The word ‘slave’ conjures up shocking images of people working for nothing. But in fact, that’s what happens in some parts of the world. Fair Trade chocolate is popular, but around 30,000 people still make chocolate for the western consumer, for little or no pay at all (many of them children). This post looks at the issues behind it, and how to ensure that when you buy your favourite vegan chocolate bar, you are not accidentally contributing to this awful trade.
Keep chocolate away from pets (including white chocolate, also toxic as it’s high in fat). Never eat chocolate sweetened with xylitol near pets, as a few dropped crumbs are lethal (also dried fruits and nuts should be kept away). If ordering online, use a letterbox guard for safety.
Chocolate is one of the world’s most popular snacks. In nature, it’s actually very bitter (the sugar is added afterwards). Cocoa beans only grow in hot countries, which also happens to be some of the poorest areas on earth. Most chocolate sold in the west comes from Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where the average cocoa farmer earns less than is needed, to support a family. For that reason, many children work in illegal conditions, to bring home enough money to survive. Yet many of this cocoa is sold to big companies that in turn sell it to the major chocolate bar manufacturers, who don’t really know where their beans are sourced from. All earn millions of dollars in profits.
The best way to help, is to simply buy from companies that either buy the cocoa beans direct from the farmers, or buy from wholesalers that are certified Fair Trade (there are a few confusing labels, but it’s not hard to figure out which ones care). If you buy from the big companies that buy from big wholesalers, things get icky. When the market price of cocoa dropped recently, the farmers were negatively impacted, but good chocolate companies will know this, as they have traceable beans, and know the farmers, who get a fair deal.
Tony’s Chocolonely is one of the new brands of slave-free chocolate. It does sell milk chocolate, but the link goes just to their vegan bars (dark or dark almond sea salt). Founded by a Dutch journalist who decided to investigate the issue of slavery in chocolate – when the industry ignored his requests for information, he set up his own chocolate brand instead. It’s become a worldwide sensation (so buy the vegan bars to encourage), and his bars are helping to bring the issue to media attention. Former child slaves are actually taking three big chocolate companies to court.
Tony’s Chocolonely Dark Almond Sea Salt is sold in plastic-free packaging, made with Belgian fair trade dark chocolate, with good profits to the cocoa farmers.
Tony’s chocolate company employs almost 9000 farmers who all earn a living income and earn enough for their whole family. The cocoa is bought per season and they also get a premium on top, plus agricultural training courses, and nurseries for new cocoa trees. More than 9.2% of the retail price goes to the cocoa farmers. Most cocoa farmers get from 3% to 6%. He recently launched 4 ‘lookalike’ bars to highlight the issues (with profits going to support women escaping from slavery). They were only on our supermarket shelves for one day, before they mysteriously disappeared.
According to Food Empowerment Project, children as young as 5 work on the farms, rising at 6 to begin work. Some children are asked to use chainsaws to clear forests, others use machetes and climb high trees, which violates international labour laws. They then have to drag the cocoa beans back through the forest. One former cocoa slave wrote ‘Some of the bags were taller than me. It took two people to put the bag on my head. And when you didn’t hurry, you were beaten’. Nearly all the children working as cocoa slaves have scars from machete injuries. They also are asked to work with agricultural chemicals, a hazard to their health. When at rest, they eat corn paste and bananas, and sleep on wooden planks, with no windows, clean water or bathrooms.
What You Can Do To End Slavery Chocolate
Boycott the big brands, as they don’t usually have provenance (knowing and tracing the cacao back to the farm where it was grown and harvested). Choose instead small-scale ethical chocolate makers, who know where their beans come from, and how the farmers are treated.
Visit Slave Free Chocolate to learn more and take action. From letter-writing campaigns to big chocolate companies and informing your local grocer of your concerns, to ordering sets of 100 postcards to use for school projects, churches, community bulletin boards etc, everyone can make a difference. The site also has a list of ethically-sourced chocolate companies (although you guessed it, it doesn’t filter out non-vegan brands, so you’ll have to surf and find!)
It’s worth noting that all the Fair Trade foundations do not recommend supporting the big brands (Mars, Nestle etc). So although say Galaxy has brought out a palm-oil-free vegan bar of chocolate, there’s no guarantee that the farmers growing the cocoa are well-treated. And the vegan lifestyle is about compassion to all creatures – and that includes humans.
Chocolate wrapping has in the past been difficult to recycle, due to being tainted by cardboard etc. However, the new eucalyptus compostable packaging has its issues too, as it’s been found that these trees are highly flammable. Grown in huge numbers, they are contributing to forest fires, which harm wildlife. So try to find chocolate wrapped in easy-to-recycle packaging for now, and don’t worry too much about compostable wrap.
Land Chocolate makes award-winning chocolate in the heart of Hackney in London. The founder asks ‘how much of the 60p from a chocolate bar goes back to the farmer?’ They offer more to farmers, and the vegan range incudes malt dark chocolate and Venezuelan oat milk chocolate.
Seed and Bean pays above market price to farmers, offering fair trade chocolate, made in small batches. The vegan range includes salted caramel, mint, mandarin & ginger, chilli & lime, lavender, coconut raspberry, Cornish sea salt, Espresso, Sicilian hazelnut, lemon & cardamom, sweet orange & thyme and spiced ginger.
Chocolate & Love was founded by a Scot and Dane, and uses the finest ingredients. Made in Switzerland, this ethically sourced dark chocolate is organic with the cacao bought from small family farms in Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Madagascar. This Vegan Selection Box includes:
- Coffee
- Orange
- Mint
- Pomegranate
- Rich Dark
- Panama
Cocoa Social Enterprise offers a vegan chocolate hazelnut spread and cocoa teas, all supporting the cocoa farmers. The cocoa is bought direct from farmers in Nigeria, Ecuador and Peru at a premium fair price from the farmers, while supporting the farmers’ children in their education. This community interest company makes the chocolate from scratch.
White chocolate is not actually chocolate at all – it’s simply the cacao butter that is leftover from the process of making chocolate, and often fashioned into Milky Bars or those white chocolate mice that you may have enjoyed as a child. Not everyone is a fan as white chocolate is very sweet and some find it quite sickly. However, other people love the taste, and it’s not as bitter as dark chocolate. Above is a Vegan White Chocolate Flan Cake (Carlo Cao) by a talented Swiss-Italian chef.
Keep white chocolate away from pets – although it does not contain the same toxin as dark and milk chocolate, it’s too high in fat and could cause tummy upsets, if accidentally ingested.
