Happy Easter! Of course I had to make some chocolate peanut butter eggs to celebrate - but to make them even more tasty and fun, I made them into triple-layered truffles! One layer is the simple chocolate avocado truffle recipe I made last week (also posted below), the middle layer is peanut butter, and the top layer is a healthy vegan chocolate mousse! I just came up with this new chocolate mousse recipe unintentionally and it is SO GOOD (recipe here).
You could use any type of nut or seed butter to make these, and can just add peanut butter as a second layer, or use this recipe for a nut-free vegan mousse (also using avocado). I ran out of mousse for some of the truffles, so some are just double-layered, but also delicious!
Of course, you could make these as regular spherical truffles on any day, not just as Easter eggs! You just make the truffle base, layer peanut butter and mousse on top, then refrigerate them so they solidify. While waiting, melt your chocolate for dipping, and you can also melt white chocolate and add food coloring for a fun Easter-y decoration, as I did!
Ingredients
Makes 12-15 truffles
For the truffle base:
1 mashed ripe avocado
½ cup peanut or nut/seed butter
About ⅓ to ½ cup melted dark chocolate (about half of a full-sized chocolate bar)
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract (optional but strongly recommended)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp honey or maple syrup to sweeten if desired (if using unsweetened chocolate)
For layers and dipping:
Peanut butter (or nut or seed butter of choice)
Chocolate mousse (recipe here)
About ⅓ to ½ cup melted chocolate for dipping (about half of a full-sized chocolate bar)
About ½ cup white chocolate chips
1-2 tbsp coconut oil (if needed for melting chocolate chips)
Steps
1. Scoop the inside out of the avocado and mash it very well, or add to a food processor.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth (by hand or in the food processor). Taste test it to check if it is as sweet as you wish, and add honey or maple syrup until it meets your liking. The mixture should hold together, but should be easy to roll into balls shouldn’t stick to your hands (it may be more sticky if you add sweetener however, and that is ok).
3. Roll the mixture into ovals about ½ to 1 inch in diameter, and set on a tray lined with parchment paper. Flatten the ovals into egg shapes.
4. Press your thumb in the center to make an indent for the layers. Add a small spoonful of peanut butter.
5. Add chocolate mousse on top of the peanut butter. Set eggs in the fridge to solidify.
Note: If you added honey or syrup, the mixture
will be fairly sticky and hard to roll smoothly, but don’t worry!
It will still set in the fridge and work out for the recipe!
6. While the truffles are in the fridge, melt your chocolate for dipping. Melt in increments of 20-45 seconds, stirring in between. For the white chocolate chips, you may need to add a spoonful or so of coconut oil to help them melt evenly.
7. Once the white chocolate is melted, separate it into a few small bowls and add food coloring.
8. Remove the truffles from the fridge and dip into the melted chocolate, rolling to cover all sides. Place back on the parchment paper.
9. If the chocolate coating has set, drizzle your colored white chocolate on top. If the chocolate has not yet set, refrigerate for 10-15 minutes, then drizzle the decorative colored chocolate. Refrigerate until all the chocolate layers have fully set.
10. Enjoy!
