Cherry S'mores Bites (Vegan)
All your favorite classic s'mores flavors are packed into a bite-sized treat with a cherry twist. This fun, easy summer dessert is made without dairy and eggs.
Ingredients
Graham Layer
- 6 sheets graham crackers - finely crushed
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp plant based butter with salt - melted
Chocolate Layer
- 150 grams dark chocolate - I used Lindt Excellence 70% bar
- 2 tbsp plant based butter with salt
Cherry Meringue
- 4 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- 3 tbsp cherry powder - I used Food to Live organic cherry powder
Instructions
Graham Layer
- Prep a mini cupcake tray. I cut parchment paper into strips to make mini slings for each cup; this helped when it came to getting the cups out of the tray. This recipe makes 20 s'mores bites, so you only need to prep 20 of the cups.
- Add the finely crushed graham crackers, coconut sugar and melted butter to a bowl; stir to combine, it should look like wet sand.
- Divide the graham mixture among the 20 cups - its about 1/2 tablespoon per cup. Firmly press down and pack each cup. Place the tray in the refrigerator for the graham layer to set.
Chocolate layer
- Place the chocolate and butter in a pan. Place the pan over medium-low to medium heat; stir regularly as the chocolate and butter begin to melt. Once melted, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- Remove the tray from the refrigerator and add the chocolate layer to the top of the graham layer. Divide the chocolate among the 20 cups - its about 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate per cup. Return the tray to the refrigerator for the chocolate layer to set.
Cherry Meringue
- Add the aquafaba, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk attachment. Whip on high until stiff peaks are achieved - this took me about 12 minutes.
- While the aquafaba is whipping, prepare the sugar syrup. Add the sugar and water to a pan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Keep the mixture at a simmer until it reaches 240F.***the sugar syrup will not take long to prepare, so start it when you are half way to achieving the stiff peaks ( 6 minutes left ).
- Once stiff peaks have been achieved and the sugar syrup has reached 240F - slow the whisk speed on the meringue to low and slowly drizzle the sugar syrup over the meringue. Once all of the sugar syrup has been added to the meringue, increase the speed to high and whip for 3 minutes.
- Slow the speed to low and add the cherry powder one tablespoon at a time. Once all of the cherry powder has been added, increase the speed to high and whip just long enough to incorporate the cherry powder - one to two minutes.
Assembly
- Remove the tray form the refrigerator. Remove the graham/chocolate cups from the tray. Place the meringue in a piping bag fitted with a piping tip of your choice. Pipe equal amounts of meringue to the top of each chocolate layer. Decorate each smores bite with a little crushed graham cracker and a dusting of cherry powder.Store the s'mores bites in the refrigerator until they are ready to be served. The cups can be made ahead of time. Prepare the meringue the same day you plan on serving them.Store the smores bites in an airtight container in the refrigerator.