Coconut-Almond Crunch Balls

Ever since I was introduced to the concept of "low carbohydrate density" nutrition I've been on a mission. The goal: to create a low-carb, low-sugar, grain-free and, most importantly, delicious dessert.

The low-carbohydrate density diet aligns beautifully with the evolution-based diet that I recommend. It eliminates flour and sugar, includes but minimizes whole grains and fruits, and emphasizes vegetables, seeds, animal protein (not necessarily meat—think pastured eggs and raw goat cheese) and healthy fats like coconut oil. The benefits of avoiding refined grains and sugars include improved blood sugar balance, yeast control and intestinal comfort (i.e. reduced gas and bloating, a big bonus for IBS people like me). However, there isn't much to offer the sweet tooth contingent. Hence my mission.

I started off very simply: grated carrots (carrots are sweet, right?) mashed with nut butter and cinnamon. (I told you it was simple.) I know: not exactly blog-worthy—but it's darn good, trust me!

Anyway, in terms of a real recipe worth sharing, I am proud to present these adorable Coconut-Almond Crunch Balls. 

They're made with naturally sweet raw coconut butter, and naturally sweet raw almond butter, with only a hint of concentrated natural sweetener added. (I used agave, but maple syrup would be scrumptious, too.) The crunch comes from homemade Buckwheat Crunchies (soaked, sprouted dehydrated buckwheat groats), which I had on hand from a previous dehydrating day.

Buckwheat Crunchies are REALLY easy to make (instructions below). But if you don't have a dehydrator or the time, consider substituting finely chopped almonds. (Alternatively, forget the crunch aspect altogether and use this recipe, sans crunchies, to make creamy Coconut-Almond Truffles instead! Guaranteed they would be totally yummy, too.)

P.S. This dessert is gluten-free. I know buckwheat sounds like it must be related to wheat, the mother of all gluten-containing grains, but it isn't. In fact, buckwheat isn't even technically a grain. It's a fruit! Read more here.

Coconut-Almond Crunch Balls

1 cup raw coconut butter
1 Tablespoon raw coconut oil
1/4 cup raw almond butter
4 Tablespoons agave or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt or fine sea salt
1 cup buckwheat crunchies
shredded coconut for coating - about half a cup

In a food processor fitted with the S-blade, process coconut butter, coconut oil, almond butter, agave or maple syrup, vanilla and salt until a smooth dough is formed. Transfer to a medium bowl and use a soft spatula to gently mix in buckwheat crunchies.




Use a teaspoon or the spatula, and very clean fingers and hands, to separate out small chunks of dough. Roll and press them into little bite-sized balls, or medium-sized balls if you like more of a mouthful.

Roll each ball in shredded coconut and set aside until all the dough is used up. You'll get about two dozen balls or more, depending on their size.

If you prefer a flatter profile, that works, too.

I recommend eating Coconut-Almond Crunch Balls at room temperature for best flavor, but do store them in the refrigerator to keep firm and fresh. Miraculously, these balls hold their crunch for at least two weeks! (It wasn't easy to keep them around that long—hence the miracle—but I wanted to be sure my Crunch Balls lived up to their name over time, before going public with this recipe.) Enjoy!


Buckwheat Crunchies
To make these, you will need a dehydrator and a supply of raw buckwheat groats, which can be hard to find. I ordered a five-pound box directly from my local food coop.

To begin, soak two cups of buckwheat groats in four cups of water for eight hours or overnight.



Drain and rinse very well, several times, to thoroughly remove slippery foam. Allow soaked buckwheat to sprout in a strainer for 12-24 hours (as pictured below), rinsing at approximately six-hour intervals so that the soaked buckwheat doesn't dry out prematurely. (If sprouting overnight, you don't need to wake up to rinse your groats; just loosely cover strainer with a clean damp towel at bedtime.)

Spread sprouted buckwheat in a single layer on mesh dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 110 degrees for 12 hours, or until very crisp.

