Vegan She Wrote

Chocolate Cups filled with a Mint Cashew Butter & Two Nut-Filled Variations!

Simple, agave sweetened, gluten-free, and delicious!

So, as I mentioned last time, I've recently formed a beautiful new, fairly food-centric, relationship with an old friend. And recently, our discussions have turned to chocolate! And oh the possibilities ;) Last Thursday, while at work, watching the kids eat pizza after a morning full of running about during field day, Melissa pulled out a small glass container which held four beautiful little chocolates that she'd made that morning (chocolate for breakfast? um, yeah - we're best friends forever!), and shared them with me. So while the kids munched away at their pizza, I savored first a chocolate cup filled with a cashew mint filling, then one filled with sweet, fresh blueberries. They were blissful, and just the pick me up needed after attempting to herd 30 small children around relays and other assorted field day related activities all morning.

Feeling inspired, I picked up a chocolate mold at Michaels this afternoon, and tried my hand at it! Following Melissa's recipe for the first batch, and experimenting a bit with my second - I spent about half an hour playing chocolatier. And the results, though not terribly pretty, still tasted delicious. They're just sweet enough for me - I don't like anything super sweet - very rich and decadent. They're dairy free (of course) and low in sugar! I used agave nectar in mine, but next time I want to try brown rice syrup, or perhaps maple syrup - I believe Melissa used coconut nectar - basically the options for sweeteners are wide open. Experiment away!
This recipe made 11 small chocolates in my mold, plus one large cup I made in a cupcake liner. I believe Melissa got about 6 mini cupcake sized chocolates from this batch.

Chocolate Cups filled with Mint Cashew Butter

by Melissa C.

Cashew Butter:
1/3 cup raw cashews
1 TBS chia seeds (this was my addition to the recipe - they make these even more filling :)
2 tsp agave (or sweetener of choice)

In a food processor, or mortar and pestle if you're feeling old school, grind the cashews and chia seeds until very fine. Add the agave and pulse/grind to create a paste. The texture you're looking for is kind of like pie dough - small sandy bits that hold together if you try to roll them into a ball. If it's not quite holding together, just add a little more agave. Set aside.

Yup - I went Old School! Mortar and Pestle Baby!

For the Chocolate Base:
1 TBS cashew butter you made earlier
2 TBS coconut oil
1-2 TBS agave, coconut nectar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, etc.
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 heaping TBS cocoa powder
pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, over low heat, gently melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, cocoa powder and agave, whisking until melty and smooth. Add the salt and vanilla extract, stir, and set aside.

Lovely, Melty Chocolate

For the Mint Filling:
1/4 cup cashew butter you made earlier (or whatever is remaining)
1/2 tsp mint extract

Mix the mint extract into the cashew butter.

To Assemble:

(If you're chocolate looks like it's started to solidify - just place it back on the stove for a minute, to re-melt the chocolate)

Using either a mold, or mini cupcake liners (should make about 6), fill the bottom's of the mold/liners about 1/3 - 1/2 full, and using your spoon, try to coat the sides of the mold/liners with chocolate. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Chocolate in the bottom of the Molds

Roll the mint filling into small balls, and then flatten them in the palm of your hand to create a small disk. Continue until you have as many disks as you have molds to fill.

Mint Disks

Pull the molds out of the freezer - believe it or not, they should be hardening by now - and place a mint "disk" in the center of each mold/liner. Spoon more chocolate on over the "disk" to completely cover - make sure you get in all the cracks.

Filling in Chocolate Cups

Covered Completely in Chocolate :)

Place back in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from freezer, and attempt to pop out of the mold onto a clean counter, or cutting board. They should come out without much fuss - but if you're having trouble, just keep applying pressure - the heat from your hand should help them loosen up. Devour. Store any survivors in the freezer - as the chocolate does get rather melty if left out.

Mini Cups from the Chocolate Mold

Large Cupcake Liner Cup

Nut-Full Chocolate Cups

1 Recipe Chocolate Base

1 TBS roasted almonds, chopped
1 TBS coconut flakes
1 TBS pistachio nuts, chopped

Since I'd already used up all of my cashew butter in the first batch of chocolates, I substituted 1 TBS of almond flour (since it has a fairly mild flavor) for the cashew butter in the chocolate- and it turned out quite well! I imagine adding smooth peanut butter would be quite delicious - especially with a peanut nougat..... mmmmm.....

So everything else was the same here - except that once I filled the the molds/liners half way full of chocolate, I added a sprinkling of chopped nuts - half with the roasted almonds, and half with the pistachios. Then, spooned the remaining chocolate over the nuts. I topped the roasted almond chocolates with the shredded coconut, and the pistachio chocolates with more chopped pistachios - so that I could tell them apart. Freeze for 15-20 minutes, then pop out, eat, and store.