Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Mousse with Sea Salt

With only 7 ingredients and no baking, this chocolate covered peanut butter mousse recipe yields fluffy mousse made with natural peanut butter and sweetened with maple syrup. Drizzled with dark chocolate ganache, this sweet is easy to make and insanely delicious.

This time of year I have to avoid the “seasonal” section of the grocery store. I don’t usually have to avoid candy sections or the ice cream aisle. Ah, the fortune of being one of the few people in the world without a major sweet tooth (or a mouthful of them). I mean, I like sweets. Who doesn’t?! But given the choice between a bacon cheeseburger and a piece of cake, there is no question that I would be all over that burger. But around Easter, I have this weakness. Those bloody Reese’s peanut butter eggs! So peanut buttery and delicious. I can’t go near them.

Gettin’ My PB Egg Fix

If you follow me on Instagram , and you’ve seen my stories, you know I’ve been pulling my hair out over a chocolate peanut butter egg recipe. I wanted to recreate the Reese’s pb egg in my own sort of way, but something that was easy, a wee bit healthier, and more natural. Something made with real food. My frustration wasn’t over having to make lots of chocolate and peanut butter treats and then having to try them (as if?), it was more that I was determined to satisfy my pb egg craving! The struggle is real.

After 3 attempts at a peanut butter stuffed flourless chocolate cake, which were delicious but way too rich, I switched gears. I created this chocolate covered peanut butter mousse that was not only the most delicious and addicting, it was also the easiest to make.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Mousse, What Dreams Are Made Of

Get this. Whip up some heavy cream to fluffy, medium hard peaks. Fold in salted, creamy, natural peanut butter, yogurt and just the right amount of maple syrup. You have yourself a crazy addictive dessert right there, in and of itself. Think of a light and fluffy, PB cheesecake. But then, you take it a step further. You freeze the mousse, melt your favorite bourbon-vanilla, dark chocolate (with more cream of course) and pour it all over your frozen mousse, glazing it with a mildly sweet dark chocolate that will set into a glossy, thick cradle for your delicate mousse. Add a pinch of grey sea salt, because you know you want it.

You could eat it all right then and there. But you don’t. You know if you let it chill in the fridge for an hour, allowing the glaze to set and the mousse to thaw, it will be the most creamy and satiny. You’ve waited all day, and you can’t wait any longer. The kids and the Easter bunny will forgive you if you eat just one before Easter, right? Or at least they will have to. You take an egg out of the fridge, sink your fork into the velvety chocolate covered peanut butter mousse, and let the salty sweet cream melt in your mouth, licking the remnants of chocolate ganache off your fork.

That, was like a food version of a sleazy romance novel.

Keeping Tabs On Ingredients

Few, if that wasn’t enough to convince you to make these, here are some of my intentions behind this recipe.

Pop Kitchen was born out of my desire to empower people to cook their own food and to love doing it. There are 2 really big reasons I try my best to cook most things from scratch and they are both kind of controlling.

Food Snobery : I love to eat really good food and I believe that fresh, homemade food is the most delicious. When the reigns are in my hands I can control how good the food is.
Health : An entire series could be written about my “values” about food. I will spare you. POP KITCHEN is upbeat and that topic is drab. But I do like to have control over the ingredients I put in my family’s and my body. I prefer sweets that are sweetened with more natural sweeteners than cane sugar, such as honey or maple syrup, and as a general rule I think steering clear of preservatives isn’t a bad idea.

When I was working on the recipe for these chocolate covered peanut butter mousse eggs, I had these two ideas in mind. I wanted something crazy delicious, good enough to compete with the coveted Reese’s PB egg, lower on the sugar front, and made with natural ingredients. The result was something quick and simple, yet so tasty.

How is That Easy?

I bought an egg-shaped, silicone mold at a local grocery store here in Toronto (Loblaws for all you Torontonians). You can also buy it here . The silicone mold has the benefit of making a shape but also being extremely flexible. As a result, it’s really easy to pop a frozen bit of mousse out without breaking anything. If you don’t have silicone molds, that’s ok. You do not need to go out and buy one. You can simply use a baking cup/cupcake liner instead (the extra large ones wouldn’t hurt either, cuz hungry).

Bonus! There will be lots of leftover chocolate ganache to make truffles with afterwards!

This recipe is made entirely by stirring and chilling: Yes, it’s true! Whip some cream, either by hand or with an electric mixer. Fold in the sweetened PB mixture. Fill silicone mold/cupcake liners. Freeze. Melt chocolate by stirring hot cream with extra dark chocolate. Let cool a minute. Pour over frozen mousse. Chill.

Seriously, that’s it.

There are desserts that are so delicious they are worth the hours of labor: mixing, baking, whipping, measuring. And then there are desserts, like this chocolate covered peanut butter mousse, that are just as delicious with so much less work. And, if you’re lucky, you’ll be spared eating a more than one Reese’s PB chocolate egg.