Store crunchies in an airtight glass jar. Use in place of dry cereal (delicious with coconut milk!) or in recipes that call for crunch, such as my delectable Coconut-Almond Crunch Balls. ♥

Banana-Sunflower Buckwheat Cakes

I've been concocting this recipe in my mind for a while now and am so happy to share it with you today, because it really came out a winner!

My primary goal, truth be told, was to find the perfect vehicle for the fresh, local maple syrup I bought at the coop in May. This vehicle had to be spongy for good sopping-up effect, and whole grain-oriented without being too heavy or floury. The challenge was on!

My secondary goal was to create a new recipe using the raw buckwheat groats of which I had purchased so many pounds in a bulk buy, several months back. "So many groats, so little tummy..." I originally got those groats to make my scrumptious Rainy Day Crackers, and I still do -- don't get me wrong...but a girl likes to mix things up a little sometimes. Am I right, girls?

The name "buckwheat" is somewhat misleading because buckwheat is not a relative of wheat of all. This means that buckwheat is 100% gluten free -- great news for people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

And although generally considered a grain due to its high starch content and culinary uses, buckwheat is really a kind of fruit seed! The buckwheat fruit, which looks a bit like a Japanese lantern, grows on a vine-like plant that is related to rhubarb and sorrel. So buckwheat is very unlike all the common cereal grains -- think millet, quinoa, wheat and rice -- which are the seeds of various grasses.

More good news is that buckwheat is generally considered alkaline in the body, usually ranked on par with quinoa and amaranth. And because of its dual grain-seed nature, buckwheat combines as either a starch or as a nut/seed in any give meal, making it quite versatile. You can read more about buckwheat here, in the online version of Mrs. Grieve's Modern Herbal (a wonderful resource for herbalists and the herb-curious).

If you've never tried buckwheat, you're in for a surprise, as it offers a distinctly chewy yet slippery texture, due to a high content of soluble fiber. This makes buckwheat terrific for supporting healthy bowels, detox and cholesterol balance.

Many traditional buckwheat dishes, such as kasha varniskes, make use of roasted buckwheat. Roasting brings out a rich nutty flavor, but it is not a required step. Raw, hulled buckwheat groats, pictured here, can be prepared quite simply by soaking for fifteen to thirty minutes in fresh water. After such a soak, followed by a thorough rinse to remove sticky saponins, the groats may be sprouted for a day or two OR eaten immediately!

What could be easier?

For this recipe, I used a cup of soaked groats as the foundation of a pancake batter, which I made in the food processor simply by adding in one whole banana (for texture and sweetness) and some boxed rice milk (I used the Rice Dream brand, original flavor). Of course I used a little salt, coconut oil and vanilla to round out the batter. And I threw in some whole raw sunflower seeds at the end, for a nice crunchy touch. The batter was ladled onto a hot skillet coated with melted coconut oil, and all proceeded in the same manner as when making typical flour-based griddle cakes, right up to serving them with real maple syrup, naturally.

Of course, if I had wanted to make 100% raw pancakes, I easily could have done so by ladling the batter onto Teflex sheets and dehydrating the cakes for four to six hours per side. In other words, advance planning and patience would have been required. I'll save that good idea for another day! Today, tradition and eagerness won out, while happy taste buds rejoiced. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Banana-Sunflower Sprouted Buckwheat Cakes

Makes about nine cakes, enough to satisfy two people, namely me and my son, Zack, who gave two syrupy thumbs up to this recipe ♥

1 cup raw buckwheat groats
1 ripe organic banana
1/2 cup rice milk (could use almond, coconut or oat milk)
1 teaspoon coconut oil
nice pinch of Himalayan pink salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

Place buckwheat in a large bowl and cover with fresh water. Stir and allow to soak for at least fifteen minutes or up to one hour. (Do this while talking on the phone with your friend Catherine, if desired.) Drain and rinse well. Add soaked groats to the food processor and process with the S-blade until fairly smooth. Add all remaining ingredients except sunflower seeds and process just enough to have a nice, smooth batter. When done, pulse in the sunflower seeds or stir in by hand so they remain largely intact.

