Russian cuisine: Chocolate buns (VEGAN + RAW)

Russia- despite being the largest country in the world does not always get that much attention. But what if I tell you that Russian cuisine literally tastes like HEAVEN?

Russians have their own special ice-cream and loads of various desserts.

Today, I am going to share with you the Russian chocolate buns that my parents ate in their childhood. It is one of the most famous recipes of all Russia and almost everyone must have tried it. The original recipe is not vegan as it contains cow's butter and cow's milk, however, we've changed and adjusted the recipe to make it into a vegan and more healthier form!

These buns taste super sweet and are easy and quick to make! And get it, they’re RAW.

DISCLAIMER: we do NOT own the given images.

What you’ll need:

•  300 grams (or 1 ¼ cups) of cookies or biscuits of your choice. Preferable gluten-free.
• ½ cup of ground walnuts
•   ¾ cups of milk. You can use any dairy substitute for a vegan version (such as almond milk or rice milk). Click on 'almond milk' to see our recipe on how to make it at home.
•  About 100 grams (1/2 cups) of butter. You can use coconut oil or cocoa butter mixed with coconut oil for a vegan version.
•  4 tbsp of sugar, better use coconut sugar as it is healthier (you can also use any sugar-free substitute such as few drops of stevia, xylithol or in some cases, honey.)
•  4 tbsp of cacao powder (preferably raw as it possesses a healthier structure).

Method:

1. Pop all the gluten-free cookies or biscuits into a food processor to grind them into a powdery form. If a food processor or blender is not available, then you can always pop them into a seal plastic bag and then grind them using a wooden spoon.
2. Add the ground walnuts into the bowl with the ground biscuits and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour in your dairy free milk substitute into the bowl and mix with a spoon until a nice dough forms.
4. Add 4 tbsps of coconut sugar, or any other sugar or sweetener that you have used and again, mix. At this stage, you can get cheesy and try the dough. This will help you realize how much sweeteness you need, if you haven't added enough. And when you try it, you won't be able to stop yourself anyway!
5. Mix in the butter or coconut oil (depends on what you've chosen to use) and 2 tbsp of cacao powder. Stir well until the dough changes colour and becomes brown. 
6. Next, we are going to take a separate plate or wooden board and sprinkle it with our remaining 2 tbsp of cacao powder. 
7. Next, take a tablespoon or an ice-cream scooper and use it to scoop up a serving of dough. Use your hands to fashion the schoop into a round ball or cookie-like shape. Once the shape is done, coat and roll it along the plate to make sure that it is coated with cacao powder.
8. Perform this for the remaining quantity of your chocolate dough. After you have your buns settled on the plate, you may feel like you want to dip a fork into almond milk and then press it against the upper surface of the buns to give them a flatter, more cookie-like shape and design. (see image above) 
9. Pop the chocolate buns into the fridge for about 30 minutes and then enjoy them with tea or coffee, or a healthy, guilt-free dessert! Enjoy!

Enjoy!

~Les Sofias.

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