This vegan chocolate mousse is made with dates, cocoa powder and coconut cream for a smooth, rich, decadent mousse that is so easy to make.
This 3-ingredient vegan chocolate mousse is simply fabulous.
It’s smooth and chocolatey and sweetened with dates so you can even call it healthy chocolate mousse. And there’s no avocado or aquafaba anywhere to be seen.
Not that I have anything against aquafaba or avocado, check out our aquafaba vegan mousse and our vegan chocolate avocado mousse for proof of that.
But this is just a really simple recipe that tastes amazing.
Ingredient Notes
Coconut cream. The night before you’d like to make mousse you’ll need to place two cans of coconut cream in the fridge to chill overnight. I usually just have a few cans of coconut cream permanently living in the fridge so that any time a dessert craving hits I am prepared.
After a night of chilling in the fridge the cream will have separated from the water and you just scoop out the cream from the top of the can leaving the watery part behind. Sometimes the separated cream will harden at the top of the can, and sometimes it will still be soft, but still separated.
Soft pitted medjool dates. Soft medjool dates are the best to use because they process much more easily. If your dates are hard and dry it will make them very difficult to process. You can heat them in the microwave to soften them but it will still be tough. If your dates are soft and pliable at the start, then this is the best way forward.
Cocoa powder. Should be natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Mousse
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add pitted medjool dates to your food processor along with unsweetened cocoa powder and process. At first it will form a big ball of toffee.
- As you continue to process it will gradually start to stick to the sides. You can also stop the processor and break up the big ball of toffee with your hands and then process again.
- When there is more stuck to the sides than in a ball, stop the processor and scrape down the sides with a spatula and then start it up again.
- Now while the processor is running, gradually add in the coconut cream, a little at a time. Stop regularly and scrape down the sides and process again. Add in more of the coconut cream a little at a time until you have used all the coconut cream and you have a rich thick chocolate.
- Now transfer the mousse to a strainer over a bowl and strain it quickly to get rid of the date skins so that you are left with a totally smooth creamy mousse.
- Transfer your mousse to four ramekins and smooth the tops with the back of a spoon. Place into the fridge for a few hours (2-3) to set.
Recipe Tips
Take your time: Even if your dates are soft, it can still take a good fifteen minutes to process this mousse through all the stages. So be patient with that.
Strain it: Straining it through a regular strainer is really crucial to getting that perfectly smooth creamy texture. This is because dates, as wonderful as they are, have date skins that make the texture less than smooth. But once strained, you have fluffy, perfectly smooth mousse.
Serving. You can serve this as is, with no embellishments. However it’s also wonderful served with some whipped coconut cream and vegan chocolate shavings on top!
Storing and Freezing
Store your chocolate mousse in the fridge (covered) and enjoy within 5 days.
It is also freezer friendly if you’d like to freeze it. It doesn’t freeze solid in the fridge, so it’s edible straight out of the freezer but the texture does become ‘too’ firm to be great for mousse. So it’s best if you place it back in the fridge to thaw before enjoying.
More Delicious Vegan Chocolate Desserts
- Vegan Chocolate Pie
- Vegan Chocolate Truffles
- Vegan Chocolate Brownies
- Homemade Vegan Chocolate
- Vegan Chocolate Sauce
- Chocolate Popsicles
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 2 cups Canned Coconut Cream (480ml) hardened cream only from two 14-ounce cans, chilled overnight in the fridge.
- 2 cups Soft Pitted Medjool Dates (350g) Packed cups
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder (42g) Unsweetened
Instructions
- Refrigerate your cans of coconut cream overnight. Then scoop out only the hardened cream that has risen to the top. If your coconut cream has not hardened at the top and is still soft, but has separated then this is fine too. Just scoop off the cream, leaving the watery part at the bottom of the can.
- Add the pitted medjool dates to your food processor along with the unsweetened cocoa powder and process.
- It will form a big ball of toffee and then as you continue to process it will gradually start to break up and stick to the sides. You can also stop the processor and break up the big ball of toffee with your hands and then process again.
- When there is more stuck to the sides than there is in a ball, stop the processor and scrape down the sides with a spatula and then process again.
- While the processor is running, gradually add in the coconut cream, a little at a time. Stop regularly and scrape down the sides and then process again. Add in more of the coconut cream a little at a time until you have used all the coconut cream and you have a rich thick chocolate.
- Place the mousse into a strainer over a bowl and strain it quickly so that you get a really smooth mousse.
- Transfer to four ramekins and smooth the tops down with the back of a spoon. Place into the fridge to set.
Notes
- Your dates must be really soft and pliable otherwise it becomes too difficult to process them. You can heat them briefly in the microwave to soften, but it’s better if they’re soft to start with.
- Keep it stored in the fridge (covered) and enjoy within 5 days.
- Nutritional information is for mousse only and doesn’t include any extra toppings.
- This recipe was first published in March 2018 and has been updated with extra tips.
I wonder if this is thick enough to use as a layer in a two-layer cake?
Yes I think so.
Really good recipe, delicious mousse and easy to make!
Thanks Sam! 🙂
I recently purchased two jars of organic date syrup and have no idea what I am going to use them for! The ‘syrup’ is totally smooth – I wonder if I could use some of the syrup to make this?
Hi Maureen, the syrup won’t work well here as you need the bulkiness of the dates BUT date syrup is wonderful stuff, you can use it in place of maple syrup or other syrup in almost any recipe and it adds so much delicious flavor. I used to buy it a lot when I lived in Dubai. It’s wonderful stuff! It works wonderfully in our vegan oatmeal cookies in place of the other syrup! 🙂
Thanks for the idea! I will be making some of them over the weekend. Any other suggestions for using this syrup will be very gratefully received!
You don’t soak the dates?
Hi Devon, no because medjool dates are usually very soft so don’t need to be pre-soaked. If you’re using a date variety that isn’t soft, you can soak them first.
Oh wow! This is awesome!