Commercial white chocolate was first invented by the Swiss food company Nestle (along with Nike, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, almost the world’s most boycotted companies, the world’s most boycotted company), the first bar being sold back in 1930. The stable cocoa butter means white chocolate has a long storage life, but does absorb odours well, so keep it away from onions! Most white chocolate bars on sale are wrapped in plastic packaging. And most also contain dairy milk, often from factory farms (and likely way too much refined sugar). White chocolate is not health food, but as a treat, there are far better options you could try.
Probably the world’s best-known white chocolate is Milky Bar, often advertised on TV. But this bar is a cheap mix of milk powders, refined sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier and various vegetable fats (including palm oil, its unsustainable use is leading to the destroyed habitats of orangutans and other endangered creatures). Even the more upmarket Milka bar is just a blend of refined sugar and cocoa fat, with defattened milk powder, whey powder, more milk fat and emulsifier.
Vegan White Chocolate Recipes
Vegan White Chocolate (Addicted to Dates) is a simple 5-ingredient recipe by a talented classically-trained Irish baker. It’s made with cacao, coconut and cashew butter, along with vanilla, sea salt and a little powdered icing sugar (Suma and Wholesome! are good brands in the UK and US respectively, as they don’t contain egg). Use it to make:
Vegan White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries (Addicted to Dates) is made with fresh or frozen raspberries, lemon juice, agar (to set), coconut cream, vanilla, vegan white chocolate, sugar, coconut cream and aquafaba (whizzed up chickpea brine water for a ‘vegan meringue’).
Vegan White Chocolate Pistachio Tart features an almond pistachio shortbread crust, with a creamy filling of vegan white chocolate and pistachio.
Vegan Blackberry White Chocolate ‘Magnum’ Ice Creams are fruity and creamy, and far nicer than the commercial versions bought in shops.
No-Bake White Chocolate Cheesecake (Rainbow in My Kitchen) features a nutty date-sweetened base and a nutty agave-sweetened chocolate layer made with commercial vegan white chocolate. Studded with freeze-dried whole raspberries, top with coconut whip and reducrrants.
Where To Buy Vegan White Chocolate
Happi (UK) is a brand of vegan chocolate that white chocolate raspberry and white chocolate tasting bundles. Made with oat milk, this is in plastic-free compostable packaging. There is concern that using highly flammable eucalyptus trees in excess may be contributing to wildfires in Portugal and Australia, so don’t go overboard, so as not to contribute to planting of too many tree. The best solution is likely to make your own white chocolate. But if you are going to buy it, then choosing these brands is probably the best choice for now.
As is Germany’s iChoc (vegan white chocolate, also as nougat crisp – sold in FSC-certified cardboard boxes printed with eco inks).
Cheeky Nilla (UK) offers nice artisan made-to-order vegan white chocolates, all free from palm oil. The gift set includes 1 bar each of mango/strawberry/cornflower, blueberry/raspberry/hibiscus and lemon/rose/passionfruit. All the chocolate is sourced Fair Trade and organic from co-operative farmers in the Dominican Republic.
Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates makes matcha white chocolate bars, in compostable packaging. Made with cashew nuts, these bars are handmade to order, using a direct trade policy with farmers from the Soloman Islands and Columbia, to cut out the middle man, meaning farmers get more money for their cocoa butter.
Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake (Nourish) is made in 2 tins with milk and vinegar, vegan butter, vanilla and coffee. Mix up to a batter with the dry gluten-free flour and other ingredients. and then bake for 40 minutes. Store on a cooling rack, but don’t store in the fridge or it will dry out. Eat the same day, or use a simple sugar syrup between the layers. This recipe used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-free flour.
Dark Chocolate Mousse with Aquafaba (Nourish) is made by draining the liquid from canned chickpeas and mixing with stevia to make vegan meringue. Fold vanilla into melted chocolate and pour into the aquafaba, then fold until combined. Pour into ramekins, and set in the fridge for an hour.
Vegan Chocolate Tart with Rum & Berries (Nourish) is made with almond flour and sweetened with maple syrup. The coconut milk filling is also sweetened with maple and thickend with almond butter. Chill the base in the fridge, then serve with fresh berries and coconut whip.
Many people enjoy a slice of chocolate cake. But many vegan recipes online leave a lot to be desired. Here are some of the best vegan chocolate cakes online, choose your favourite and have a go. Use palm-oil-free vegan butter, if used. Keep chocolate away from pets.
Best Vegan Chocolate Cake (Crowded Kitchen) is gluten-free and super-rich with lots of chocolate, and a vegan buttercream frosting. It’s also easy to make in a sheet pan, no layers – all you need are two bowls.
Epic Vegan Chocolate Cake (The Happy Pear) is sweetened with maple syrup, then frosted with a ganache and grated chocolate, and sandwiched with a maple-sweetened raspberry coulis.
Vegan Chocolate Cake with Coconut Ganache (Fare Isle) uses natural cocoa powder, with raw cacao powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder. The blogger says the latter results in a darker colour, and less bitter taste.
Epic Vegan Chocolate Cake (Addicted to Dates) is light and airy, but with lots of chocolate. The layers of chocolate cake are sandwiched with Swiss chocolate vegan buttercream.
Chocolate truffles have been enjoyed for many years, first created in 1895 in France (where else?) They are one of the most simple recipes to make, usually just a case of rolling together a few ingredients, and dusting with cocoa powder. These plant-based recipes are far nicer than store-bought ones, and healthier too. Try these 6 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Truffles (Rainbow Plant Life). Keep truffles away from pets due to chocolate, nuts, coffee etc.
Pumpkin Pie Truffles (Short Girl, Tall Order) are made with just 7 ingredients, ideal for an autumnal treat. They are also free from gluten, grains and refined sugar.
Vegan Buckeyes (Crowded Kitchen) are like a peanut butter fudge surrounded by chocolate. These popular snacks are no-bake and easy to make, use a palm-oil-free peanut butter.
Chocolate Amaretto Truffles (Addicted to Dates) are made with full-fat coconut milk. If you don’t have Amaretto to hand, you could sub with vegan brandy, whisky or rum.
Chickpea Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (Rainbow in My Kitchen) give lots of calcium and protein, due to the nuts. These Croatian bloggers say that if you’ve never tried cooked chickpeas in sweets, you should trust them – and give it a try! Sweetened with dates and made with coconut cream. Also try their chocolate hazelnut truffles (if you love Ferrero Rocher or nutella, you’ll love these).
