Who’s ready for an easy vegan holiday dessert? I know I am! I’ve had this one in my holiday recipe holster since first creating it this past summer, and have been dying for the right time to share it.
A quick note about this recipe: The pictures make it look HUGE, but it’s actually a small dessert with fairly dainty portions. I use a small 4×8-inch loaf pan. If you use a standard-size (9×5-inch) loaf pan, the dessert will have less height (but no less delicious flavour!). Hey—I’ve never complained about dessert in any shape or form, but I wanted to mention it so you don’t find yourself puzzled over a smaller-than-expected finished product.
Be sure to read my tips in the headnote and at the bottom of the recipe. You know I love to give you flexibility in your own kitchens, so this recipe is bursting with my testing notes and modifications. I actually had to cut myself off from writing more!! #nerdalert
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Vegan Peppermint Patty Slice
Yield
10 small slices
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Chill time
4 to 5 hours
Total time
This peppermint patty is a showstopping dessert that's coloured naturally with spinach—though only you and I will know its nutritious secret! As an added bonus it’ll only set you back 15 minutes of prep. The filling calls for at least 4 hours of freezing time, so I like to whip it up before bed to pop in the freezer overnight. This way, all I have to do the next day is add the ganache on top and freeze it for another 10 minutes. If you’re making this dessert around the holidays, it’s delightful served with a crushed candy cane topping. My standby, year-round topping is raw cacao nibs, which also add a lovely (and nutritious!) crunch. The crunchy topping really completes the dessert, so I don’t recommend skimping on it, and be sure to serve additional cacao nibs or crushed candy cane on top of each slice before serving. Lastly, it’s important to use a very small loaf pan so the dessert has height. I use a 4x8-inch loaf pan by Baker’s Secret. You could also try making individual servings by filling a silicone cupcake mold.
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 3/4 cup (225 g) raw cashew butter*
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) pure maple syrup, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) virgin coconut oil, melted
- 6 tablespoons (90 mL) almond milk, room temperature
- 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons (5 to 7.5 mL) pure peppermint extract, or to taste**
- 1 cup (30 g) packed baby spinach***
- Pinch fine sea salt
For the chocolate ganache:
- 1/2 cup (90 g) non-dairy chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) full-fat coconut cream****
- Dash fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs or crushed candy cane, plus more for serving
- Fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Line a small (approximately 4x8-inch) loaf pan or 6-inch cake pan with plastic wrap so the slab will be easy to lift out after freezing.
- Add all of the filling ingredients (cashew butter, maple syrup, melted oil, almond milk, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract, spinach, and salt) into a high-speed blender. Blend on high until smooth. Make sure no chunks of spinach leaves remain. Taste and add more peppermint extract if desired.
- Pour the filling into the prepared pan. Place the pan on a flat spot in the freezer and freeze for 4 to 5 hours, until the filling is solid. There’s no need to cover it unless you plan on keeping it in the freezer longer than 8 hours.
- When the filling is solid, prepare the ganache topping. In a medium pot, combine the chocolate chips, coconut cream (make sure water is drained before adding), and salt. Melt the chips over the lowest heat setting, stirring frequently, until smooth.
- Remove the filling from the freezer and, gripping the plastic wrap as a handle, lift it out of the pan. Flip the filling onto a large plate and peel off the plastic wrap.
- Pour the ganache over top of the solid filling, starting in the centre, and allow it to cascade down the sides a bit. Immediately scatter the crushed candy cane or cacao nibs all over the ganache. Return it to the freezer, uncovered, and freeze for about 10 minutes, until the ganache is firm.
- Slice and garnish with fresh mint, if you’re fancy! Sprinkle additional cacao nibs or crushed candy cane on top of each slice and enjoy immediately. Return leftovers to the freezer right away as the dessert does soften as it sits.
Tip:
* Instead of cashew butter, you can use 1 1/4 cups (180 g) of soaked raw cashews. Soak them in boiled water for 1 hour, rinse, drain, and add them into a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix) along with the rest of the ingredients. If your blender has a hard time blending nuts smooth, I suggest that you use the raw cashew butter version instead. You can also use homemade raw cashew butter. To make your own, simply process raw cashews in a heavy-duty food processor until smooth. I don’t recommend using roasted cashew butter as it gives the slice a strong nutty flavour.
** The intensity of peppermint extracts vary by brand, so 1 1/2 teaspoons is intended as a guide—please add it slowly to taste.
*** I only recommend using spinach if your blender is good at blending leafy greens smooth. If your blender tends to leave spinach chunks in smoothies, I would suggest omitting the spinach in this recipe just to make sure you aren’t going to find spinach chunks in the slice. Or see my tip about using a food processor below.
**** Coconut cream is the solid white cream in a can of full-fat coconut milk. Chill the can overnight before using to ensure the coconut cream is solid. I like to open a mini can (160 mL) of full-fat coconut milk for this recipe; this way, there isn’t a lot left over to use up. The remaining amount is just perfect for throwing into your next smoothie!
No blender? No problem! If you have a heavy-duty food processor you can make the filling in the processor, just be warned that the spinach doesn’t break down fully (my version had some very fine green speckling resembling mint sugar), and you’ll want to run the processor for a good while to help the spinach break down as much as possible.
If you don’t have cacao nibs or crushed candy cane on hand, feel free to top the ganache with finely chopped dark chocolate.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Peppermint and Chocolate, my all time favourite dessert combination!!! and this is Healthy :) I can’t wait to make it! Nutritious Yumminess :)
My own love for mint and chocolate must be genetic then. I remember always going crazy for those chocolate-covered mint sticks around the holidays.
