Who doesn’t love a flakey crust with a fluffy chocolatey topping? I honestly didn’t know what to name these paleo treats but when I took that first bite, it seemed to mimic a chocolate tart so that’s all I got…..it’s what I’ll call them.
I was able to get ahold of pork leaf lard from Buy Ranch Direct (Buy Ranch Direct) and I rendered it to perfection! It was snowy white and had no flavor which makes it perfect for baking. It was fun to watch the process take place as I had no idea what I was doing at first. I just crossed my fingers and hoped it would turn out. I was pretty gitty as I poured the strained fat into my mason jars – the clear liquid soon turned to a solid white lard and I did a happy dance 🙂 I then used the cracklings to make Fat Bombs with some melted dark chocolate that my hubby pretty much devoured!
I put the lard to use right away. I honestly can’t remember which I made first but there’s a Paleo Blueberry Scone on the blog, using this lard and of course I needed to get a chocolate treat going as well! I used Otto’s Cassava Flour for this recipe and a mini cheesecake pan. It made it super easy to just push these little guys out when you use this kind of pan vs. trying to dig them out of a muffin pan. If you don’t have a mini cheesecake pan, I would use cupcake liners. You could use mini muffin liners/tin as well ….which would make them bite sized and perfect for a dessert table.
Obviously, we don’t all render our own lard so pick up your favorite brand and give these a shot. I would imagine butter/ghee would work as well but not sure of the crust will turn out quite as flakey ….though I’m sure the taste of a buttery crust would be amazing!
- 1/2 cup cassava flour
- 4 tbsp lard (or grass-fed butter)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 avocado (1/2 cup mashed)
- 3 tbsp canned coconut milk (from top of can)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp melted enjoy life mini chocolate chips (+)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the flour and butter. Add salt & honey (if using) and incorporate.
- Using a mini tart pan, place about 1 tbsp of dough into 8 rounds, evenly.
- I use a wooden tool (Pampered Chef ...but I'm sure you can get at any kitchen store or Amazon) to push the dough in and around to fill the tins. You may need to dip the tool in cassava flour to keep from sticking.
- Place into oven for 10 min. Let cool about 10 minutes before adding the filling.
- In a bowl, Mash the avocado with the coconut milk.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl & mix using an immersion blender or hand mixer.
- Using about tbsp (heaping), add filling to the tart tins. When filling as been completely used, shake the tin so chocolate filling will close in gaps. Since tin is still warm, this should spread out pretty easily - and you want it as flat on top as you can get (no need to be exact!)
- Top with extra mini chocolate chips if desired ...or coconut shavings/flakes or even chopped nuts! Berries are always fun too!
- Place in fridge for a few hours to harden up, then push from bottom gently to remove the treats!
- Enjoy!
