Have a sweet tooth? Crave chocolate in particular? Looking for a healthy alternative to your usual chocolate dessert?
This vegan-friendly take on traditional chocolate mousse is guaranteed to satisfy the sweet tooth of every chocolate lover in your house. After one bite, you’ll only have eyes for these kinds of pies!
Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie with Pretzel Crust
Cook time: 6.5 hours
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
3½ cups whole mini pretzels or thin pretzel sticks
1 stick unsalted or vegan butter
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 (12-ounce) package soft or extra-soft or silken tofu
1 cup frozen banana slices (about 5 ounces)
½ cup almond butter
¼ cup Almond Breeze chocolate almond beverage
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 oz good-quality chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
Whipped coconut cream
Chopped chocolate
Extra crushed pretzels
Directions:
1. Make the crust: Place a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse pretzels until they form mostly fine crumbs with a few more textured pieces remaining throughout. If you don’t have or prefer not to use a food processor, place the pretzels in a ziptop bag and crush them with a rolling pin. (You may need to double the bag if it gets any small holes.)
2. Melt butter in large, heatproof bowl in the microwave. Add pretzel crumbs (you should have about 1 ½ cups; make a few extra or subtract as needed) to the bowl. Add sugar, then stir until evenly moist and combined. The crumbs should hold together easily when pressed. If they don’t, add 1 to 2 tablespoons additional melted butter.
3. Press crumbs into the bottom and up the sizes of a 9-inch pie dish. Bake for 8 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool slightly, then place in the freezer or refrigerator to cool completely. Do not proceed with the recipe until your crust and pie dish are at or below room temperature.
4. Make the filling: While the crust cools, place tofu, frozen banana, almond butter, chocolate almond beverage and cocoa powder in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. In a microwave-safe or heatproof bowl, set over a pan of simmering water, melt chocolate and then add it to the blender and blend again until very smooth, stopping to scrape down the blender as needed.
5. Pour filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, top with whipped coconut cream, chocolate and pretzels as desired. Slice and enjoy.
Never made whipped coconut before? It’s surprisingly easy and lower in calories than standard dairy whipped cream. Just a half cup of whipped cream contains 400 calories while whipped coconut cream contains 60 calories. (Slightly more depending on the type of sugar you add, if any.)
Coconut whipped cream
Select a good quality brand of coconut milk or coconut cream and chill the can overnight in the refrigerator to harden (chilling in the freezer doesn’t work as well). Scoop the hardened coconut cream into a mixing bowl and leave any clear liquid behind (reserve for smoothies, etc.). Whip with a hand mixer or stand mixer until light peaks form. Yep, that’s it!
Optional: Sweeten with sifted powdered sugar or stevia to taste (liquid sweeteners can weigh it down so it won’t be as fluffy).
Find more delicious recipes like this using plant-based beverages at www.almondbreeze.ca
— News Canada