Chocolate mousse is a mainstay dessert for many, these plant-based recipes show how easy it is to finish off a meal with a popular dessert, without animal products. Most of these recipes only have a few ingredients, then just top with fresh fruits, grated cocoa or coconut flakes. Vegan Chocolate Mousse (Addicted to Dates) uses aquafaba for lots of airy bubbles, and only needs a few ingredients. Keep chocolate away from pets (and the sweetener xylitol if used, it’s lethal to pets if accidentally ingested).
Vegan Chocolate Mousse (Crowded Kitchen) uses aquafaba for the light and airy feel. This is a very dessert, nobody will miss the dairy.
Orange & Brandy Chocolate Mousse (So Vegan) has just 5 ingredients. It makes 2 to 4 servings, depending on portion sizes, and keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days. It uses silken tofu for the silky texture, use a vegan brandy.
Coffee Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse (Carlo Cao) mixes things up a bit. This recipe is by a talented Swiss-Italian chef, who is already making waves in the vegan world for his amazing recipes.
Irish Coffee Chocolate Mousse (Addicted to Dates) is by a classically-trained Irish baker. This is made light and airy using aquafaba (a vegan meringue made by whizzing up the brine water from canned chickpeas).
Chocolate and Love is a brand that offers some vegan chocolates, founded by a Scottish chocolate lover and a foodie Dane, who took a fancy to each other. Produced in Switzerland with the finest organic ingredients, 6 bars are vegan and the tree planting scheme has so far planted almost 30,000 trees. The couple left behind jobs as a surveyor and lawyer, and followed their passion for chocolate, with the sea salt bar being voted the best food product out of 7000 by Danish health stores.
Most of the cocooa, cane sugar, vanilla and coffee come from fair trade co-ops and made from various small family farms and an average size of 5 hectares. the farmers can choose to use the fairtrade premium for improvements of family cacao farms and invest in community projects like water supplies.
They cut down on fuel costs and paper and the outer wrappers are from sustainable forests and use biodegradable silver inner wrappers based on sustainable wood pulp, which is better than eucalyptus which can cause forest fires due to high flammability. the hand painted designs are by a talented New York artist to illustration the rich areas that the beans come from, and the ingredients in the bars. You eat with your eyes first, so the beautiful presentation means your palate is already expecting something wonderful! The gift boxes is made with FSC-certified cardboard.
Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Tarts (Lazy Cat Kitchen) features a homemade pastry shell, with a raspberry layer set with agar or ground chia seeds, and an almond milk chocolate ganache, sweetened with maple syrup. A heart-shaped gift for Valentine’s Day. Keep chocolate away from pets.
St Valentine was of course the Roman saint of love, but also apparently of epilepsy. Living in the 3rd century, his skull is still on display in Rome. It is believed he may have been a priest who performed secret weddings that were outlawed at the time, and he was executed, when found to be breaking the law. There is another legend that he helped captive prisoners to break out, and may have sent one of the first ‘love letters’ to a girl who would visit him.
Vegan Chocolate Panna Cotta with Caramel (Mei Plant-based) is a super plant-based version of a classic Italian dessert. It’s made with coconut milk and cream, sweetened with maple syrup. It contains dark chocolate and is set with agar (keep chocolate away from pets).
Conventional versions would gelatine, but all modern chefs now use plant-based alternatives like agar, which is derived from seaweed. Although people with thyroid issues should avoid seaweed, this is very mild, but check with your doctor first. Panna Cotta is the Italian translation for ‘cooked cream’, a dessert that is a bit like creme caramel.
Vegan Blackberry & White Chocolate Tart (Mei Plant-based) is a beautiful dessert made with wholesome flours, coconut oil and maple syrup. The cashew filling is flavoured with fresh blackberries, coconut milk and vegan white chocolate. The pie is coloured with Sapphire Wolfberry (avoid diabetes and blood pressure problems, due to goji berry), then garnished with blackberries, grapes and microgreens.
White chocolate is not really chocolate, it’s cacao butter. You can find vegan versions in most good health stores. Although it doesn’t have the same chemical as dark chocolate, still keep white chocolate away from pets, due to the high fat content.
Super Fluffy Vegan Chocolate Mousse (Call Me Cupcake) is very easy to make, and uses the brine water from canned chickpeas to make a vegan meringue, to make it light and fluffy. The ultimate zero waste dessert, for when you’ve made your homemade hummus.
Aquafaba (Latin for ‘bean water’) is very popular in vegan recipes now, when someone accidentally discovered by whizzing up chickpea brine water with sugar, you could make meringue. So now vegans everywhere can enjoy lemon meringue pie and pavlova!
Blackberry & White Chocolate Vegan Magnums (Addicted to Dates) are a delicious fruity treat, if you like Magnum ice-creams. These are made with monkey-friendly coconut milk along with fresh blackberries, cinnamon and maple syrup to sweeten.
This chef is author of the fabulous book No-Bake Vegan Desserts. A trained classical chef, recipes in the book include Creamy Pistachio Tart, Cherry Bomb Cheezecake, Cardamom, Vanilla & Clementine Crème Brûlée, Banoffee Cupcakes and Salted Caramel Donuts.
3-Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Mousse (Plantiful Bakery) is made with dark chocolate and a ‘vegan meringue’ made from whizzing up chickpea brine water to make aquafaba. The dessert is then topped with coconut whip and vegan powdered sugar.
Coconut cream is made by chilling cans of coconut milk overnight, and draining off the liquid. Some brands use slave monkeys to harvest, so always choose a monkey-friendly brand of coconut milk. Biona is a good brand.
Vegan Aquafaba Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse (Full of Plants) only needs just 5 ingredients. Naturally sweetened, this is super-easy-to-make using the brine water from canned chickpeas to make ‘vegan meringue’ and the hazelnuts adds calcium and protein.
One-Bowl Chocolate Sponge with icing (The Veg Space) is perfect for special days. It’s made with oil, plant milk and vegan yoghurt, and a delightful rich fudge chocolate icing, use palm-oil-free vegan butter. Keep chocolate away from pets.
This recipe uses vegan yoghurt. Plain is best, look in health stores for better brands if you can’t find good ones in groceries. Sojade is a good brand from France, made in a solar-powered factory with organic ingredients. You can recycle the packaging with household waste.
Most people like chocolate, but always ensure that the version you buy is Fair Trade. This is not only for the planet but ensures that the cocoa farmers get fair wages and conditions. Grown mostly in Ghana and on the Ivory Coast, cocoa farmers still are at literal risk of slavery, when many adults (and some children) work for either nothing or next-to-nothing, while the big chocolate companies earn a fortune.
