Vegan peanut butter mousse
Vegan peanut butter mousse
Man, it was so haaaaard to keep this recipe under wraps! It took a lot of tries to get this puppy just so and once I finally succeeded, I was so excited I wanted to share!! Duncan says I’m like an excitable little bird sometimes, especially when it comes to food discoveries. I’m declining to comment… 😉
So this indecently fluffy peanut butter mousse with creamy chocolate ganache on top was destined to be published later in the year, but there was no way I was gonna wait that long!
It owes its fluffiness to my favourite vegan egg replacer – the magical chickpea brine, also known as aquafaba. Now that I’ve done two successful chocolate mousse recipes with it (healthy and less healthy version), I have decided to be more daring when it comes to the flavour profile and see if I can marry it up with peanut butter, which I am obsessed with lately, BTW. I had my work cut out and many failed attempts under my belt, but the end result was well worth the effort, in my opinion!
This dessert was, in part, inspired by GU pots, which I used to console myself with when living in London and doing a job I didn’t get on with. Yes, I know that ingesting sinful chocolate desserts on a regular basis wasn’t going to help my job situation, but it sort of made sense at the time… And just like GU pots, this may seem like a small dessert but don’t be fooled, it’s pretty rich so a little goes a long way.
The peanut butter layer is peanutty, fluffy and sweet. The ganache that sits on top is creamy and not very sweet (although it does depend on the chocolate brand you use, the Greek brand I use isn’t that sweet), which contrasts nicely with the peanut butter mousse below. And a delicate sprinkling of salt on top complements both very well and adds yet another flavour dimension.
If you don’t want to use a chocolate bar, you can also make a ganache from raw cacao powder and coconut oil and sweeten it to taste. I recommend leaving it fairy savoury. Whatever you do, just make this mousse!
- 120 ml / ½ cup aquafaba
- ½ tsp vinegar or lemon juice
- 120 ml / ½ cup smooth peanut butter (I used this brand)*
- 45-60 ml / 3-4 tbsp maple syrup, adjust to taste
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp coconut cream (from a tin of full fat coconut milk)**
GANACHE (optional)
- 80 g / 2.75 oz vegan dark (70%) chocolate
- 100 ml / 7 tbsp (any thin plant milk)***
- coarsely ground sea salt, to decorate
REFINED SUGAR-FREE GANACHE (optional)
- 60 ml / ¼ cup mild coconut oil
- 30-45 ml / 2-3 tbsp maple syrup (adjust to taste)
- 20 g / scant ¼ cup raw cacao powder
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp almond milk (any thin plant milk)
- coarsely ground sea salt, to decorate
- Place smooth peanut butter, maple syrup and coconut cream in a medium bowl. Whisk with a wire whisk until you obtain a uniform mixture. Don’t panic if the mixture appears to seize halfway through, it happened to me on two occasions but more vigorous mixing recovered it. If mixing doesn’t help, add a tiny splash of water and whisk some more.
- Place aquafaba in a clean (that’s very important as any grease residue will prevent the aquafaba from foaming) glass or metal bowl. Add vinegar (or lemon juice). Whip it until you achieve stiff peaks – you should be able to invert the bowl and the whipped aquafaba should not budge an inch. If it does it means that it hasn’t been whipped enough.
- Fold stiff aquafaba into the peanut mixture with a clean spatula until the two are well incorporated. Do it very gently as you don’t want to knock too much air out while mixing. The mixture will deflate a fair bit, don’t worry, that’s normal. Pour the mixture between 4 small glasses and place them in the fridge for 8 hours (or overnight) for the mousse to set.
- Once the mousse has had a chance to set, place the chopped up chocolate and almond milk in a bowl over a water bath. Set the hob on the lowest setting and allow the two to melt into each other. Do not stir until most of the chocolate has melted. Take off the heat and gently mix the two together with a wire whisk.
- Allow the ganache to cool down before topping the peanut butter mousse with it.
- Once the ganache is cool but still pourable, divide it evenly between the 4 ramekins and place them into the fridge (or freezer to speed things up) to set. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sea salt just before serving.
**Please do not skip this ingredient. I have tried making this dessert without it twice but the peanut butter mixture seized (became grainy and oily) once added to the aquafaba. I have also tried with various amounts (2-4 tbsp) of almond milk, but I found that it tends to produce a mousse that has a bit of water at the bottom of the jar. I feel that this extra fat (found in coconut cream) is needed to render the mousse stable.
***The exact amount of plant milk depends on the particular chocolate brand you are using even if the amount of cacao solids is the same (I always use 70%). When I made this ganache with a Greek brand of dark chocolate, I’ve had to add 150 ml (½ cup + 2 tbsp) of almond milk to achieve correct consistecy. Now that I live in the UK, I have tried two UK brands and both off them produced too soft result so I adjusted the amount of plant milk to 100 ml (¼ cup + 3 tbsp), but please be aware that for some brands that may not be enough – I recommend testing the ganache prior to making this dessert for a special occasion.
