Carob is an easy and sustainable chocolate replacement
Ancient food of the Middle East, carob’s sweet flavor makes this vegan dessert naturally good.
The sweetly named carob tree produces a fruit that can be used as a chocolate substitute. Its cultivation is less harmful to the environment and it can made into syrups, desserts, spreads, toffees, drinks or used as a sweetener.
When I was a little girl living in New York, Israel was just a faraway hot, sandy country to me. Tu B’Shvat is a Jewish holiday that meant planting a tree by mail, although today you can plant a tree in Israel online.
It was when Dad would bring home carobs. “Boxer,” he’d say. Yiddish for carob. A taste of the Holy Land, something to bring the New Year of the Trees closer. We kids would chew away earnestly on the long black pods, fascinated with the sweet taste with a cheese flavor. The shiny black seeds, hard enough to split a tooth, we carefully collected for our own arcane purposes in a box under my bed.
You can live off carobs if you are in the Middle East
Having lived in Israel for over three decades and now a grandmother, I still delight in carob, although as a powder, for cooking. These just-sweet-enough carob balls are so right for a Tu B’Shvat celebration. or a dessert at a vegan meal. The recipe includes other native Israeli foods: honey, almonds, wheat and nuts.
Vegan Carob Nut Balls
Ingredients:
3/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup carob powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup puffed wheat
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
For coating:
1. 1/4 cup Dried, powdered coconut
2. 4 Tblsp. cocoa powder mixed with 4 Tblsp. carob powder and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3. Blend 3 Tblsp. carob powder and 1/4 cup sugar. Melt 2 Tblsp. margarine or coco butter/oil, remove from heat and mix in carob powder/sugar. If needed, thin the coating with a little warm milk (soy, almond, coconut milks are fine). If too thin, add a little more carob powder.
Vigorously mix the almond butter, carob powder, cinnamon, honey and vanilla. The dough will be stiff.
Add the nuts and cereal. Wet your hands to form the dough into balls. The surface of the balls should be moist in order to help the coating stick.
Roll each ball in one of the coating mixes. Refrigerate till firm.
More seasonal recipes:
Zalabya, Pitta flavored with Black Cumin
Author: Miriam Kresh
Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
They’re easy to make, Yael. And I hear you make your own almond butter? I’d love to hear about that.
Boy,your carob balls look lovely! I use quite much carob,but often mix it with cacao powder. I so feel like making your carob balls!
That sounds like a pick up line!