Terry’s Chocolate Orange is one of the traditional Christmas treats. A milky chocolate orange bar segmented like an orange, wrapped in orange foil, often found in a Christmas stocking. But today we know a little better. It’s made from refined sugar, skimmed milk powder, milk fat and whey powder (likely from factory farms), and palm oil. This Tea in the Moment Loose Orange Cacao Chocolate Tea is made from cacao shells, leftover from the chocolate making process.
In 2016, the chocolate orange was reduced considerably in size to leave more ‘air gaps’ and yet doubled in price in some shops (the same happened with Toblerone chocolate bars, with companies trying to eek out more profit, as people ate less of their products). Instead, why not go for some alternatives? These can be homemade but there are some pretty good creations around.
All chocolate is toxic to pets (white chocolate also has too much fat). Use a letterbox guard, for home delivery. Never buy chocolate sweetened with xylitol, as any licked or eaten could be lethal.
Vegan Chocolate Orange Recipes
Orange Choc Chip Shortbread Cookies (Full of Plants). Use a palm-oil-free vegan butter for this rich treats.
- Orange Almond Biscotti (Minimalist Baker) are good with coffee.
- Find nice recipes for vegan choc orange cakes at Nadia’s Healthy Kitchen and Cupful of Kale
- Try this recipe from Ombar for orange and ginger truffles.
Buy Vegan Chocolate Orange Bars
- Vurger Co Vegan Chocolate Orange Advent Calender is offered seasonally by this London and Brighton fast food chain.
- Montezuma’s Like No Udder Chocolate Orange is the closest in taste, made with organic ingredients. Note if you have an allergy to milk, this is best not eaten, due to methods of production.
- Fabalous Choc Orange Spread is a combo of organic hazelnuts, cacao and chickpeas, with orange zest.
- Mr Organic Orange Biscuits with Cocoa Beans are one of the vegan biscuit brands that are also free from palm oil.
Chocolate Orange Drinks
- Orange & Spice Hot Cocoa (The Simple Veganista)
- Sweet Freedom Orange Choc Shot is sweetened with fruit. Just add a few teaspoons to hot milk, or blend with cold milk for a vegan choc orange milkshake.
- Groovy Food Chocolate Orange Sauce can be drizzled over ice cream, pancakes or hot drinks.
Vegan ‘Snappy’ Milk Chocolate (Addicted to Dates) is a recipe to make your own bar of milk chocolate. This is done by tempering the chocolate (some cheaper brands even use dead insects to temper). This uses a refined sugar-free option that uses coconut sugar (not xylitol that could harm pets, if licked up – keep all chocolate away from pets).
This chef is author of the fabulous book No-Bake Vegan Desserts. A trained classical chef, recipes in the book include Creamy Pistachio Tart, Cherry Bomb Cheezecake, Cardamom, Vanilla & Clementine Crème Brûlée, Banoffee Cupcakes and Salted Caramel Donuts.
Healthy M & M Cookies (Green Smoothie Gourmet) are high in fibre and much healthier, due to using good flour. They are also vegan and gluten-free.
Snickers (formerly called Marathon) is one of the world’s most popular chocolate bars. This post is one of a series on how to create plant-based versions free from factory-farmed milk, refined sugar, palm oil and plastic packaging. Owned by the food giant Mars, the bar is made of nougat, peanuts and caramel and then covered in chocolate. Keep chocolate away from pets.
Vegan Snickers (Half Baked Harvest) replicates the eggs and sugar with creamy cashew butter and coconut oil, sweetened with maple syrup. The peanuts are added on top, then frozen to sweeten up.
A chocolate bar with a similar make-up is the Curly Wurly, which is popular with children but liable to pull out all your fillings. Snickers recently got into trouble with the whole of Wales when posting a tweet that some of the country’s placenames was akin to ‘sitting on a keyboard’, presumably due to lack of vowels. Despite the tweet being quickly deleted, it has not stopped many Welsh people boycotting the product, good news for the cows! Try these recipes instead.
Vegan Salted Snickers Bars (Flora & Vino) combine almond flour with date-based nougat, with a layer of date-caramel and dry-roasted peanuts, and sealed with dark salty chocolate.
Homemade Vegan Snickers Bars (Crowded Kitchen) makes the nougat from cashews, coconut cream and cacao butter. The caramel is made with dates, coconut sugar, coconut cream, peanut butter and arrowroot.
Salted Caramel Snickers Bars (So Vegan) are made with oat flour and medjool dates with vanilla, and sweetened with golden syrup. Add some peanut butter and dark chocolate for a lovely chocolate peanut treat.
Vegan Snickers Bars (Addicted to Dates) combine a chewy vegan nougat with salted peanut caramel, roasted peanuts and chocolate. Gluten-free and no-bake, this recipe is much better for you.
Snickers Chocolate Chia Pudding (Green Smoothie Gourmet) uses chia seeds with peanut butter for a protein rich snack that is rich in nutrition, and good to power up your energy in the afternoon.
Peanut butter cups are one of the most popular chocolate bars around, coating peanut butter with chocolate. But if you think about it, this is a really easy recipe to make yourself, so here are some plant-based versions, minus the refined sugar, animal products, palm oil and plastic packaging. Keep chocolate away from pets.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (Green Smoothie Gourmet) are rich in protein due to the peanut butter, and made with gluten-free ingredients. You can make these in a cupcake tin or pan, and freeze leftovers.
Almond butter cups are like peanut butter cups, and a popular snack, but ensure you choose locally sourced almond butter, to avoid migratory beekeeping. Almond Butter Cups (A Pinch of Yum) are also naturally sweetened, made with coconut oil.
Heart-Shaped Almond Butter Cups (Planted and Picked) taste like Reese’s peanut butter cups, and are shaped into a nice design, for Valentine’s Day. Of course, you can still make them without the shape, if you don’t have a mould. Always choose organic Fair Trade almond butters, to avoid migratory beekeeping and other unsustainable harvesting methods.
These freezable treats are made with almond butter, maple syrup, sea salt, nutritional yeast and organic chocolate chips. You can also use peanut butter instead of almond butter (choose organic, to avoid palm oil). Nutritional yeast can be found in good health stores. Rich in vitamin B12, it’s usually used for savoury dishes like mashed potato, to give a cheesy flavour. But sometimes it’s also used in sweet recipes, like this one.
Crunchie bars are one of the most popular chocolate bars sold in shops. They are basically a honeycomb base smothered in milk chocolate. Sweet wrappers are also one of the most common littered items. So making your own is a good idea, especially plant-based. Here’s how. Keep chocolate away from pets. Use a letterbox guard for online orders.