Use a 1/4 cup measure to drop batter a hot skillet, preferably cast iron, that has been greased with coconut oil. When bubbles form around the upper edges and cakes are brown on the bottom, flip and cook side two, as you do with regular pancakes. Add more coconut oil as you make more cakes, to keep them from sticking. Divide griddle cakes between two plates and eat with maple syrup, or raw honey or jam if you prefer.

3-Day Mini-Cleanse: Day 3!

Ah the joys of a 3-day mini-cleanse! On Day 1, motivation is super high. On Day 2, you only have one day left to go. And on Day 3, you're done!

I know many people who set out with the best intentions to do a week-long juice fast or a long detox program only to fall by the wayside when cravings strike. But THREE days? It's easily doable, because the end is always in sight!

Day 3 was actually a few days ago as I write this but I remember: Breakfast Juice was the leftover Pineapple-Apple-Collard-Celery juice from the day before. (Day old juice is not as alive as freshly-pressed juice, true. But it is still pretty darn clean and healthy - not to mention already made!) Lunch Smoothie was a basic Ultimate Green Smoothie, a la Teri Kerr's Ultimate Detox Diet's Breakfast Drink plus greens. Dinner was divine: A beautiful Sprout Salad with fresh lentil sprouts, two kinds of lettuce, grated carrots, black olives and cherry tomatoes, served alongside of Kelp Noodles warmed in Organic Marinara Sauce and topped with grated Raw Local Cheese.

This Kelp Noodle dish was the first (and only) non-raw food of the cleanse. My Community Superfoods store (where I sell kelp noodles at cost, btw) was open that night from 5-7, and I was very hungry and chilled when I got home. Convenience raw foods like kelp noodles come in quite handy in such situations, and I am not averse to eating cooked foods from time to time, especially in winter (hence my "HIGH raw foodist" moniker. Not to be confused with monocle, lol).

Anyway, the dish came out quite tasty. I sauteed some red onion and garlic in a little coconut oil first, then added the marinara and Italian herbs, simmered a few minutes, then added the kelp noodles, turned off the heat and stirred till coated. Transferred to two bowls and garnished generously with grated raw cheese. It was delish. Even Zack approved (much to his surprise - his dubious expectations for the kelp noodles pleasantly reversed upon tasting).

So that was it. The 3-Day Mini Cleanse had come to a close. Kudos to Zack for hanging in as long as he did, and I feel happily lighter and alert. This is good, since many deadlines and responsibilities have convened at once in my life, including two talks in two weeks, the first of which was today!


This morning, I gave a free talk and taste at Green Field's Market on Energizing Raw Breakfasts. I brought soaked almonds for everyone to peel (so easy!), freshly made Almond-Chia Milk, Sprouted Buckwheat Cereal with Cinnamon-Coconut Oil and assorted dried berries and superfoods for people to try. At the end of the talk, I made some refreshingly alive Ginger Green Juice in my Omega 5008 juicer - and of course, everyone loved it! Lots of fun.

My top recommendations for energy-boosting raw breakfasts are any one of the following options. Eat or drink as much as you need to feel satisfied but remember: the lighter the better for maximum energy to carry you to lunch. (FYI, I don't take grains in the morning, but the sprouted buckwheat makes a wonderful dessert, especially when stirred into a mix of raw cacao, coconut oil and stevia or sweetener of choice, as shown me by my raw friends Jude & Jontz Johnson!)

Raw Breakfast Suggestions (choose one)

Fresh Fruit as desired
Raw Vegetable Juice
Fruit or Green Smoothie
Bananas or Dried Fruit with raw nuts/seeds or raw nut butter
Nut Milks and Nut-Milk Based Smoothies
Sprouted Oatmeal or Buckwheat

If you'd like a copy of the recipe handout from the talk, please let me know!

In love and light, Diana