These Chocolate Cherry Ganache Squares are the perfect holiday treat. Gluten-free, vegan, and no added sugar, these healthier chocolate dessert squares are rich and decadent, and sure to please everyone.
One of my favourite things to do in the kitchen is make a dessert that is reminiscent of something we used to eat on a special occasion – something decadent and rich, and fitting for Thanksgiving or Christmas – but made with ingredients that we feel good about eating. We want to truly enjoy and savour a dessert like this, without having to think twice.
These Chocolate Cherry Ganache Squares are just that.
These squares are super easy to make, with no baking required, and they’re made with only seven ingredients. If you’re still planning your holiday menus, consider adding this yumminess to your dessert table!
The base of these Chocolate Cherry Ganache Squares is made from sticky dates, walnuts, and a little cacao powder. The dates add some natural sweetness and help the base stick together, antioxidant-rich walnuts add structure and flavour, and the cacao powder compliments the chocolate filling. We like to buy cacao powder because of the higher concentration of polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that offer numerous health benefits. Feel free to substitute cocoa powder in this recipe, but look for a powder that is not dutch processed or alkalized. Dutch-processed or alkalized cocoa powder has been processed to take away the natural bitterness of chocolate, but unfortunately, the beneficial polyphenols have been removed as well.
The dates, nuts, cacao, and a pinch of salt are blitzed together in a food processor until everything is combined. You’ll end up with a sticky dough that is pressed into a parchment-lined dish, then chilled to firm up while the chocolate filling is being prepared.
The filling for these squares is a super simple vegan ganache made with dark chocolate and coconut cream.
For the chocolate, you can use your favourite bar of dark chocolate or chocolate chips. The darker the chocolate, the higher concentration of polyphenols, so we like to use 70% or above. We usually opt for our favourite 71% bittersweet chocolate chips, but we sometimes use half 71% chips and half 100% dark chocolate chips to make this dessert a little less sweet! You can also use a bar of your favourite chocolate; just make sure you chop it up into small pieces so the coconut cream can melt it easily.
Coconut cream, the hardened coconut fat found at the top of a chilled can of coconut milk (the ones that don’t have any additives or gums) or homemade coconut milk, is warmed on the stove with the not-so-secret ingredient in this recipe, cherries. The addition of finely chopped frozen cherries (that have been thawed) adds an ever so slight tang to the chocolate. That tang is pretty big deal because I think it makes the chocolate ganache taste like chocolate cheesecake filling… As someone who’s previous go-to dessert for ALL special occasions was cheesecake, this was a very exciting discovery!
The heated cherry-infused coconut cream is poured over the chocolate to gently melt it, creating a smooth, glossy, rich chocolate ganache.
The ganache is poured over the nutty date base, then chilled in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
We made our squares in a large loaf pan, but you can use any type of pan you’d like. If you really want to go for a chocolate cheesecake vibe, you can make this dessert in a small spring form pan!
These Chocolate Cherry Ganache Squares are delicious any time of the year, but their decadence will make them shine during the holiday season. We will definitely be making these squares a few times over the next several weeks, along with our other favourite desserts: Fudgy Coconut Zucchini Brownies, Grain-Free Cinnamon Spiced Apple Crumble, and of course, cookies (Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Walnut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies).
What holiday desserts will you be making this year?
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Tina is successfully optimizing health and healing illness (and helping others do the same) with the help of her husband, Curt. Read Curt & Tina’s inspiring story, “From on our heels to On Our Heals”. Feel free to send them a message.