Dark Chocolate Almond Tart {Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free + Grain-Free}

This Dark Chocolate Almond Tart is free of everything everyone isn’t eating right now: gluten, soy, grain, dairy, eggs. And, it’s vegan to boot!

Can I get a fist bump?

I hate to boast, but I kind of outdid myself with this recipe. Sure, I’ve made vegan and gluten-free recipes in the past–Blueberry Muffin Energy Bites, Chocolate Chip Cookie Energy Bars, and Healthy Peanut Butter Buckeyes are just a few examples–but I never intentionally set out to make them vegan and gluten-free. They just sort of naturally came to be. I happened to use vegan and gluten-free friendly products without realizing it until I was composing the posts.

But this recipe… Well, let’s just say I knew what I was doing. Okay, so I stumbled through it a bit, as I’m not an expert in vegan and gluten-free cooking/baking, but in the end, I made a damn tasty Dark Chocolate Almond Tart. Again, I’ll take that fist bump.

I want to make one thing clear: this tart tastes just as decadent, just as chocolate-y, just as creamy as its butter, refined sugar, dairy-laden counterpart. If I never mentioned the word vegan and had you try this pie, you would never know.

How do I know this, you ask? Did you test out your theory, you ask? Yes. Yes, I did, because I knew you would ask these questions. So, I made it a point to use Squirrel and my sugar-obsessed father as test dummies. I put a slice of tart in front of each of them, and I didn’t dare mention the words vegan, gluten-free, healthy, naturally-sweetened, or any other scary word that would have caused them to refuse the slice of tart I so gingerly and excitedly placed in front of them.

Guess what? They were none the wiser. I’m sitting on the sidelines in a fit of laughter as they’re shoveling in bite after chocolate-y bite of what I know to be a ridiculously tasty tart. In the end I cough up the truth about the tart, but they’re too busy eating and making the sounds one makes when they like what they’re shoveling in to care about my dictionary dot com definition of vegan.

Seriously, where’s that fist bump?

I should also mention that I didn’t use avocados, bananas, or silken soy as the base for the chocolate filling. Instead, I reached for a can of coconut cream I had stocked in my pantry for a little over a year–don’t worry, it wasn’t expired. I picked it up on a spur of the moment shopping trip to Trader Joe’s, thinking, “Oh, the things I could do with this!” So it took a little longer than expected to sort through those “things.” I eventually made a tart, and isn’t that the noteworthy detail here?

The filling is extremely easy to make. It takes as long to make as the chocolate takes to melt and requires very few pantry ingredients, the main components being the coconut cream and good-quality dark chocolate.

Now for the crust… Whoa, is the crust amazing! While I’d like to say the chocolate filling is the MVP here, I won’t do it, because the toasted almond crust is mind-blowing. The crust is a combination of Diamond of California Almonds, gluten-free old-fashioned oats, coconut sugar, almond butter, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. It gets baked until toasty perfection and has the most delicious crunch you ever did taste. It’s the perfect contract to the velvety smooth chocolate filling.

I’ll take that fist bump now!

Print Recipe

Dark Chocolate Almond Tart

Yield: 8-10 servings

Total Time: 4 hours 25 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 cup whole Diamond of California Almonds
• 3 tablespoons old-fashioned oats (gluten-free)
• 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Filling

• 6 ounces dark chocolate
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut cream
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup toasted sliced Diamond of California Almonds, for garnish
• 1 cup fresh raspberries, for garnish

Directions:

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch tart pan (with removable base) with coconut oil. 
2. Add almonds and old-fashioned oats to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the coconut sugar and salt; stir to combine. 
3. Add the almond butter, coconut oil, and vanilla extract to the bowl. Stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tart pan. Using your hands, press the mixture evenly into the pan and slightly up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the golden brown. Cool completely before adding the filling. 

Filling

1. Add a large heatproof bowl over simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate to the bowl and allow it melt until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.  
2. Add the coconut cream and coconut sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer. Beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the cocoa powder, almond butter, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the melted chocolate. Beat until  combined.
3. Spread the chocolate mixture over the almond crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Garnish with toasted almonds and raspberries. 

 

All images and text ©One Sweet Mess.

Whipping up one of my recipes? I wanna know about it! Snap a photo and tag your post with #onesweetmess on Twitter or Instagram. Seeing your creations come to life makes my day!

If you like this recipe, share it on Pinterest!

Disclosure: This recipe was developed for the lovely folks at Diamond of California. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting my recipes and site while I work with brands I adore.