The Best Ever Live Cookies AKA Nut Snacks

Talk about a blast from the past. I haven’t made these in so long! But once upon a time they were a constant in my raw repertoire – as well as in my own kids lunchboxes! These live cookies were part of their baptism into the world of raw food which, at that time, was a very scary world for them. They were incessantly afraid that my embrace of the raw diet was going to mean Big Changes for them; that somehow I was about to morph into something that they woudn’t be able to identify as their mother. My son, Chance, so much as came out and told me that he was just waiting for me to start weaving skirts out of wheat and braiding my armpit hair. It was things like nut snacks and raw desserts that placated them. You could say it lulled them into a sense of false security as raw got a foothold in our lives.

Actually, it was Chance who completely fell in love with these and dubbed them ‘nut snacks’. He was in high school at the time and you can imagine where his friends minds went with that name…( I still marvel at the complete childishness of the male teenage mind especially because I now have another one around the house and know nothing has changed.) But the really big news boiled down to the fact that everyone at school loved those nut snacks!! My own amusement came when my son started asking me for extra because all his friends wanted them. They were stealing them when his back was turned. Those things were like currency. At one point, one of his classmates actually wanted to pay to have me make a batch for him!

Here We Go Again…

I stopped making them when my son graduated and ventured off on his own. I was going through all sorts of separation issues and they just reminded me of him too much. I’d almost forgotten about them. But something about him being back here on the property reminded me and I thought, “Wouldn’t he just go crazy if I made some of those nut snacks?!!! So of course, I just had to do it.

I mentioned nothing. But last night I whipped them up and put them in the dehydrator and they were ready by this morning. I put some in a zip-lock bag and went down to where he was working on building his tiny house. “Guess what I made?”, I said, holding up the bag. He took one look and his whole face lit up, “Nut snacks!” The words literally burst out of him, he was so happy! And wow! Did that ever make me happy, too.

Here at home, a new generation of kids are falling in love with the nut snacks. The oldest – thirteen going on three when it comes to certain things – calls them ‘nut sacks’ and the littler ones all crack up. But, nonetheless, whatever you want to call them, I call them a winner.

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Nut Snacks

2 cups walnuts, soaked, rinsed and drained

3 cups almonds, soaked, rinsed and drained

3 cups dates, pitted and soaked 1-4 hours

1 cup date water

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefrui juice

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup raisins

In a food processor, blend the walnuts and almonds until chunky-chopped and place in a bowl.

In a Vita-Mix or high speed blender, blend the dates, salt, grapefruit juice and date water until smooth. This mixture should be a heavy consistency.

Toss the whole raisins in with the nut mixture, then pour in mixture from the blender and mix thoroughly with your hands or spatula.

Spread 1/2 of the mixture on one dehydrator teflex sheet just under 1/2 inch thick corner to corner and then score the mixture 3 times in each direction to get 16 bars per tray.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 14 hours until dry. Midway through drying time, flip the nut snacks onto a dehydrator tray with just a mesh screen. They should be a little pliable and chewy when done. If you want them harder you can always dehydrate for longer.