Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Squares

I have a friend, Kat, who is very fit and extremely health conscious.  I know she’s fit because every morning when I check my Instagram account, there will be a photo posted by Kat of the morning’s sunrise.  Kat rises early and power walks along our coastline and I stay home in bed and judge the day’s forecast by her images.

Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Squares

Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Squares

Here’s proof she’s fit; last year when I ran in the 10km Mini-Mos, Kat was in the same race.  She power-walked and beat me.  (Just quietly…I’m already in training for next year’s race where I’m hoping not to be beaten by someone walking the course.)

Vegan

Vegan

And I know Kat’s health conscious because she often posts photos of what she’s been cooking up in her kitchen.  She’s a very good cook and the meals she creates are interesting, varied and full of nutrition.

A few weeks ago she posted photos of peppermint chocolate squares she made and called these her ‘secret indulgence’ and followed that up with, ‘and they’re dead easy to make’.  That combination sounded tempting so I asked Kat for the recipe.

Gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free

Gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free

It’s very true these are extremely easy to make.  There’s just four ingredients needed, they take less than 10 minutes from start to finish (plus freezing time), and this is a no-bake recipe.  And on top of that great list they’re sugar-free, dairy-free and gluten-free.

This is a versatile little snack; if you don’t want to flavour them with peppermint you could substitute roasted nuts or toasted coconut.

Just four ingredients

Just four ingredients

For local readers, I bought the dates, cacao butter and cacao powder from Scoop Wholefoods.  Kat bought the peppermint oil from Twenty 8 Essentials.  I wasn’t able to source peppermint oil so substituted peppermint essence but when I next make these, I’ll be sure to have the oil.

Can be made in less than 10 minutes

Can be made in less than 10 minutes

And here’s a reason to celebrate with these little squares…Miss Arabella is officially, walking around hands-free.  The cripple sticks she has had since February 22 are now redundant and one day soon, they’ll be shipped back to the hospital.  Everyone in this family is relieved we no longer have to fear tripping over them.  Her next goal is to get into heels but I’m encouraging a slow progression – I wouldn’t want you to have to read any more posts about crutches!

Bye, bye, cripple sticks

Bye, bye, cripple sticks

5.0 from 7 reviews
Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Squares
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegan
Cuisine: Australian
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16 squares
 
A vegan peppermint chocolate square that takes just four ingredients, is no-bake and can be made from start to finish in less than 10 minutes.
Ingredients
  • 170gm cacao butter
  • 20 medjool dates, pitted
  • 1 cup cacao powder
  • 8 drops peppermint oil
  • pinch of sea salt
Instructions
  1. Melt cacao butter in a small bowl in microwave.
  2. Place all ingredients including melted butter in a food processor and process until smooth.
  3. Line a 22cm x 12cm loaf tin with baking paper. Spoon mixture into tin and press down.
  4. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes then cut into squares.
A guilt-free snack

A guilt-free snack

Comments

  1. I love mint flavoured chocolate and these squares … yummy indeed.

  2. Oh, love the sound of these – will be on the menu next time my egg-free brother with his dairy-free son come to visit:-)

  3. good news about arabella! i have just made orange creams today with orange extract. it took a lot of it to make it taste orangey. maybe there is orange oil too which could be stronger. your recipe sounds easy and delish.

  4. Only problem with these squares is the amount I would eat in one sitting!
    I am not sure I am brave enough to to a 10km race – kudos to you Charlie!
    Have an awesome day.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  5. OMG that looks lovely maybe hold on to the cripple sticks till after her birthday….. lol 🙂

  6. Love the guilt free snack, does that mean I can eat as many as I want any time?
    Glad to learn of Arabella progress and is now walking hands-free, bet she is the happiest person.

  7. Hooray for Arabella! What a great feeling that must be. 🙂 These squares sound divine. 🙂

  8. Wonderful that Arabella is making such good progress – I wish I could say that I was up with the sun and eating healthy treats but I saw how much cacao butter cost in a health food store once and ever since have not been able to bring myself to buy some – wonder if its price is coming down as I am sure they would taste great

  9. Yay for the end of the walking sticks!
    The bars look so good but I would need to use plain old table sugar because those dates are poison to me.
    Walking faster than you can run is so funny, but I bet you looked better running than she did doing that funny wobble walking.

