Get ready for all things green this month as we gear up toward Paddy's day. And this month's millionaire's shortbread recipe comes in the festive form of these Chocolate Mint Slices, or in other words - Chocolate Mint Millionaire's Shortbread. A gluten-free cacao crust topped with creamy mint ganache and dairy-free chocolate. These bars are perfect for mint chocolate lovers!
What to expect from this recipe
- Easy to make
- Creamy and smooth
- Rich and decadent
- Can be adapted as nut-free: If you don’t do almonds, replace them with oat flour.
- Gluten-free
- Perfect for holidays (Christmas, St Patrick's Day, etc)
Ingredients overview
I've tried to keep these minty treats as healthy and wholesome as possible with minimal plant-based ingredients. Depending on which dark chocolate you decide to use, you can keep these mint slices refined sugar-free too!
- Ground almonds: These make up the flour for the crust, you can use ground almonds or almond flour. You can also swap this out for oat flour if you want to keep these slices nut-free.
- Cacao powder: Raw cacao powder is best here, as it doesn't have an overpowering chocolatey taste and is minimally processed. You can however use Dutch-processed cocoa if you prefer.
- Flaky salt: A touch of salt helps to enhance the flavors and balance the overall sweetness of the dessert.
- Coconut oil: This acts as the binding agent that will keep the dough intact once baked. You can also use vegan butter in its place.
- Pure maple syrup: Just a little maple syrup helps to sweeten the crust while adding in moisture which will help the ingredients bind into a dough. This liquid sweetener is also perfect for sweetening ganache. Sub it with agave nectar if preferred.
- Cacao butter: Cacao butter gives a delicious "white chocolate" flavor, and it also acts as the setting agent for the mint ganache layer of these bars. If you can't get cacao butter, you can use vegan white chocolate in its place. You might want to skip the maple syrup if using white chocolate as it will already be sweetened.
- Fresh mint leaves: The star of this recipe, fresh mint leaves add both flavor and color to the ganache.
- Coconut cream: To add richness and ensure that you get a nice creamy ganache layer. You can also use full-fat coconut milk from a tin, just ensure you only use the thick part from the top of the can.
- Coconut butter: This adds a lovely flavor and creaminess to the ganache, you can however leave it out if you don't have it to hand.
- Vegan dark chocolate: A good quality dark chocolate is usually dairy-free by default however, be sure to check those labels. Some brands still sneak in the dairy! I used 70% dark chocolate for this recipe but you can go for more bitter chocolate or even vegan milk chocolate.
How to make mint chocolate slices
(full recipe and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this page)
Make the shortbread crust
Making the shortbread base for these mint chocolate millionaires is super easy. All you need to do is add all of the ingredients to your food processor and blend for a couple of minutes until they form a dough. Grease an 8″ square pan with some vegan butter or oil and then line it with parchment paper. This will make life extremely easy when you want to pop the shortbread out of the baking dish later.
Press the dough into the base of the pan using either a spatula, cake scraper, or flat bottomed glass. Make sure it’s smooth and even before using a fork to prick holes throughout it. The shortbread will take anything from 15-18 minutes to bake, but it’s best to check it at around 15 minutes as all ovens vary. The crust should be very lightly browned.
Make the mint filling
For the mint filling, melt the cacao butter over a double boiler. Add the melted cacao butter, fresh mint leaves, coconut cream, coconut butter, and maple syrup to your high-speed blender and blitz until smooth. Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any specs of mint leaves. Pour into the tray on top of the shortbread base in an even layer. Place in the freezer to set for 2-3 hours (overnight if preferred).
Top them with chocolate
Melt two-thirds of the chocolate over a double boiler. Once melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining third of the chocolate, stir until melted thoroughly. Use a spatula to spread it over the mint ganache in an even layer. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set - because the mint layer is frozen, the chocolate will set very fast!
To slice, place a sharp knife in a jug of boiling water to heat it. Wipe the knife dry and gently cut, allowing the heat from the knife to melt through the slices. If you’d like to read more detailed instructions on how to get the perfect slices, you can read more on the Banoffee Millionaires Shortbread blog post.
Store these slices in an airtight container in the fridge and consume them within a week. Alternatively, you can freeze any unused portions and defrost them as needed.
Recommended tools
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📖 Recipe
Description
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups (225 g) ground almonds
- ½ cup (43 g) cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) flaky salt
- 4 tablespoons (60 g) vegan butter, or solid coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) pure maple syrup
Mint Layer
- 5.5 oz (155 g) cacao butter, melted
- ½ cup (22 g) fresh mint leaves
- 1 ½ cups (360 g) coconut cream
- 3 ½ tablespoons (50 g) coconut butter
- 6 tablespoons (90 ml) pure maple syrup
Topping
- 7 oz (200 g) vegan dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoons vegan butter, or solid coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Lightly grease the base and sides of a square 8" pan with some oil or vegan butter, then line with parchment paper.
- For the crust, add the almond flour, cacao powder, salt, coconut oil, and maple syrup to your food processor and blend until the ingredients stick together to form a dough.
- Evenly press the dough into the base of the pan and smooth it out with a spatula or flat bottomed glass. With a fork, gently prick the dough several times. Bake for 15-18 minutes until slightly browned, then allow to cool to room temperature.
- For the mint filling, melt the cacao butter over a double boiler. Add the melted cacao butter, fresh mint leaves, coconut cream, coconut butter, and maple syrup to your high-speed blender and blitz until smooth. Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any specs of mint leaves. Pour into the tray on top of the shortbread base in an even layer. Place in the freezer to set for 2-3 hours (overnight if preferred).
- For the topping, melt two-thirds of the chocolate over a double boiler. Once melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining third of chocolate and vegan butter, stir until melted thoroughly. Use a spatula to spread it over mint filling in an even layer. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
- To slice, place a sharp knife in a jug of boiling water to heat it. Wipe the knife dry and gently cut, allowing the heat from the knife to melt through the slices.
- Store these slices in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within a week. Alternatively you can freeze any unused portions and defrost as needed.
Nutrition
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