Vegan Crunchie Bars (Wallflower Kitchen) are a simple mix of vegan chocolate with golden syrup and baking soda, to give that ‘fizzy honeycomb’ feeling. There’s another recipe at Addicted to Dates.
Made by Cadbury, the ‘cinder toffee’ is made by breaking up the honeycomb with jets of oil. The bars also contain milk, refined sugar, glucose syrup and flavours. There was a version when it was mixed with Tango orange fizzy drink, but that appears to be no longer in production. Another version was the size of 4 Crunchie bars and contains cornflakes! Like all copycat vegan chocolate bars, you just look at what the method is, then it’s pretty simple. Here are some good recipes.
This vegan honeycomb (So Vegan) is the same for the inside, then just dip in chocolate.
Golden Crunch Bar is not health food (has glucose syrup) but it’s vegan and free from palm oil, if you want ready-made. And buying from Viva! helps their wonderful work to rescue farmed animals, and promote welfare.
Homemade Vegan Snickers Bars (So Vegan) are deceptively simple to make. All you need is some oat flour and golden syrup blended with dark chocolate, salted peanuts and peanut butter. These bars are sweetened with dates, and flavoured with vanilla, with a little salt to offset the sweetness of the other ingredients.
Snickers are one of the world’s most popular chocolate bars. Previous named ‘Marathon’, they are a simple mix of peanuts and chocolate with caramel, so very easy to make vegan. Apparently the best-selling candy bar in the world, the bar also contains nougat. The bar is made by Mars, one of the world’s biggest food companies that makes most of its profits from pet food and ranked tier 5 recently in animal welfare standards (the worst).
No-Bake Vegan Snickers Cheesecake (Addicted to Dates) combines chocolate and peanuts for the ultimate in chocolate-lovers desserts. This features a vegan cheesecake made with a peanut butter crust, vanilla filling, salted crunchy peanut butter caramel and chocolate ganache.
This chef is author of the fabulous book No-Bake Vegan Desserts. A trained classical chef, recipes in the book include Creamy Pistachio Tart, Cherry Bomb Cheezecake, Cardamom, Vanilla & Clementine Crème Brûlée, Banoffee Cupcakes and Salted Caramel Donuts.
Vegan Snickers Ice Cream Bars (Addicted to Dates) is made with vegan vanilla peanut ice cream, then topped with a caramel salted peanut glaze, then comes roasted peanuts and finally thick vegan chocolate. You would not know the difference!
This chef is author of the fabulous book No-Bake Vegan Desserts. A trained classical chef, recipes in the book include Creamy Pistachio Tart, Cherry Bomb Cheezecake, Cardamom, Vanilla & Clementine Crème Brûlée, Banoffee Cupcakes and Salted Caramel Donuts.
This big vegan Twix bar (Addicted to Dates) is ideal if you’re a fan of the popular chocolate bar. But this one is made from wholesome plant-based ingredients, with no plastic packaging. This simple recipe covers a vegan shortbread biscuit with sticky sweet date caramel, then tops with a vegan mylk chocolate (the recipe uses storebought for simplicity).
This chef is author of the fabulous book No-Bake Vegan Desserts. A trained classical chef, recipes in the book include Creamy Pistachio Tart, Cherry Bomb Cheezecake, Cardamom, Vanilla & Clementine Crème Brûlée, Banoffee Cupcakes and Salted Caramel Donuts.
Vegan Salted Chocolate Tart with Orange (So Vegan) is sweetened with sugar in coconut milk, then combined with 70% dark chocolate (no higher or the chocolate will split). To vary this recipe, you can leave out the oranges and cocoa, but replace the orange juice with coconut milk or just more water.
Roxy and Ben run this fabulous website and are also authors of two best-selling books: So Vegan in 5 and One-Pot Vegan Recipes. Check them out!
To make your own raw chocolate is not just good for you, but good for your pocket. Raw chocolate is very popular, but conventional bars tend to be very expensive. Here are some simple recipes to start you off. Keep chocolate away from pets (white chocolate is also toxic as it is too high in fat). Never use xylitol sweetener near pets, as it’s also toxic. Salted Date Caramel Raw Chocolate(Quite Good Food) feature a gooey salted date filling, made with real cacao butter.
Chocolate is made from cacao beans, and raw chocolate is the same, although obviously not cooked. It has more antioxidants and in moderation could even be considered health food, although it’s quite expensive to eat full-time! Be sure to choose cacao beans that are Fair Trade, as cacao farmers are some of the poorest on earth, and it is thought that tens of thousands of farmers actually suffer ‘slave-like conditions’.
Vegan Raw Mylk Chocolate (Full of Plants) needs just 6 ingredients. Delicate in taste (not too sweet), you can also keep this at room temperature.
Healthy Homemade Chocolates (Green Smoothie Gourmet) are made with 3 ingredients, to make a high-fibre and mood-boosting fudge, perfect for snacking or to give as an edible gift.
Raw Chocolate Chip Slice (Unconventional Baker) are bars made with a chewy chocolate base, with vegan choc chip vanilla ice cream.
Raw Chocolate-Making Courses
Amy Levin is one of the world’s premier chocolatiers, and offers online courses to make your own raw chocolates. You can take a beginner course, plus courses for candy and truffles, learn how to make home ground chocolate or buy all as a bundle, for a discount. She has also collaborated with raw chef Russell James to offer an online raw chocolate course.
Where to Buy Raw Chocolate
Coco Caravan is an award winning small chocolate company, offering luxury bars and gifts. Using the finest small batch beans from Cuba, some are from ancient varieties brought back by passionate farmers. Piura Blanco is a fruity cacao, sweetened with coconut sugar.
There are many raw chocolate companies, you’ll find good bars sold in health stores and farm shops and some groceries. If ordering online, use a letterbox guard, to avoid furry friends getting hold of it, before you do. Here are a few good brands to try: Sweet and chocolate wrappers cause litter, so always recycle when possible. Some brands are now in compostable packaging, there is still work to be done, as eucalyptus biodegradable wrapping in high amounts could cause forest fires, as the trees are highly flammable. Nothing is perfect yet, so try to buy brands that you can easily recycle the paper and foil packaging, if nothing is suitable.
Ombar (Sold online at Green Bay Supermarket) offers quality chocolate made from Ecuadorian cocoa. The pure bars are not bitter and you can also find fruity, nutty and superfoods chocolates along with ‘bags of broken chocolate’. Flavours include Coconut Vanilla, Raspberry Coconut, Hazelnut Truffle, Pistachio, Coco or Strawberry Mylk and Blueberry Acai.