  10. Oh, my, these look really good.

    So happy to hear Arabella is walking now without crutches.

  11. YUMMMMY. those look devourable, Charlie.

    Also, I’d like to be a morning person like Kat!! xx

  12. How nice that you get to see a picture of the sunrise every morning! And don’t have to be bothered to get up to see it in person. 🙂 Great recipe — I like simple things like this. Thanks.

  13. These sound so good! I like having some recipes like this in my repertoire — can’t go wrong with a healthy treat and it’s always good to have some go-to recipes for guests who are vegan. I’ll be making these, but I’ll likely cut them much smaller. For me, there’s something about having a second piece that’s so satisfying, lol.

  14. Yum! These sound delicious. Friends that are constantly up at the crack of dawn can be a bit wearing when one wants to sleep, but at least this one shares good recipes 🙂

    Such good news about Arabella – I am so pleased, and hope everything progresses smoothly from here!

  15. In Biblical times dates were the most important sweetener … the land of milk & honey probably meant date-sourced honey, not bee honey. So I find it interesting that vegan cooking has returned to this source of sweetness. Of course in Biblical times they didn’t have any cocoa which is a New World product.

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

  16. I just ate way too many spoonfuls of cream cheese frosting—these chocolate squares would have been a MUCH better choice. Hooray for Arabella!!!

  17. Your squares look and sound delicious Charlie! I could certainly for for one or two with my tea right now! I am glad to hear Arabella is continuing to progress in her recovery!

  18. These look great, and sound so easy to make too! Win win!

  19. That’s great news…. and a lovely recipe too!

  20. Oh yum Charlie. I keep meaning to buy coconut butter but every time I do the price puts me off. This might just convince me. Yay to no more crutches!

  21. They sure do look indulgent, so soft and creamy. It’s nice that they are also easy. Thank goodness Arabella’s leg is healing and she’s off the crutches.

  22. Wonderful chocolate squares, no sticks, race training – things are looking up at your place, Charlie!

  23. I’d like to think these are healthy, but they probably wouldn’t be in the volumes I’d eat them. Yum.
    Congrats on finally getting the daughter off the sticks. Here’s hoping she can stay upright now.

  24. these look dee-vineeeee!!! they sound almost calorie free too 😉 Jan x
    p.s. could you sub the cacao butter with anything else?

  25. Hard to believe that these are vegan! I love dates and anything made with date, so I’m really looking forward to trying these. There is a Costco size box of dates in the pantry just waiting for this recipe. 🙂

  26. Yeah for Arabelle!!! Finally! These little bars are so delicious almost remind me of thin mints without all the calories and fat.

  27. Oh eek! Heels? Not yet girl, not yet! Glad she’s off the cripple sticks though, oooh that’s been a long time.

  28. So glad to hear Miss Arabella is better!

  29. So glad Arabelle is off the crutches, my daughter used to wear the highest of all high heels too she adored them, collected them. Then she graduated from college and got married, now she says they are uncomfortable. You can only hope…..right? Anyway love these peppermint chocolate squares, they sound amazing.

  30. These squares are fantastic, Charlie. I’ve had some similar desserts using dates as a main ingredient and I’m always pleased. These will be fabulous, I’m confident. And I’m so pleased to learn that Arabella is progressing so nicely. Thinking back to that terrible accident in February it’s hard to believe her recovery would be so many months down the line. I’m sure there has been much celebrating in your household since those crutches were cast aside. 🙂

  31. These look lovely, Charlie and I do love anything with a hint of mint. So glad Arabella is well on the road to recovery … I’m sure she’ll be kicking up her high heels in no time at all!

  32. Sweet Posy Dreams says:

    Yummy. The chocolate squares do look good, but doesn’t anything chocolate? If I can find the ingredients, I’ll have to try these. Great news about Arabella!

  33. Aren’t these fantastic! I love chocolate and paired with mint is so good! My daughter has gone from vegetarian to vegan, so I’m pinning this recipe to save to my collection!

  34. Four ingredients? Yes, please. Four favorite ingredients at that!

  35. I’m catching up, but so glad that Arabella is free of her crutches. These squares look delish, but I would surely eat more than one in a sitting!

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