If you’re looking for homemade vegan chocolates for Easter then look no further. These delicious and healthy fruit and nut chocolates are easy to make and perfect for kids and adults alike.
I managed to snatch a bit of time with just my two big kids to make these delicious Easter fruit and nut vegan chocolates. It probably won’t come as a surprise to find out that they were VERY keen to get involved with this task – even R who is nowhere near as keen in the kitchen as his little sister.
This recipe is part of the Free From Easter recipe challenge which a lovely group of bloggers are taking part in – see the bottom of this post for more information about who’s involved in this. These chocolates are naturally free from most allergens apart from nuts. If you need this to be nut free simply add more dried fruit or leave them out altogether. The chocolate tastes good on it’s own but you may want to add more maple syrup depending on your personal taste. I adapted this vegan chocolate recipe from the Minimalist Baker.
Making vegan chocolate is easier than you might think. You do need a few ingredients like cacao butter and raw cacao powder
that you need to buy online or from a health food shop but once you have these you’re good to go. You will also need an Easter silicone mould
, although you could use muffin cases instead. *
The kids can help with most of this recipe, apart from the melting of the cocoa butter. My kids helped to weigh out the ingredients, whisk in the maple syrup and cocoa butter and pour the chocolate into the moulds. As you can see from the photo below this was a MESSY moment.
Cooking with kids – it’s messy and impossible to photograph well but they had so much fun!
Here’s how to make these vegan Easter treats – fruit and nut Easter chocolates:
Homemade vegan chocolates
Ingredients
- 200 g cacao butter
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 50 g raw cacao powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- A handful of dried fruit and/or chopped nuts - we used sultanas cranberries and chopped almonds
Instructions
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Place about 5cm of water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, then place the cocoa butter into a heatproof bowl and place it over the water - it shouldn't actually touch the water.
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Allow the cocoa butter to melt and them remove from the heat.
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Transfer to a jug (this makes it safer for the kids as it's not hot and also makes it easier for them to pour the liquid into the moulds. Carefully add the maple syrup and vanilla extract and whisk in.
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Next pour in the cacao powder and whisk that in until smooth.
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Get your silicone moulds ready and sprinkle a little bit of fruit and nuts into each one.
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Carefully pour the melted chocolate into each mould and place in the fridge to set for at least half an hour.
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Once set, remove from the mould and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
You will also need a silicone mould. This made enough for three moulds, or around 30 chocolates, so reduce the quantities if you don't want this many or use fairy cake cases for the remainder.
If you like this why not try these vegan mango and coconut creme eggs?
This recipe is part of a #FreeFromEaster blog series with the following lovely bloggers. Check out their sites for more Easter inspiration:
Mel – Le Coin de Mel
Vicki – The Free From Fairy
Nath – The Intolerant Gourmand
Emma – Free From Farmhouse
Nova – Cherished by Me
Reneé – Mummy Tries
Laura – Dairy Free Kids
Midge – The Peachicks Bakery
Rebecca – Glutarama
Eb – Easy Peasy Foodie
Kate – The Gluten Free Alchemist
Kirsty – Hijacked by Twins
Chloe – The Adventures of an Allergy Mummy
Grace – Eats Amazing
Pin vegan Easter treats – fruit and nut chocolates for later
* This post contains affiliate links meaning that if you buy something after clicking on a link on this post I get a small commission.
I love making chocolates like this…so much better for you and super yummy too. Top tip that if you can’t get cocoa butter you can use coconut oil instead…just as good in my opinion although they have a slightly coconutty taste unless you disguise with something like peppermint extract!
Thanks so much Vicki – that’s a brilliant tip about the coconut oil as cocoa butter isn’t the easiest thing to find!
These are so cute and more importantly, I can eat them! Been meaning to make my own chocolate so no excuse not to now xxx
Hope you enjoy them Rebecca! Let me know x
These are so cute and such a fun activity to do with the kids. I’ve never made my own chocolate before – even though I’ve got a kit with all the ingredients! – so need to give it a go.
It’s one of those things that’s hard to get around to! It was much easier than I was expecting x
These look gorgeous Mandy! I’ve never used cocoa butter, is it sweet! I’ve not used any sugar and only a little maple syrup plus the dried fruit add sweetness, but perhaps the cocoa butter does too?
Thanks Monika – it’s not particularly sweet but you could add more syrup if you wanted a sweeter taste.
Oh wow Mandy these look and sound so good. I have not made my own chocolates before so must give it a go! x
This was a first for me too Kirsty but surprisingly easy!
Love, love, love this idea! This is probably the closest to healthy chocolate gets – and so cute! Perfect for a #FreeFromEaster 🙂
I think you’re right – and the kids were so proud to have made their own
Fantastic Idea Mandy! You are SO clever…. These are fab!
Thanks so much Kate – they were way easier than I was expecting!
How cute are these! I love the idea of making your own chocolate – definitely on the list for the Easter holidays! x
these are quite possibly the cutest chocolates I have ever seen.
Thanks so much x