Conscious Chocolate is handmade in England. Buy bars, bundles and gifts including Citrus Zest, Four Nuts, and Maca Spirulina. There is also a love potion bar, orange tangerine and pure dark. sour cherry and peppermint.
Raw Halo is free from refined sugar and offers award-winning plant-based chocolate that is also free from gluten and wheat. Try vegan ‘mylk’ or dark raw chocolate or other flavours like orange, mint, mylk & vanilla/salted caramel or pink salt. Includes mini bars for snacking.
The Raw Chocolate Company offers bars and snacks, and ingredients to make your own raw chocolate. Flavours include Vanoffee, Salted Hazelnut, Mint Mania, Silky Coconut and Koffee Kapow, along with chocolate buttons, and gift hampers.
Righteous Cacao (California, USA)) offers organic, kosher and gluten-free chocolates made with quality ingredients which (apart from coconut) are free from the top allergens.
Raw Chocolate Buttons
Enjoy Raw Chocolate is a quality brand of organic raw chocolate, developed by a man with food intolerances. Sweetened naturally with coconut blossom sugar, this brand offers raw chocolate buttons and fudge in a range of flavours, from orange to mint to banoffee pie.
These vegan organic chocolate spreads are not just a more ethical choice than Nutella (more nuts, less refined sugar, no dairy), but also free from palm oil. Recycle plastic packaging with household waste or at supermarket bins.
All chocolate is toxic to pets (white chocolate also has too much fat). Use a letterbox guard, for home delivery. Never buy chocolate sweetened with xylitol, as any licked or eaten could be lethal.
- Bonsan Mylk Chocolate Spread is for anyone who prefers the taste of milk chocolate. Also in a stronger Plain Chocolate Spread.
- Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates are handmade in Nottingham.
- Ombar Coco Mylk Buttons are different in that they are not just vegan, but also sold in compostable packaging. Made with Ecuadorian cacao and creamed coconut. You can buy 72% cacao chocolate with floral jasmine tasting notes.
- Sweet Freedom Chocolate Spread is one of a range of choccy treats.
Vegan Chocolate Sponge with Chocolate Frosting (The Loopy Whisk) is a recipe for the chocoholics among you. This recipe uses a ganache made with Nature’s Charm condensed milk, coconut custard and chocolate fudge sauce. Keep chocolate away from pets.
Coconuts are high in lauric acid, which is thought to be good for health. But some doctors say to avoid coconut products if you need to drastically reduce saturated fat. Ultimately, it’s up to you. If you follow the philosophy of ‘a little of what you like does you good’, then go for it. The important thing is to not to be frightened of one particular food. Everything in balance.
Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (Addicted to Dates) is a recipe to try.
Nut-Free Tofu Chocolate Mousse (Addicted to Dates) is made airy and bubbly, due to aquafaba. With just a few ingredients, this is a healthy and rich dessert, perfect for dinner parties and special days.
Nut-Free Vegan Chocolate Tart (Addicted to Dates) is a vegan pie that is not too rich, but full of intense chocolate taste all the same, with a beautiful ganache, ideal for a celebration.
Superfoodio
Chocolate, Raspberry & Peanut Butter Tart (Avant Garde Vegan) is a stunning dessert made with homemade pastry (use palm-oil-free vegan butter) then filled with a fresh raspberry and peanut butter filling, made with almond milk and chopped chocolate. Sweetened with agave and vanilla, top with pistachio nuts and sprinkle of cacao.
If you like this recipe, check out chef Gaz Oakley’s book Vegan Christmas, packed with wonderful recipes. Gaz is a professionally trained Welsh chef, who is taking the world by storm with his amazing recipes and photos.
Chocolate brownies are one of the world’s most popular snacks, and particularly popular in the USA, where you can also enjoy ‘blondies’, which are simply made without the chocolate, to the same recipe (sometimes with brown sugar and/or molasses). Although not health food, the most popular flavour is one made with walnuts, which give important protein and calcium to vegans, so is worth a go. Serve with ice-cold plant milk or a cup of tea or coffee. Try these Vegan Caramel Brownies (Lazy Cat Kitchen).
If used, choose a palm-oil-free vegan butter to protect orangutans and other endangered creatures. Keep chocolate and other toxic ingredients (nuts, xylitol if used – best to use natural sugar) away from pets.
The Best Vegan Brownie Recipes
Best Vegan Brownies (Rainbow Plant Life) are packed with chocolate, and very fudgy and chewy. The recipe is detailed, and the results worth it!
Beet Brownies (Crowded Kitchen) are made with vegan chocolate chips and the bright pink frosting is made from naturally sweet beets, which add moisture and veggies, although taste of chocolate. Don’t worry if your pee turns pink after eating beets, unless a medical condition.
Hazelnut Tahini Brownies (Crowded Kitchen) blend healthy nuts with a calcium-rich sesame seed paste, which makes these a nutritional powerhouse. These gluten-free brownies are nutty delights, with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, studded with chunks of dark chocolate.
Single Serving Vegan Brownie Recipes
Vegan Single Serving Brownie (The Live-In Kitchen) is a go-to treat for a quick healthy chocolate brownie. This easy dessert is ready in minutes, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup.
Gluten-Free Vegan Skillet Brownie (Short Girl, Tall Order) is not only free from refined sugar, but a great recipe if you have a brownie addiction, because it’s a miniature brownie for one or two. So you can indulge in a gooey fudgy treat, but are no danger of eating the whole batch!
Raspberry Mocha Mousse Brownies (Addicted to Dates) are bite-sized treats, with layers of mocha (chocolate coffee) mousse, a homemade raspberry vegan jelly and a raw brownie, all covered in dark chocolate. Gluten-free.
Recipes for Vegan Blondies
Vegan Blondies (Lazy Cat Kitchen) are made with white chocolate and studded with raspberries (or blackberries, cranberries or rhubarb if wished – (don’t compost rhubarb leaves as they contain a toxin that could harm garden creatures – just bin where they will naturally biodegrade).
Cherry Bakewell Blondies (So Vegan) combine an American favourite with a classic English dessert. The almonds and cherry jam/cherries can be subbed with fresh raspberries, as a more affordable alternative.
No-Bake Vegan Brownie Recipes
Vegan Brownies with Peanut Butter Jelly (Addicted to Dates) combine layers of raw vegan chocolate with peanut butter and jelly, all in a chocolate shell. These goodies require no baking and are gluten-free.
No-Bake Vegan Caramel Brownies (Addicted to Dates) are made without gluten or flour, and feature a brain-healthy walnut brownie base. A gooey snack, with no need to turn on the oven.
