I don’t think we need a particular occasion to enjoy 3-ingredient vegan chocolate treats, but if you need one, Valentine’s Day is certainly perfect for it!
For Valentine’s Day this year, I’d like to share a simple recipe for healthy vegan chocolates that are made with only 3 ingredients, yet taste rich and decadent. You’d never think that these chocolate treats are actually healthy.
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So, happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours! Regardless of whether you love this holiday or roll your eyes at how commercial it has become, I hope you have a lovely day.
I don’t have a fancy story about how I got the idea for today’s recipe.I’ve been thinking of sharing easy vegan desserts recipes on Valentine’s Day, but most of the things I baked recently were inspired by cookbooks or Pinterest, so the recipes weren’t mine.
Then it hit me: I could just post the recipe for my supereasy dark chocolate treats with dried plums that I’ve been making for years! All that’s left was to come up with a sexy name for them (it’s Valentine’s Day, after all!), and the star was born.
About This Recipe
Meet the three-ingredient Vegan Chocolate Treats – a dark chocolate lover’s ultimate delight! A batch of these beats any store-bought candy like nobody’s business!
Just like with a lot of easy no-bake vegan desserts, calling the guidelines for these treats a ‘recipe’ is kind of a stretch. The only three ingredients involved are dark chocolate (chips or baking bar),dried plums – a.k.a. prunes – and roasted walnuts.
The whole process takes about 20 min, followed by 15-20 min of refrigeration. This means that if you make these before dinner and pop them in the fridge, they’ll be ready to go by dessert time.
Prunes have long acquired a reputation of ‘oldfolks’ food’ because of their high fiber and vitamin content. In order to make them more attractive to younger generation,FDA has recently approved a name change for prunes, allowing the manufacturers to call them ‘dried plums’ on the packaging. In my opinion, words are just words, so we should include this healthful plant food in our diet regardless of our age.
And what better way to do so than to cover them in dark chocolate?!
When I made these vegan chocolate treats for the first time a few years ago, I was amazed by how well the flavor of dark chocolate was complemented by dried plums.
If you serve them with a cup of coffee, the dessert experience goes to the next level! Not a coffee drinker? Any tea will work too.
To make sure your healthy chocolate treats are completely vegan, make sure that the chocolate chips you use are marked as vegan/’dairy-free’, like these ones by Enjoy Life.
A lot of brands mention on the package that while there is no dairy among the actual ingredients of their dark chocolate, there might be some traces of milk in their chips because they use the same equipment for making all of their products.
If this doesn’t bother you much, go ahead and pick the best kind of dark chocolate chips you can find.
I feel like I have to include some sort of a disclaimer here: although dried plums, walnuts and cacao in chocolate come from plants, these chocolate treats are in no way a low-calorie/low-fat/diet food, so don’t be tempted to wolf down the whole tray as I usually do while making these!
Looking for more chocolatey treats? Check out my recipes for ultra fudgy aquafaba brownies, decadently moist vegan chocolate chip banana bread, and healthy chocolate zucchini muffins.
Also, check my list of 25 vegan Valentine’s Day dinner recipes if you’re planning to wow your Valentine today!
How to Make 3-Ingredient Chocolate Treats
(To see the exact ingredient amounts and product recommendations, please see the printable recipe card below.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange walnut halves on a cookie tray.
Bake the walnuts for 10-12 minutes, checking after 8 minutes to make sure the nuts aren’t burned. Alternatively, use raw walnuts.
Melt the chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds on high. If the chips aren’t completely melted, continue microwaving for 5-10 seconds.
Best results can be achieved if you stop melting the chips while a few of them are still whole, and then slowly stir the chocolate as those chips disintegrate.
Let the chocolate thicken up to a consistency of pudding while you’re stuffing the dried plums with walnut halves, one walnut piece per plum.
Line a cookie tray with wax or parchment paper. Dip each stuffed plum into the melted chocolate, turning with a fork to cover evenly.
Place plums onto the lined cookie tray. Repeat with the rest of the pieces.
Put the cookie tray into the refrigerator (not freezer!) for 15-20 minutes, or until the chocolate solidifies. Serve and enjoy!
The leftover chocolate treats can be refrigerated for up to a week.
Yield: 12 pieces
Easy 3-Ingredient Chocolate Treats Recipe
These delicious and easy 3-ingredient chocolate treats can make a lovely handmade gift for your Valentine, or a healthy vegan dessert for any occasion. They are quick to make, and taste amazing when paired with a cup of coffee. Vegan, vegetarian, dairy free, egg free.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Additional Time15 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Ingredients
- 12 walnut halves*
- 12 medium-sized dried plums (a.k.a. prunes)
- 1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange walnut halves on a cookie tray. Bake for 10-12 min, checking after 8 min to make sure the nuts don't get burned. Alternatively, use raw walnuts.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds on high. If the chips aren't completely melted, continue microwaving for 5-10 seconds. Best results can be achieved if you stop melting the chips while a few of them are still whole, and then slowly stir the chocolate as those chips disintegrate.
- Let the chocolate thicken up to a consistency of pudding while you're stuffing the dried plums with walnut halves, one walnut piece per plum.
- Line a cookie tray with wax or parchment paper. Dip each stuffed plum into the melted chocolate, turning with a fork to cover evenly. Place plums onto the lined cookie tray. Repeat with the rest of the pieces.
- Put the cookie tray into the refrigerator (not freezer!) for 15-20 min, or until the chocolate solidifies. Serve and enjoy! The leftover chocolate treats can be refrigerated for up to a week.
Notes
*Pecan halves can be used instead of walnuts.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 piece
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 88Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 3mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g
Please note that the provided nutritional information data is approximate.
If you’ve made these 3-ingredient vegan chocolate treats at home, I’d love to hear how they turned out! Tag @vegan_runner_eats on Instagram, rate this recipe above, or leave a comment.
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Alina Zavatsky - Vegan Runner Eats
Alina first made a switch to a vegan diet in 2013 to optimize her athletic performance as a marathon runner. Eventually she embraced veganism as a way to be kinder to fellow living beings and the environment. Alina hopes that this blog helps its readers on their path to becoming vegan and making this world a better place.
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