-14 dates, pitted and soaked in filtered water until soft (the soaking time will depend on how soft or hard your dates are to begin with. I usually soak mine for 6 hours or until super soft)
-4.5 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut (1 cup)
-1 cup sesame seeds (soaked for 10 hours)
-1/2 teaspoon lemon flavor (or to taste, start with 1/4 tsp)
-1 teaspoon lemon zest
How To
1. In food processor fitted with the s-blade, add dates and blend into a paste. Add in lemon flavor, blend.
2. In another bowl, add coconut, well drained sesame seeds, and lemon zest. Mix well.
3. Add date mixture to coconut, sesame seeds, and lemon zest and with clean hands, mix well.
4. Form into little cookies or balls.
5. Place in your dehydrator (on a mesh fitting) and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 24 hours (or more). Crank it up to 135 degrees for the last hour. I know this sounds like a long time, but this low temperature really preserves all the beneficial nutrients. I have no idea how these would work in the oven, but please let me know if you try.
Notes:
*I put my dehydrator in the laundry room and just forget about it.
*If making the balls, dehydrate 105 degrees for 12-15 hours. They will be soft and chewy.
Shared on: Just Another Meatless Monday, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Monday Mania, Ruth’s Real Food 101 (Mondays), Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Traditional Tuesdays, Fat Tuesdays, Kids in the Kitchen, Real Food Wednesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Full Plate Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Simple Lives Thursday, It’s a Keeper Thursday, Wellness Weekend, Raw Foods Thursday, Fresh Bites Friday, Freaky Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food, Lunch Box Love Fridays, Feed Your Soul Friday, Allergy Friendly Friday, Superfood Sunday
I had to manually sort through it all. I threw the big pieces back in & tried again on a faster setting but they didn’t cooperate. I wonder if there’s a food processor-like blade attachment from Kitchenaid…
I’ve never had those packaged cookies, but wow, these look great…and they’re nut-free, which means I can have them right now!
Thanks Amber. Yes, and it’s hard to find nut-free stuff (especially in raw/living foods)!! These are a super fun treat.
Hugs,
–Amber
I want to come visit and stay for a month. I’ll be sending my list on everything I’d like us to make together while I’m there. 😉 These will be on the list!
You rock, Amber! xo,
Shirley
You’re so funny Shirley. Wouldn’t that be a hoot! I would love that so much.
Hope you’re having a great Monday!
Hugs,
-Am
These look amazing Amber. I’m a sucker for any treat made with lemon and these are so fantastically good for you-love ’em!
Thanks Laura!
What if you don’t have a dehydrator? Can you use a very low setting on an oven?
Hello Anonymous. Great question. I haven’t tried this, but if your oven goes low enough, you may be able to “cook” them in the oven. I was interested in keeping them raw, which is why I opted for the dehydrator, but if raw isn’t a concern, I’m sure these would do fine in the oven, perhaps at 200 degrees, just keep an eye on them! If you try this, I would love to hear how they turned out Come on back and leave a comment. Thanks!
Be Well,
–Amber
These look like a must-try, but I will probably do them with orange blossom water as I don’t know if I’ve seen decent lemon extract here in the UK. A bit nervous about the 24 hour dry but I will just trust you on this 😀
Hi Kelly,
Please let me know how you like them. You certainly don’t have to dehydrate that long, check the texture ever 3 hours and pull them out whenever you like. And if you add water, you will have to dehydrate longer. In fact, instead of adding water, you may just want to use more lemon zest if you can’t find the lemon flavor. Just a suggestion.
Be Well,
–Amber
Amber, I love this recipe!! I’ve tried the Go Raw cookies before and love them, but I’ve never bought the lemon cookies. Guess I never will, because your recipe is now at the top of my “must try” list!
Thanks Heather! Aren’t these cookies the best?! So simple. I love their crunch, but my homemade cookies are quite tasty too, just not as crunchy.
Be Well,
–Amber
Looks good! My next kitchen gadget is a dehydrator! I can’t wait to get one!
Hi Sarah,
Yes, yes! Do get one! They’re too much fun!
Hugs,
–Amber
I am getting one of those dehydrator’s too 😉 thanks for linking!
Hi Kelli,
It works really well for now. However, I look forward to upgrading one day! 😉
Be Well,
–Amber
These sound great! I haven’t had that variety, but I love other ones they make. Can’t wait to try these!
Hi Jennifer,
I think you’ll really like these. They are pretty awesome!
I wil be trying these… look so good
Thanks! I do hope you like them.
yum…. I bought a dehydrator, but I haven’t used it yet! this sounds like the perfect thing to start with! thank you, Sonia
So fun!! This is a super easy recipe to make and so fun to dehydrate. Good luck!!
Do you think you coud substitute sunflower seeds for the sesame seeds? Thanks
Good question Nancy. I don’t see why not? I’ve only made these with sesame, so please let me know if it works out. Would love to know! Thanks!
Can you just eat them without dehydrating them?
Sure, allow them to set up in the fridge for a bit for the best results.
Thank you so much for that recipe!!
Those cookies being my favorite – and my daughter too, I was trying to replicate the recipe to avoid buying them at the store. Imagine how it adds up quick!
My intuition told me to check on the net and yes: I found yours. It helps me with quantities and avoid the several trials! Did you try using lemon oil or was-it not an option?
Thank you!!!
Rachel – CA
I There Rachel,
Yes, I do use lemon (flavor) oil – 1/4 teaspoon. I have not tried using lemon juice, as I thought it might be too wet. Lemon flavor/oil is very powerful and yields a fantastic lemon flavor. Good luck!
Thanks for the great recipe! These turned out exactly like the Go Raw ones and were so much cheaper to make!
I didn’t have any lemon flavor so I used the juice of 2 lemons.
It was very sticky and hardly stayed together, but what i did was I let them sit in the refrigerator for about a day, and when I took them out I rolled them into balls and dehydrated them like that. After I dehydrated the balls for a bit, I then flattened them once they were harder, and they eventually turned into the perfect and crunchy cookie I was looking for!
Oh wow, I am always afraid to use lemon juice! I can imagine these were very sticky indeed, but it sounds like you thought of a great solution and refrigerating them and that did the trick. So great they turned out crunchy…maybe this is the key to getting them to that crunch level. Thanks for your comment – I appreciate you sharing your version and experience. This is always helpful to other readers.
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So glad I found your sight. I just found these packaged cookies in Whole Foods but the chocolate ones and have been scouring the web trying to see if anyone has tried to copy it. These little cookies are yum-my and would like to make them. I will try these out. Thanks for posting your recipe.
I love these cookies. I hate the expense of buying them. So happy to find these recipes. My favorite is the gingersnaps. Please please please do those next.
That’s a great suggestion! I will work on the ginger, as these are my favorite too!! Keep an eye out for those soon.
Wow! I just found your website looking for raw lemon cookie recipes. I love your site. Hopefully, by leaving a comment, you can put me on your emails or RSS feed? If I wanted to substitute fresh lemon juice for the lemon flavoring, how much would you recommend using? Thanks so much!
Good question! Not sure about that. I would add in lemon juice until you like the flavor. The lemon flavor will come out even more after dehydrating. so give it the ole’ taste test to find your preference. Let me know what you used…I am sure others would be interested.
And you can get onto the RSS feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thetastyalternative/eZwy
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