No-Bake Vegan Nutella Brownies (Addicted to Dates) are ideal if you like this popular chocolate-hazelnut flavour. Made with just a few ingredients, they are free from gluten, and there’s no need to turn on the oven.
Where to Buy Vegan Brownie Mix
Just Wholefoods Organic Vegan Brownie Mix (UK) is made with gluten-free oat flour, cacao powder, brown rice and coconut blossom sugar. Just mix up with 200ml of oat milk, 2 tablespoons of natural syrup and 50ml of sunflower oil, then bake for 12 brownie bites. Recycle packaging with household waste or at supermarket bag recycling bins.
Amisa Gluten-Free Organic Brownie Mix (UK) is free from wheat and yeast, and contains a hint of vanilla. Enjoy as a brownie when baked, or add to fresh berries and vegan vanilla ice-cream.
Renewal Mill Vegan Brownie Mix (US) is crafted by an award-winning baker and made with organic sugar. Simple to make with oil and water, this company upcycles the pulps from making plant milks and uses it to make unique flours to use up food waste, to make nutritious ingredents full of fibre and protein.
Vegan Brownies to Your Door
Nummy makes brownies to your door, all made with real organic ingredients, in biodegradable boxes. Made with dark chocolate and natural sweeteners, the 8 brownes in one box are ideal for sharing. Handmade with love, keep in the fridge and eat within 14 days. Best served at room temperature. Use a letterbox guard if delivering to homes with pets. The range includes:
- Raspberry & Dark Chocolate
- Coconut Brownies
- Salted Caramel & Peanut
- Salted Caramel & Biscuit
Vegan Aquafaba Chocolate Mousse (Carlo Cao) is a beautiful simple recipe that uses aquafaba (chickpea brine water) to create a ‘vegan meringue’ to make the dessert light and airy. There is also some Italian espresso coffee and protein-rich hazelnuts in this stunning dessert.
This recipe is by a young Swiss-Italian chef, who is a rising star in the vegan world. His recipes and photographs are phenomenal, and he has already published his first ‘Vegan Party Food’ book that you can buy from his site.
Most brands of hot chocolate contain factory-farmed milk and refined sugar and are a faff to make (mix cold milk first to make a gummy mix, then heat rest of milk etc). Try this hot chocolate from The Vegan 8.
All chocolate is toxic to pets (white chocolate also has too much fat). Use a letterbox guard, for home delivery. Never buy chocolate sweetened with xylitol, as any licked or eaten could be lethal.
One-Pan Vegan Hot Chocolate (Shane & Simple) is a simple 4-ingredient recipe. All you need is plant milk, cocoa powder, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
These brands are far simpler and more ethical, plus you can find some recipes to make your own hot chocolate and hot chocolate mix. Where there is plastic inner wrapping, you can recycle this at supermarket bins.
Boycott hot chocolates from vending machines that are made with factory-farmed ingredients and sold in single-use paper cups. This is what’s wrong with the drinks industry. It’s the only way to change things.
The History of Hot Chocolate
So who decided that drinking a big cup of caffeinated chocolate just before bed, was the thing to send you off to sleep? Who knows, but many people do. It’s also one of the most popular drinks to have in restaurants (London in particular seems to have a race on for who can make the most luxury versions, you won’t have a problem finding one).
According to Calm Cocoa (a company that makes quality hot chocolate), most brands are just ‘sugar with a bit of cocoa powder thrown in’. Ideally, you want shaved chocolate with a natural sweetener like coconut. A former London chocolate tour guide, her mixes include Salted Madagascar, Gingery Jamaica and Spicy Dark Ecuador.
Up to the late 1800s, hot chocolate was actually used as medicine by doctors. It came to us via the Mayans of Mexico, and has been around ever since. It’s also very popular in Italy (when the Catholics used to fast, one Pope said it was still fine to have drinking chocolate!)
What’s interesting is the story of George Cadbury, who created the little ‘perfect town’ of Bourneville, just outside the city of Birmingham. It was in the news recently, when the town won their case against Tesco, to prevent alcohol being served at a new Tesco Express (not to being teetotal, but because they were worried about broken glass litter). It went to court, and the town won – because George had wrapped all the deeds up in knots, 100 years ago!
So why is it a ‘dry town?’ Because Mr Cadbury (who would likely be appalled at what his company has become now) was a strict teetotal Quaker. He was like Katherine Hepburn in ‘The African Queen’ when she throws away all of Humphrey Bogart’s gin. Worried that his workers/residents (who he gave nice homes with good jobs and green space to relax in) would drink gin after work, he had to think up an alternative, so our first drinking chocolate was born. The fact that Bourneville drinking chocolate now contains palm oil likely would not sit well with Mr Cadbury, who was a pioneer for social justice. He donated a park and hospital to his city, and campaigned against war and sweatshop labour, and for better old age pensions.
Make Your Own Hot Chocolate
Pop over to Simple Vegan Blog to find a nice 4-ingredient recipe, just using almond milk, vegan chocolate chips, sugar and optional vanilla. Or a more elaborate Vegan Hot Cocoa that includes dried cranberries and coconut whip.
Or make your own vegan hot chocolate mix (Full of Plants) to keep in the cupboard. Then just mix up with plant milk, whenever you want some hot chocolate. The recipe uses cinnamon and powdered sugar (choose SUMA as it’s free from egg, unlike most icing sugars – American readers should look for sugars free from bone char.
Better Brands of Hot Chocolate
These zero waste brands of hot chocolate show that you don’t always have to buy chocolate in plastic bags. Lucocoa Hot Chocolate is sold in a glass jar with metal lid. It contains 60% Haiti hot chocolate, and a beautifully balanced combination of figs, cherry, caramel and roasted nuts. Just mix with oat milk for the perfect hot chocolate. Contains lucuma powder (a superfood that tastes like maple shortbread). Shelf life of 18 months.
- Pump Street Chocolate is made by hand on Suffolk’s Heritage Coast, the chocolate is shaved into perfect flakes, to melt into warm milk. Choose from Ecuador (toffee, toasted walnut, cocoa), Jamaica (toasted grain, dried fruit, rum) or St Vincent (pear, caramel, creamy sherry).
- Enjoy Drinking Chocolate is made with organic raw cacao powder and coconut sugar. Just add 2 tablespoons of powder to warm milk, and whisk until completely dissolved. Also good with cold milk.
- Sweet Revolution uses 3 quality ingredients (cocoa, coconut nectar and raw coconut). Though you’ll have to recycle the packaging. Just add water for a ‘hug in a mug’.
