I like to pretend that I’m a spontaneous person, but to be honest, I am a mega-planner. I have lists everywhere – grocery lists, work to-do lists, mental lists of what needs to be done around the house, etc. I keep my calendar up to date so I know what is on my family’s schedule and I like to know in advance when we have weekend plans. But shh….don’t tell anyone this- I like to maintain the illusion that I’m spontaneous! J
Unfortunately being a mega-planner doesn’t account for unforeseen circumstances, like finding out my dad needed to have heart surgery 5 days after he had a cardiologist appointment. We all had known the time was coming (he has a heart defect), but it was still a shock to us all. I’m sure you all can relate to this as busy moms.
So when I had planned to make a beautifully layered chocolate and peanut butter mousse cake in a spring form pan for Easter, that just wasn’t happening with his surgery weighting over my head. Instead, I decided to make mini-pies (somehow this was less stressful in my mind!?). Luckily, I think these came out perfect and super cute! I even froze half of these for about a week and put them in the refrigerator to thaw and they still tasted great…so plan ahead (haha!) and make them in advance.
You may be surprised when you see the ingredient list on these delicious little goodies. Avocado, which is the base of the chocolate mousse, provides a creamy and thick texture that is absolutely decadent. I am not kidding- I made a double batch of the mousse and we ate it as pudding for the rest of the week.
There are so many benefits of these little pies:
- Healthy(ier) dessert for your family
- No processed sugar
- Perfect portion size for adults and kids
- Super simple to make: no-bake and can do it all in one food processor!
- Potential to be vegan and/or gluten free
- There are only 7 ingredients!
When making these, if you have extra ingredients left over like I did, make yourself a little personal pie in a glass and hide it in the back of your fridge. Once everyone goes to bed you will have a nice little treat!
CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER MOUSSE MINI-PIES
Makes 12 mini-pies plus extra for your own personal pie in a cup!
Ingredients
- 1 sleeve of crushed graham crackers (or a gluten free replacement; need about 1 ¼ cup crushed)
- 2 very ripe avocado
- 2/3 cup of natural sweetener of your choice (honey, maple syrup, agave)
- 1/4 cup milk (I used almond)
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup natural peanut butter (divided for crust and peanut butter layer)
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used soy – could also try vanilla flavored)
Directions:
Step 1: Using a food processor, grind graham crackers until they are fine crumbs.
Step 2: Add in 1/2 cup peanut butter and blend until the mixture looks like wet sand.
Step 3: Fill foil cupcake liners with about 2 TBS of the crust mixture in pat down with your fingers or the bottom of a glass. Place in freezer to set.
Step 4: Rinse out food processor and then blend avocado, 2/3 cup natural sweetener, 1/4 cup milk, and ¼ cup cocoa powder. You will have to scrape down the sides a few times during the blending to get everything fully combined. At this point, taste the mixture. If you feel your family would like it more chocolately (that’s a word right?) or sweeter, add in more to taste. Put mixture in a bowl and place in fridge to keep cool.
Step 5: Rinse out food processor and then blend ½ cup of natural peanut butter and 1 cup of Greek yogurt. Again, scrape sides and re-mix as needed. Taste mixture and add more peanut butter (or even a little sweetener) to meet your family’s taste needs.
Step 6: Take crust and chocolate mousse out of the freezer/fridge. Using a spoon, fill up the remaining space in the cupcake liners halfway with one filling and then top with the other. I alternated (did half with chocolate then peanut butter, and half the other way).
Step 7: Place entire pan back in the fridge and let set for a few hours before serving.
Notes: I tried to eat these straight out of the refrigerator and also out of the freezer. They are much better out of the fridge. I recommend using foil liners as I did and using those as a bowl to scoop out the mousse and the crust.
Hope you enjoy!
Wendy
P.S. my dad’s surgery went extremely well and he’s recovering at home!
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