Angela, You have blown my mind with this dessert down to the ganache. Mint desserts are my favorite. But wow, this lovely has such elegant visual appeal. I love the fresh mint on top!!! It’s an intrusive plant and has taken over my side yard and I STILL have some. So if anyone wants any…..please pop over and take all you want =) www.raiseyourgarden.com
You might want to throw some fresh mint right into the filling too. I meant to try that myself, but ran out of fresh mint.
I hope you enjoy it, Laura!
Yay for the ideal holiday table dessert!
My daycare moms, children, teens and I all fell for this decadent dessert. It was so quick to make…simple and straightforward, that the luxurious result took me by surprise!
We were so lucky to be the first to taste this recipe this past summer and it was another taste test that had the children struggling to get hold of their moms’ portions…but the mommies were NOT letting go! It worked perfectly with the cashew butter and with the soaked cashew option. It was irresistable with crunchy cacao nibs, but I am looking forward to making it festive with crushed candy canes :)
I know they are going to be happy when they see this post…none of them could wait for the recipe to come out!
Thanks Nicole! To think we were sitting on this recipe for months and months..how evil…hahah. Thanks for all your help with testing.
This looks delicious, but my first thought when I saw it was pistachio, not mint. So now I really want to try this, but make it pistachio flavored! Thanks for sharing! :D
Oh I love this idea, Becky! Pistachios are so good…I don’t buy them enough.
This look at amazing!! Is there anything that can be aubstituted for the cashew butter? Would soaked almonds work? Or pine nuts? Allergies…*sigh* Thank you!!!
Hey Aimee! I haven’t tried it yet, but if I was going to try a nut-free version I would probably use 3/4 cup soaked raw sunflower seeds.
Do you think i could swap out the peppermint extract for fresh mint leaves and then put a bit less spinach?
Hi Devyn!
Fresh mint works wonderfully in this recipe.
We have a patch of Chocolate Mint growing in our garden. To meet the demands for this dessert from my kids, I have made it many times, often swapping out the mint extract (or even leaving it in!) and using 1/3 cup packed mint leaves. No need to reduce the amount of spinach. It turned out lovely! In fact, this recipe turns out incredibly well every time, whether I use soaked cashews, cashew butter, mint leaves, mint extract…it’s a keeper!
If you are using a stronger flavoured mint, such as spearmint, you’d want to start with 1/4 packed cup and add more to taste. With fresh mint, the flavour intensifies as the patty chills. Delicious!
How long will this keep out of the frig ?
Hi there, Not long at all…it starts to soften quickly. I’d say no longer than 10-15 minutes to be sure!
Do you have an alternative to cashews? For those millions suffering from IBS, cashews are the only dominant nut that is high in FOD-MAPS (specifically oligos [GOS & Fructans]).
Hey Beth, I haven’t tried it but I would probably try 3/4 cup soaked raw sunflower seeds! If you try it out please let me know how it goes.
Ohh I can’t WAIT to try this one! It seems like I always focus on chocolate and gingerbread things, but never make enough mint desserts!
This looks so good! I’m not that good at the kitchen, but I’m gonna have to try this myself. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Do you have a suggestion on what to use instead of coconut oil? We don’t use any oil in our house, but this looks delicious! Would it turn out ok without it?
Hey Danielle, The coconut oil is used to help the freezer dessert solidify, without it I’m afraid it would be too soft. What about trying cocoa butter? It’s stronger in flavour though so I’m not sure about the taste.
This looks amazing!
Tried this tonight and they were amazing!! I am a huge mint chocolate fan and it completely satisfied my craving. It’s so nice to have healthy recipes to share for the holidays and that everyone can enjoy. Thank you!
Hey Angela, Glad to hear you’re a big chocolate-mint fan like me! So happy it was a hit.
Oh my gosh, when I saw the pic I knew I had to make this, absolutely loved it, so creamy and not sweet, leaves your mouth feeling minty fresh! The crushed candy canes are a must! Just a beautiful dessert❤️
Hey Lisa, I’m so happy you made it and loved it! Thanks for letting me know.
This will definitely be making an appearance on my dinner table this holiday season! I love that you’ve incorporated baby spinach for some sneaky veggies….my family will never guess there’s spinach in it haha
Hey Mackenzie, Glad to hear you’ll be making it!! I’d love to know how it goes. :)
Love the colors here! This reminds me of a semifreddo; love the idea of the crunchy nibs on top!
Thanks Annalise! Yes, the nibs on top are key! Need that crunch.
Has anyone used this recipe for other ice cream desserts? Thanks!
Hey Christine, These fillings do tend to be pretty versatile from what I’ve found. What were you thinking of using it for? Curious minds want to know! haha
This looks so yummy and delicious! I’m definitely going to give it a try! Lots of love!
Gulia
http://fixthephoto.com/
These are amazing, make them now!! I made this recipe for a holiday party this weekend and they were a huge hit. Everyone loved that they were green because of spinach, and I was told they’re essentially salad, so they’re healthy, right?! I only had roasted cashew butter, not raw, so mine turned out darker green than the photos, but still beautiful. This recipe made 2 dozen mini cups which I did in a silicone muffin pan. They popped out easily once they were completely frozen. My husband took a few skiing with him as well, and while they melted from not being in the freezer all day, they were the perfect high energy snack. I plan to make more of these since I still have candy canes left over. So good and super easy!!
Hey Leslie, Oh I’m so glad it was a hit and I LOVE reading all your tips/modifications. That’s great it worked with roasted cashew butter, too. Thanks for your review!
It looks so good! I’d like to try this – I have all the ingredients at home. Do you think I could use an oiled non-stick-christmas-tree-shaped pan?
Hey Tara, I would recommend lining it with plastic wrap if you can…otherwise it’ll be hard to remove. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know how it goes. :)