This hot chocolate mixology kit lets you have fun mixing and creating amazing combinations to satisfy a sweet tooth. Makes up to 10 cups. The kit allows you to team their rich organic raw cacao with new tastes like rose, cinnamon, chilli, orange and vanilla to make your own drinking chocolate. The kit contains:
- Organic coconut blossom sugar
- Organic raw cacao
- Vanilla essence
- All spice cinnamon
- Chilli
- Edible rose buds
- Recipes and directions
Organic Raw Cacao Powder
The same company makes organic cacao powder, ideal for cooking or baking. Made with the finest cacao in the world, just mix 1 tablespoon with hot plant milk and chosen natural sweetener (raw sugar or their organic coconut blossom sugar). Marvellous Superfoods (Wales) is situated in the green valleys, everything is lovingly made by hand. They use compostable bags and wood-wool (shavings) to secure everything with eco paper tape, for minimal carbon footprint.
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate is very popular and sold in most shops. It’s made with rapeseed oil and sweetened naturally with grape and carob, and recommended by TV nutritionist Amanda Hamilton. To make a mug of hot chocolate, squeeze in a few teaspoons into milk. These are also very popular with fans of Nutella (which has a lot more fat and calories, milk, refined sugar and palm oil). It’s also sold in different flavours:
What’s great about this company is that it’s not shy about its ambitions to replace all the yucky brands in supermarkets, so that everyone has access. Just visit their website to find lists of stockists, along with the contact details so you can ask your local branch to stock it. It’s madness that people are buying factory-farmed milk hot chocolates and palm-oil spreads, when this company is happy to supply any shop, so let them know!
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate is very popular and sold in most shops. It’s made with rapeseed oil and sweetened naturally with grape and carob, and recommended by TV nutritionist Amanda Hamilton. To make a mug of hot chocolate, squeeze in a few teaspoons into milk. These are also very popular with fans of Nutella (which has a lot more fat and calories, milk, refined sugar and palm oil). It’s also sold in different flavours:
Keep chocolate away from pets.
The chocolate spread is the better alternative to nutella. This has natural ingredients, unlike Nutella which is packed with factory-farmed milk, refined sugar and palm oil (it doesn’t even have that many hazelnuts, despite the name). And this is made by a homegrown company that gives to dozens of local charities, not some big brand name.
What’s great about this company is that it’s not shy about its ambitions to replace all the yucky brands in supermarkets, so that everyone has access. Just visit their website to find lists of stockists, along with the contact details so you can ask your local branch to stock it. It’s madness that people are buying factory-farmed milk hot chocolates and palm-oil spreads, when this company is happy to supply any shop, so let them know!
Hot Chocolate Tablets!
Nomad Drinking Chocolate is made with organic cocoa from the Dominican Republic, organic beetroot and exotic spices. This rose-beauty has a subtle earthy sweetness and mellow hint of spice. Enjoy heated or chilled in your choice of milk, or in coconut water for a refreshing drink. Organic and gluten-free. Just heat 1/4 of the milk, stir in the chocolate, then slowly add the rest of the milk until hot. Best with coconut, rice or almond milk. Also good in desserts, mochas and on ice cream. Iced Chocolate is made with chocolate syrup and plant milk, with ice cubes and a scoop of vegan vanilla-ice cream.
Nutella is one of the world’s most popular spreads. This is a simple mix of chocolate and (very few) hazelnuts, with milk, refined sugar and palm oil. It’s not gourmet at all, but people love the taste, which is why it’s so popular. However, you could make your own and bypass all the bad ingredients, and also up the protein/calcium by adding more hazelnuts, and having less sugar. Here are some nice recipes, plus a few good brands if you prefer to buy. Above is Homemade Vegan Nutella (Carlo Cao) from a talented Swiss/Italian chef. Keep chocolate and hazelnuts away from pets (and nuts away from small children).
Also try Carlo’s’s Coffee Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse. This light fluffy mousse uses aquafaba (a vegan meringue made by whizzing up brine water from leftover cans of chickpeas).
No-Bake Vegan Nutella Bars (Addicted to Dates) are created by a talented Irish classically-trained baker. These are the perfect pick-me-up for a midday slump, make a batch to keep you going for a few days!
4-Ingredient Vegan Nutella Fudge (Full of Plants) is a simple recipe that you are sure to like. All you need is hazelnut butter, maple syrup, cocoa powder and melted cocoa butter (with optional vanilla extract).
Vegan Nutella (Crumbs & Caramel) is made with whole hazelnuts, coconut oil, salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Make one batch at a time, to avoid over-use of a food processor (or you may burn out the motor!)
Vegan Nutella Espresso Cheesecake Mousse (Rainbow Plant Life) puts 3 desserts in one, with no refined sugar, palm oil or animal ingredients in sight. The homemade Nutella is topped with an espresso cheesecake mousse, for double-indulgence.
Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Tart (Crowded Kitchen) begin with a buttery graham cracker hazelnut crust, then it’s topped with a chocolate ganache, and hazelnut on top for crunch.
No-Bake Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake (Rainbow Plant Life) is super-simple to make, with just a handful of ingredients. The food processor does most of the work, and the recipe is also free from gluten, soy and oil.
Where to Buy Vegan Nutella
If you live with pets, use a letterbox guard for home delivery. Never buy chocolate sweetened with xylitol, as any licked or eaten could be lethal.
- Crwst Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (Wales) is a delicious blend of roasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate, made with coconut milk.
- Mr Organic Chocolate & Hazelnut Spread is a rich creamy spread that you can eat from the spoon, spread on toast or spread into frozen yoghurt. If the oil separates, stir it back. Sold in a glass jar. This has a much deeper flavour, and uses rich cocoa with rice creamer, and toasted hazelnuts from northern Lazio in Italy (known for good nut harvests).
Pots au Chocolat is thicker than a mousse, and also called ‘chocolate pots’. Here are some nice recipes to try, obviously keep chocolate away from pets. For a really simple chocolate pot dessert, just melt a big bar of chocolate in a double boiler, add a small carton of vegan cream and then add 2 tablespoons of liqueur (Tia Maria for coffee, Cointreau for orange etc). Pour into 4 ramekins and leave to set. Add a few fresh raspberries on top, to pretend it’s healthy!
Dark Chocolate Pots (My Goodness Kitchen) have 4 variations. Made with dark chocolate and coconut cream, choose from classic (berries), jaffa (orange), mocha (coffee) or Mexican (chilli and cinnamon).
Salted Caramel Chocolate Pots (So Vegan) are sweetened with dates. Serve with vegan ginger biscuits.
Vegan Yule Log with Chocolate Praline (Full of Plants)
