I was flipping through an old, non-vegan cookbook of mine looking for some inspiration (AKA, forgotten recipes to “borrow” and make vegan and gluten free), when my wife saw a picture and said, “Wait. What are those?” The recipe in question was for mini cookie cups, baked and then filled with a “fudge filling,” or as it’s more typically known in the baking world, ganache. It’s an older cookbook and not exactly geared towards people with a lot of baking experience, so I get it.
The recipe in question just called for using store bought peanut butter cookie dough. But that’s the easy way out/I already have a vegan and gluten free peanut butter cookie recipe that I like, so I cut my recipe in half (approximately close to what the original recipe called for). I tried some the way the recipe said (just putting the dough in the pan, letting it bake most of the way, indenting them and then baking them the final 2-3 minutes). I tried a few that I pressed into the pan so they would be more tart shaped. The pressed ones had a nicer, more cup like shape, BUT they turned out a little too crispy. The ones that I waited to indent had a good shape when they cooled off and had a softer, cookie like texture, which I preferred. You decide which works best for you.
The other thing I want to point out is the ganache in this recipe is more chocolate than milk, so it sets up pretty firm, but doesn’t get hard. The key to making it, like any ganache, is the stirring. Bring the non-dairy milk just to a boil, turn off the heat, add the chocolate chips, let it sit for a minute or two, then start stirring. A heat resistant rubber spatula is going to work best (and be easiest to clean up). Start stirring in the center in small circles. As it starts to come together and look like ganache, stir in increasingly large circles until it’s all come together and looks uniform. If you follow the technique, it will be easy. If you don’t, it won’t. You could pour it into the shells and let it set up in them, or you could wait for the ganache to set up (I put mine in the fridge to speed up the process and checked it frequently) and pipe it in. Whatever works for you!
Small, cute and delicious. They look fancy but they’re not that hard. What could be better? That’s a rhetorical question. No need to list off your answers.
Gluten Free Peanut Butter and Ganache Tartlets
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup non-dairy butter, softened
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 flax egg (1.5 tsp ground flax plus 1.5 tbsp water)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup + 1 tsp oat flour 42 grams
- 3 tbsp white rice flour 31.5 grams
- 1/4 cup +1/2 tsp tapioca starch 31.5 grams
- 1/4 tsp psyllium husk flakes
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
Ganache
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Measure out dry ingredients and whisk together. Set aside.
- Cream brown sugar, butter and peanut butter until light. Add flax egg and vanilla and mix until fluffy.
- Add dry ingredients. Mix until full combined. Divide into 24 equal pieces (I use a #50 scoop, then divide each piece in two and end up with about 24 equal sized pieces). Place in a lightly greased mini muffin pan. Chill dough for 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and make a small indent in the center of each cookie, using the back of a round measuring spoon (1/2 or 1 tsp works well). Put back in oven and bake for 2-3 more minutes, until edges start to brown.
- Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing and letting cool completely on cooling rack.
- While shells are cooling, prepare the ganache. Bring milk just to a boil in a small sauce pot, add chips and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, then begin stirring in small circles in the center. As the chocolate and milk start to combine, stir in gradually increasing circles. Once fully combined and smooth, set aside to cool.
- Fill shells by either pouring in the still liquid ganache, or wait until it sets up enough to scoop out and fill up a piping bag and pipe ganache into shells. Allow ganache to fully set up before serving.
