raw coconut balls and pop-up holiday shop

Raw vegan coconut truffles: sinful and angelic at the same time

You need to use up raw pantry items quickly before they lose their freshness and start to taste "off." Faced with a gargantuan mound of raw, unsweetened coconut flakes [a pleasant dilemma, really], I decided to make these truffle-esque raw coconut balls for this week's Use It Up Tuesday. They are fudgy-wudgy but with a subtle hint of cinnamon that makes them almost taste highbrow. I'm the kind of girl who could eat a half box of cookies in a sitting, but oddly, one piece of a raw candy or cookie is usually enough to quell my sweet tooth.

Come visit my holiday vegan Pop-Up Shop!

Before I give you the easy-peasy recipe, just in case you're looking for cool gifts for the vegans in your life, I want to invite you to stop by my holiday Pop-Up Shop. I feature stylishly snarky, vegan message apparel that I designed, so you know it's not cookie cutter. The shop also includes fun items like flasks [in case you don't get along with your extended family], dog hoodies and subversive undies. I am donating 10% of my profits to animal welfare organizations.

"Kale is the new black."

"Raw-some" – several colors and type styles

Vegan flask necklace. Full-size flask available to help you endure family gatherings

Serve these raw truffles on a snowy bed of coconut

Here's the raw truffle recipe. What are you making for Use It Up Tuesday?

Raw Coconut Truffles

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup raw, unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 T raw cacao powder, plus 1 T for dusting
• 2 T raw agave nectar
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

Makes 12

Soak the nuts in water for about 1/2 hour. Drain well.

Process everything in a food processor until almost dough-like. Squeeze really hard and form into ball. It will feel crumbly to the touch but if you squeeze hard enough, they will hold together.

Roll in cacao powder and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour