Following up on our review of Heroes’ Feast: The Official DnD Cookbook I wanted to find us a healthy recipe to fit in with our Respawn Point theme for January. If you remember, we are taking the month of January to talk about geeky ways to introduce healthy habits for the new year!
Here is a link to the cookbook if you haven’t picked up your copy yet!
You can also see my full review here!
We actually have many healthy options to choose from thanks to the Elven cuisine section of our book! You know how Elves can be-I have a fan theory that High Elves are on a continuous juice cleanse and that’s why they’re so cranky all the time.
The recipe I whipped up this weekend is called Quith-Pa (aka. Elven Rations). If you have an Elf adventurer in your DnD campaign, this is probably the snack they carry around and eat during long adventures.
There are several things I love about this recipe. It is very simple to make (my 6 year old helped me with it). It is also a convenient “grab and go” sweet snack that can replace more unhealthy options like candy or cookies.
And, most exciting, it is Dice Mom’s first Vegan Recipe!
Before you get started, make sure to dust off your food processor. This little gadget will make your work so much easier! If you don’t already have one, you can easily pick one like this up on Amazon. I have had my Cuisinart food processor for years and it still works great!
Okay, now that you’re kitchen is set up for success, here are the ingredients you are going to need:
1 orange (I already had a bag of Cuties so I just used 3 of these smaller oranges and it worked out well)
6 oz. (1 cup) dried apricots, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted (since I was making this recipe with a food sensitive kid in mind, I decided to use sweetened coconut instead as I knew she wasn’t a fan of the unsweetened kind. I also did not toast the shredded coconut to avoid any “it has a brown spot” issues!)
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Kosher salt
One more note on apricots: color. My Quith-pa is bright orange compared to the more brownish color you see featured in our cookbook. I had to go down a Google rabbit hole to figure out what was going on. Apparently, there are three ways that apricots can be dried. The orange ones have been dried using sulfur, giving it a longer shelf life. The brown ones are dried in sunlight. There is a opinion based consensus online that these brown ones are sweeter.
So, you can try both and see what you like better! I found mine to be plenty sweet, and arguably more visually appealing. However, I am interested to try it with apricots that have been dried in a more natural process.
Once you have your ingredients, here’s what you need to do!
- Grate orange peel to yield 1 1/2 tsp. of finely grated zest. Then squeeze the orange to yield 1 1/2 tablespoons of juice.
- Coarsely chop apricots.
- In your food processor, combine the apricots, 1/4 cup of the coconut, the orange zest and juice, vanilla, and a tiny pinch of salt.
- Process until the mixture is very finely chopped, uniform and cohesive. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides a couple of times as the coconut loves to stick to the side of your processor.
- Put your mixture into a bowl. It should stick together and be moldable, though this mixture will be stickier than regular dough.
- Put the remaining 1/2 cup coconut in a wide, shallow bowl.
- Roll mixture into 1 inch balls. I did mine smaller, about 1/2 in balls, because I wanted a smaller, single bite, snack.
- Roll the balls in the coconut, pressing them gently to get the coconut to adhear.
- Place the balls on a plate and let them sit out and “rest” for 45 minutes. This will allow them to firm up and dry out a bit.
Enjoy!
The balls will keep, according to the recipe, around 3 days in an airtight container. I put mine in a covered cake server that I keep on my table, and they make a bright and cheery centerpiece!
Reading the description found in Heroes’ Feast, it says that while this trail food is made up primarily of dried fruits, regional variations can include seeds, nuts, legumes, and beyond.
Everyone in the family enjoyed the basic recipe, but I think adding something like finely chopped pecans would give it a nicer texture, a little crunch! The earthy, salty pecans would be a fabulous compliment to the sweet, citrusy base. Not only that, but adding a protein source to this recipe makes it healthier, and keeps you full longer!
As you can see, this is a basic recipe with simple ingredients that is super fun to play with. Figure out what you and your family like and make it your own! I hope you enjoy experimenting in your own kitchen and I look forward to hearing what you come up with!
Dice Mom 