Vegan. No Bake. No Butter No oil. Only 58 calories per bite.
My alarm rang. I groaned before turning over to shut it off. Simultaneously I heard a different alarm in the next room – my sister’s room – go off. Before long, a familiar figure grouchily entered my room. My baby sister, in her sweatpants, one side half rolled up, the other released to its full length, gently called my name. She let me know she was going to start our phone call, before jumping next to me in bed hijacking my blanket and half of my tiny bed.
We were both tired. It was 9am. Saturday no less. Quarrantine has not been kind to my sleeping schedule and 9am felt like 6am.
The phone rang for a little bit before two excited voices came on the line – my parents. It was my mom’s birthday and father’s day and they had been anticipating our call.
Just few days earlier, we had been racking our brains over what we should do on this special occasion – the one day of the year that both events fell on AND the one time of the year at least one of us could be home celebrating with them. But this year with the coronavirus, it was safer to just stay put in the US. I felt bad none of their children would be home with them. After texting back and forth with both my sisters, we decided to surprise them with a cake.
Mandarin Oriental’s Special “Mogador Chocolate & Hazelnut Praline Cake”. That was it. A delicious creamy Chocolate cake. My mom loved chocolate. It also had to have a hint of nuts, because my dad loves nuts. I was so ecstatic for them to receive. We had it all planned – my aunt would go pick it up on Saturday and bring it to my parents.
Our beautiful surprise didn’t turn out exactly how we had anticipated. It turned out to be a series of misfortunate mishaps. My aunt had plans with my mom and couldn’t get away, so she decided to let my dad in on the surprise. My dad asked my uncle to go grab the cake instead. But at the last minute, my grandfather asked my uncle for some help, and so my uncle had to ask my dad’s sister to go pick it up. You can guess by time our family dinner rolled around, everyone except my mom knew about the cake.
Regardless of how things turned out, my parents were happy. Happy because we had remembered. Happy, because for the first time they had received a gift from their new son in law and their soon-to-be son in-law. It was a simple reminder that despite living afar, we were still doing our best to help each other feel loved.
Food has always been my vehicle of showing others I cared for them. From an expensive Mandarin Oriental chocolate cake to a homemade bowl of oatmeal, its not the price tag that matters, but the thought. I like to remind myself that despite all odds, love and kindness still exists. There is still goodness in people. And that comes from each one of us trying to be more generous in our expression of gratitude, love and sympathy.
Today, we are sharing a recipe for our RAW white bean cookie dough balls. Its not quite as fancy as that hazelnut praline cake, BUT it is damn good and tasty. Making these will cost much less, but it took a lot more effort on our part cleaning, mixing, rolling. These little balls got us through our California stay just a few weeks ago. We love them and I still dream about it now. And if my dad and mum were here on this special day, I think they would have liked it. Whether its the cake or this bowl of goodies, it doesn’t matter. Its where the heart is that counts. 
- 1 cup oats (gluten-free, if needed)
- ½ cup white beans (We used Great Northern Beans), drained and rinsed
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 4 tbsp nut butter (almond, peanut, cashew)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Pinch of Salt
- 3 tbsp mini chocolate chips
- Place the oats in the food processor. Blitz until it becomes flour.
- Add all the other ingredients except chocolate chips into the food processor,
- Blitz till smooth. Stop periodically to scrape down your machine to help it combine better.
- Transfer to clean bowl. Mix in the chocolate chips (I find using your hands is easier than a spatula).
- Form 22 balls.
- You can enjoy immediately, or put it in the fridge to make it cold. We really like to eat this cold.
- Store the remaining cookie dough balls in the fridge.
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