Chocolate and mint…mint and chocolate — such a delightful and fabulous combination! Who believes that a box of Junior Mints is a must-have while at the movies? I was excited to find this Healthy Junior Mint Squares Recipe that provides the taste of my all-time fav Junior Mints but in square form. Of course, the best part is the use of healthy ingredients such as cocoa powder (use raw), maple syrup (use Grade B), and the wonderful healthy avocado!
By the way, this gluten-free and vegan dessert will look simply delicious on your holiday dessert table — especially for Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
Want to make sure that your avocado recipes stay green? OK, here is the secret from zenbelly: Dissolve 1/4 cup sea salt (I recommend using Himalayan crystal salt) in 2 cups of purified water. Add the peeled and stoned avocados to the saltwater, and leave them in for about 5 minutes. Drain the water and transfer the avocados to a clean bowl. The saltwater will not make your recipe salty, but I find that I don’t need to add any additional salt to the recipe.
Healthy Junior Mint Squares Recipe
Use organic ingredients when available | Gluten-Free | Vegan
For the chocolate layer:
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (suggest using raw cocoa)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (or raw honey) (recommend using grade B maple syrup)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- pinch of Himalayan salt
Melt everything together in a saucepan on medium heat; stir well.
Making the chocolate
Pour into a greased glass dish (I used a little glass 7″x7″ pyrex dish). Put into the freezer to chill while you make the next layer.* (see assembly note below before doing this step!)
For the mint cream layer:
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- splash of lime or lemon juice, I used lime (to keep the avocado from browning)
- pinch of Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup (grade B) (or raw honey)
Put it all together in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and see if you want to add more mint or syrup.
Dump it all in together
DIRECTIONS
*I made mine with chocolate on the bottom and the mint on top. In hindsight, I would do it the other way around, or I would line the dish with parchment paper to make cutting into squares easier. I had trouble with the chocolate layer sticking to the bottom of the dish and sometimes separating from the mint layer. Another way to put these together would be to make them like peanut butter cups—pour a bottom layer of chocolate into a mini muffin cup, pour on some avocado mint, and then top with chocolate again. I melted about 40 grams of dark chocolate to drizzle over the top of my squares (do this before freezing, or the drizzle won’t stick). Chill for an hour in the freezer before cutting. Keep in the fridge or freezer (they stay green longer in the freezer).
VERDICT
Junior Mint Squares rank a ten on my dessert scale. Adults and children will enjoy the fresh mint taste and, of course, the chocolate. And for Valentine’s Day, you can’t beat this “sweet for your sweetie.”
– Recipe and pictures with permission via Swiss Paleo
