mg; Fiber: 7.8g; Sugar: 15.6g; Vitamin A: 50IU; Vitamin C: 0.8mg; Calcium: 20mg; Iron: 1.4mg

 Tips

• You can always make extra coconut butter by processing extra shredded coconut, and then use it for other recipes. This amount makes just enough for one batch of macaroons, which, if you’re interested is 1 cup or about 220g.
• I use Medjool dates for these raw date coconut macaroons. If you have regular dates, you might need to soak them in water for a couple of hours to make them soft enough to blend properly.
• I use vanilla bean powder for these macaroons, because it is a whole food. Vanilla bean powder is made by air drying vanilla beans for a month or two, and then grinding them up into a powder in a coffee grinder or the dry jug of your high-speed blender.
• I like to use Himalayan salt in my recipes. It’s got lots of extra minerals in it, and apparently tastes better too. And it also has a pretty pink colour (from all the minerals in it).
• I discovered that finely shredded coconut makes better macaroons than coarsely shredded coconut, but if all you have is coarsely shredded coconut, just pulse it in your food processor briefly to turn it into finely shredded coconut.
• This mix comes out wetter than my original raw coconut macaroons, because of the extra water you need to use to help the dates to blend. But the water will evaporate as you dehydrate them, so that’s not a problem.
• If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can bake these in the oven at 150°C for 20-25 minutes, until they’re dry on the outside. Make sure you let them cool completely before eating them.
• And apparently you can store these for 5 days on the bench, 2 weeks in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer, but that’s never going to happen, is it?
• These raw date coconut macaroons work really well with some added cacao powder. I think I added 3tsp to about 1/4 of the mix, and they were fabulously chocolately, so I might have to perfect that recipe next.
• I’m sure you could add other amazing wholefood ingredients too, like lemon juice and lemon zest, or some peppermint essential oil, for a different experience altogether. More experiments to conduct. Goody!

My inspiration

The original raw coconut macaroon recipe was straight from Chef Amber Shea’s amazing book, Practically Raw Desserts.

They turned out so well that I started wondering whether I could make a paleo version of them, using only whole foods.

I played with the balance of water and dates for a bit, trying to get the balance right. And of course, I had to make lots of trial batches to get it just right, didn’t I?

And I just substituted vanilla bean powder for my usual vanilla vodka (usually a 1 tsp of vanilla vodka = 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder), and voila!

Wholefood raw date coconut macaroons.

Awesome.

Want to check out more of Amber’s amazing raw recipes?

[book_pracraw_intro] [book_practically_raw_desserts]

And have an awesomely coco-nutty day!