Pop Kitchen for Easter!

Like these chocolate covered peanut butter mousse eggs? Make an entire Easter feast with POP KITCHEN. I mean, the color scheme here is basically a giant Easter egg.

Brunch: Mini Cauliflower Breakfast Frittatas with Spicy Rose Gin Champagne cocktails

Dinner: Roast Chicken with Paprika Root Veg or Quinoa Chickpea Buddha Bowls for a family of diverse diets

Dessert: Obviously, Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Mousse!

When you make these light and fluffy chocolate covered peanut butter mousse eggs, let me know how it goes! Tell your friends about it. Rate the recipe and share your thoughts and questions in the comments below. Use the hashtag #popkitchen when you post photos of recipes you’ve made to your Instagram and tag @pop_kitch. I’ll share my favorite photos on POP KITCHEN’s account.

Substitutions

This recipe is naturally gluten free, egg free, and grain free. Want to make this vegan/paleo? Check out Minimalist Baker’s how-to on making Coconut Whipped Cream as a substitute for the whipped cream in this recipe and use your fave vegan yogurt substitute. Then check out The Kitchen McCabe’s vegan chocolate ganache for how to make chocolate ganache with coconut milk.

How to pour chocolate ganache glaze

Recipe

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Mousse with Sea Salt

Ingredients

½ cup natural, creamy peanut butter (salted if possible)
¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt (any fat ratio, just whatever you have on hand)
3 Tbsp maple syrup
¼ tsp sea salt
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 oz 75% cacao dark chocolate (I used Lindt because they use bourbon vanilla bean in their chocolate, Yum!)
Course sea salt for garnish
1 egg shaped silicone mold, with 6 molds or 8 standard size cupcake liners (foil is best)
1 small glass or stainless steel bowl
1 med/large glass of stainless steel bowl
whisk or electric beaters
1 small sauce pan
Kitchen scale (optional)
1 spouted creamer pitcher for pouring
Wire rack
Rimmed baking sheet
Wax or parchment paper

Instructions

MOUSSE: In a small bowl, mix together the peanut butter, yogurt, maple syrup and salt. In a medium/large bowl (glass or stainless steel), whip up the whipping cream to medium soft peaks (so peaks that don’t completely flop over but don’t quite stand up stiff as a mountain. Somewhere in between the two). You can use a whisk and whip by hand or use an electric mixer.
Adding 2 large spoonfuls of the peanut butter mixture at a time, fold the peanut butter into the cream. [To fold means to use a rubber spatula and scrape the bottom of the bowl, gently bringing the contents around to the top. Imagine you are turning a crank and your spatula is moving around the outside of the cream, flicking the wrist to return the spatula to it’s original position. The purpose of this is keep the whipped cream from deflating]
Once you’ve incorporated all the peanut butter evenly into the whipped cream, place a large spoonful of mousse into each of your silicon molds/cupcake liners. Spread the mousse around making sure the front of each mold or the bottom and sides of each cupcake liner is completely filled with mousse. This will help avoid any air pockets from forming. Add the remainder of the mousse to the molds/liners, making sure they are spread evenly. Freeze for at least 2-3 hours or until the mousse is relatively hard and easily pops out of the molds.
GANACHE: Once the mousse is completely frozen, you can start the ganache. In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until it just comes to a boil. Watch this carefully as the cream with boil over if it gets too hot. While the cream is heating, weigh out 4 oz of dark chocolate (if you have a kitchen scale) and chop it into small pieces with a serrated knife (see the image above). Place the chocolate into a small glass or stainless steel bowl.
Once the cream has boiled, add it to the bowl of chocolate, making sure the chocolate is fully submerged in the cream. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Stir chocolate vigorously with a whisk until smooth and glossy. Allow to sit while you prepare your mousse.
GLAZING THE MOUSSE: Pop your mousse out of it’s mold and place them on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Pour the ganache into a pourable container such as a spouted creamer pitcher or a liquid measuring cup. Begin to pour the ganache over the mousse starting from the middle and moving outwards in a circular motion (see video above). Double check that the ganache has covered all the edges of the mousse. Repeat until each mouse is covered. Sprinkle each egg with a pinch of sea salt.
Place each mousse on a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Once they thaw, they are hard to move. This way, you can cut the paper around the mousse in order to easily move them to a plate. Serve on the paper.
LEFT OVER GANACHE: There will be lots of leftover ganache (I tried to do a smaller ratio, but chocolate is finicky and did not love the recipe to be split in half.) Scrape the ganache off the baking sheet and back into the bowl you mixed it in. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, mixing halfway in between. Now you have the base for some darn good chocolate truffles. Scoop some chocolate out and roll into a ball. Roll in your favorite toppings. Mine is chopped walnuts! You can also try cocoa powder, cinnamon and sugar, or coconut.