Unemployment To Do List Item 1 - Raw Brownies: Done!

About a week ago I wrote about a little to-do list that I'm making up of things I'd like to accomplish while I'm in between jobs. The first item on my list was to make raw brownies which I completed this past weekend!
I found a simple recipe for the brownies from The Rawtarian that I used as more of a guide...'cuz nobody tells me what to do! Just kidding! I had to improvise because things never seem to go according to plan when I get involved in the kitchen (I'm learning though!)

1. This recipe for raw brownies only required 6 ingredients! From left to right we have shredded coconut, raw cacao nibs (the recipe actually called for powder but this was cheaper), organic raw blue agave sweetener, sea salt, crushed pecans, and organic dates.
2. Since I purchased cacao nibs and not powder, I had to pulverize the nibs to powder using the Cuisinart. I pulsed the nibs for about five seconds at a time until they were down to the right size.

 3. Once the cacao was processed, I mixed in 1 cup of dates and then added in the shredded coconut, agave and sea salt and processed everything until it was one homogenous glob.
4. The original recipe called for the pecans to be mixed with the dates first, but since I was winging it on my own, I mixed the pecans in last. It was too hard to mix them in using the Cuisinart, so I hand-mixed them in (that's my dad demonstrating in the above picture!)

5. When the pecans were all in the glob, the brownies were technically done. I could have starting munching right then, but since it looked a bit too globular and not enough like actual brownies, I flattened the mix out into a brownie pan and had them sit in the refrigerator for about an hour.
6. The cooling time in the refrigerator really solidified everything and made it easier to cut into more "brownie-looking" bites later on.

7. Here are the brownies ready to be served!
8. They tasted pretty good...sweet and salty. The weird part was the cacao added a smell and taste that was a bit like alcohol. I don't know enough (or anything at all) about cacao to know if it's normal but it was tolerable. I will probably have to experiment with the recipe a few more times to actually perfect it, but it was a fun little project to do during the weekend!