I must say that I have never tried with crunchy peanut butter as I always wanted smooth texture but logically it shouldn't have caused this. Judging by your description (not entirely sure what you mean by 'leaving big bubbles in its place'? I assume you mean the mousse had no body/firmness), it deflated. This can happen due to a few reasons. Most often, it's because either aquafaba was not firm enough (it needs to be be really stiff, with lots tiny of bubbles) or maybe folding the other ingredients in was too quick and energetic causing it to deflate - you need to do that really gently and slowly. Similarly to egg whites, grease is aquafaba's biggest enemy so even if there is a tiny spec of it on the surface of the bowl or your utensils, it won't whip up firm enough. That's the two ideas I have...x Ania
Happy Thanksgiving!!
It can certainly be frozen and eaten as a frozen dessert, but I have not tried freezing it and thawing completely so I'm not 100% sure if that would affect the texture. Ania
The mousse was ok until i put the chocolat ganache on.. ^^'
It melted and some of the chocolat licked to the bottom. (The ganache was xold though..)
But still, it was very yummy !! I didnt put any sweatener but the chocolat :)
It sounds like you didn't allow enough time for the mousse to set before adding the ganache (see METHOD point 3 and 4). Since the mousse is light and airy, it cannot support the weight of the chocolate before it sets fully. Hope this helps and glad you enjoyed the taste. Ania
It *should* be okay, the reason I say should is because I found that there is a big discrepancy between brands in terms of the composition of coconut cream (percentage of coconut and additives and that may affect the outcome). Your best bet is to chill the can for say 48 hrs (longer if possible) and once you open it, only scoop out the solid, fatty part that tends to gather at the top and use that to get the best result. Good luck! Ania
I've never tried aquafaba before, but it's a king of magic!
Peanut butter butter mousse is so creamy and luscious!
I just had a techincal problem pouring the chocolate ganache😅
It's better to refrigerate the mousse before otherwise chocolate can't stay on top and the result is not perfect!
Ania your blog is absolutely 🔝🔝🔝
Such a simple recipe with maximum flavour.
Can’t wait to make it again during the holidays!
Yes, I suspect so. Coconut cream should be solid, like when you open a full fat can of coconut tin after it has been stored in the fridge and the bit that floats to the top is what is needed. Fat is needed to provide structure here. Hope that helps!
Agave syrup should work just fine. I hope you'll enjoy it! x Ania
Also, I sweetened with agave nectar.
Thanks, here is everything you need to know. Hope that helps! Anna
You need to melt coconut oil, mix the rest of the ingredients in and then allow it to set like the standard ganache. Hope that helps! Ania
also do you know the nutritional info on this? Like how many calories are in each one? Thanks so much!
How long should I leave the dessert with the chocolate ganache in the fridge ?
Overnight will be the safest bet, but it may only need 3-4 hours. Ania
collapsed after one day.
Once it sets, this one holds quite well for several days (we kept it in the fridge for 3 if I remember correctly - the tops dry out a bit with time), but I have not tried freezing it so not sure what impact will freezing and thawing have on taste or texture, I'm afraid. Ania
I followed your recipe exactly and used coconut cream from trader Joe's. Was that possibly the reason?
I must admit that I am at a complete loss as I have never had any problems with this mousse going grainy as opposed to the chocolate one (where chocolate is prone to seizing if you are not careful) so not sure what to advise. What peanut butter did you use? Was it smooth? Can it be that it's just the particles from the peanut butter that you are seeing? Ania
It still turned out delicious though haha.
I'm not 100% sure as I haven't tested it with cashew butter myself, but I do think so. Hope it turns out well! Ania
It does deflate a fair bit once aquafaba has been added, but it's still airy and fluffy rather than watery so I am worried that it might have flopped indeed. The peanut butter I used for this has 95% peanuts and some peanut oil too so I am not sure whether it was the oil that caused it to deflate (I am assuming you mixed the oil back into the butter before adding aquafaba). Are you sure aquafaba was at stiff peaks (did it pass the 'upside down' check?) - as underwhipped aquafaba is often the reason behind chocolate mousse turning into water. Hope that helps! Ania
Yes, of course - simply adjust the amount of maple syrup to taste. I would go for half the amount to begin with and add more if necessary. Please do bear in mind that the ganache layer is not very sweet so you may want to make the bottom layer a little bit sweeter than normally for contrast. Ania
Also can it be poured into one large container instead of individual ones and still set?
Thanks!
Yes, i think it can be doubled just handle gently and the bowl for the aquafaba needs to be big as it increases in volume A LOT. I would advise against setting it in one large container as it will take ages to set, I reckon. Hope that helps! Ania
This sounds delicious! Just one question: By coconut cream, do you mean the top portion you get after putting a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight?
Oh man, being Vegan is tough haha!
Thank you for sharing your recipe and your passion!
Sorry to hear that you are allergic. Unfortunately, I have not found anything that would work as well as coconut cream that. I tried adding water, almond milk and nothing to the peanut butter and all these attempts were far less successful (with liquid pooling at the bottom of the mousse). However, I feel that cashew cream MAY work well (soaked cashews blended with just enough water to turn it into a cream like texture), it definitely needs something fatty. Hope that helps! Ania