These easy vegan chocolate tarts are made with a gluten free oat and almond base and topped with sweet, summery apricots for a beautiful & simple dessert. The easy press-in base and quick ganache filling makes for a low stress treat.

Hi we’re back in Germany! After almost two months in Canada we’re in Germany for a little while housesitting for friends and searching for an apartment in Holland – there’s a massive housing crisis (like students sleeping in the park massive) in the city we need to move to so wish us luck, hah.

Apricots are at the very tail end of their season now, with the end of peaches and nectarines in sight. Although these little vegan chocolate tarts are topped with apricots, you could use any kind of seasonal fruit in its place. Persimmon, berries, pears, the options are endless.

This recipe is adapted from my chocolate orange tart from this past winter, with almond flour used in place of sunflower seeds (I made these while at my mom’s and she had a huge bag of almond flour leftover from her paleo kick). The pastry is a bit softer and slightly sweeter than the one in that other tart; more like normal pastry and less of a granola-inspired one.

To simplify things a bit, this recipe uses a full can of coconut milk instead of just the cream and makes things a bit easier if you don’t have a food processor as oat flour is fairly easy to buy. You can get it at just about any bulk food store. Using oat and almond flour makes the tarts completely gluten free – but if you want to make them for a crowd or a group of not-so-healthy eaters, I bet they’d like them too. I made these for a family dinner while I was back home and everyone loved them. If people tend to be quite critical of healthier desserts, make sure you include chocolate, because then they usually can’t tell. So sneaky.

I don’t actually own little tart tins like the ones used here. Now that we’re in Germany again and I don’t have access to my mom’s horde, the next time I make this recipe I’ll do it as a big tart in a springform pan instead and cook the base until it’s golden. If you do have small tins, though, let these vegan chocolate tarts be your reason for pulling them out of the cupboard! (And dusting them off?!) A half tart will serve one person as they’re quite rich – and I like to top them with vegan yogurt instead of cream to help cut through that a bit.

I’ve written bit of an essay today about ethics in food blogging, so if you just want to get to the tarts, scroll right on through the remaining text below to get to the recipe.

I want to talk a bit about sharing – and stealing – in the food blogging world. I got a comment on one of my instagram posts today from someone saying that I had stolen their work and should be ashamed – the thing is, I had written and shot the recipe before their post came out (but hadn’t shared it yet) and had never heard of her before then. Both the recipes and one of the images are unfortunately similar in terms of styling. I mean the recipes are similar in that they’re both galettes, at least, and use the same type of fruit group. I think her work is really pretty now that I’ve seen it.

The thing is, this happens. My work is stolen all the time. I would never take inspiration from another blogger without noting it (which I have noted, many times – see this post and this one for examples). And I think it often happens that we just come up with similar ideas at certain times of year as seasonal food bloggers. Alanna from The Bojon Gourmet and I posted blueberry swirl popsicles within a couple days of each other this summer and I’m sure a pile of other people shared something similar at the same time. We don’t exist in a vacuum and there are only so many combinations that can be made.

It really bothers me to be accused of this because my work is often stolen, or at least used for inspiration without credit. More than that, I did a lot of work with copyright and academic rights in university and I don’t see blogging any differently than any other original or creative work. It belongs to the person who made/wrote it and it’s stealing, no doubt about it, to change a tiny thing about a recipe and take pictures in virtually the same way without noting your source. Of course it’s even worse to just outright repost the pictures and recipe but that’s a different conversation.

This blog post has now been updated to note that her pictures were inspired by my mini raw bounty bars – it wasn’t before – which was a nice surprise! I was about to use it as an example of what you shouldn’t do, hah. But that’s a great example of someone perhaps not knowing that they shouldn’t be doing this and then making positive changes. I’ve had people share my full recipes on their social media accounts and tell me that it’s an original recipe because they leave out the pepper (really), then refuse to take it down when I ask them to. I make a living from my website so it is very important to me that people actually visit my site to use one of my recipes, and also just bad form to not do your own work.

Anyway. Don’t forget to vote tomorrow if you live in Sweden, and now some vegan chocolate ganache tarts.

Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via facebook, pinterest, and bloglovin.

Yield: 8 people

Vegan Chocolate Tarts with Apricots

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These easy vegan chocolate tarts are made with a gluten free oat almond base and topped with sweet apricots for a beautiful & simple dessert.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Setting Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 110 grams / 1 cup rolled oats, blended into flour
• 100 grams / 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 70 grams / 1/4 cup soft dates, packed
• 30 grams / 2 tablespoons coconut oil, solid
• 2 tablespoons nondairy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract*, optional

Vegan Chocolate Ganache

• 400 ml / 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 100 grams dark chocolate**
• 1-3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Tiny pinch sea salt
• 8 apricots, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F and grease four 12cm / 5 inch tart tins with coconut oil. 
2. Add the oats to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and blend until a flour forms. Add the almond flour, salt, dates, coconut oil, milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Pulse until the dates have broken down and a dough forms.
3. Separate the dough into four equal parts and press it into the prepared tart tins, trying to make the base and walls an even thickness. Poke a few holes in the base with a fork, and place the tins onto a large baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden. 
4. Take the tarts from the oven and cool for about ten minutes in the tins before removing and placing the tarts onto a rack to cool completely before adding the ganache.
5. To make the ganache, chop the dark chocolate and place it into a heatproof bowl. Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering, then pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute before adding the maple syrup, vanilla, and salt, then whisk until mixed and silky looking.
6. Pour an equal amount of ganache into each cooled tart. Place the tarts onto a board in the refrigerator for about an hour, or until the chocolate has set (see tip). Top each with two sliced apricots, a spoonful of plain vegan yogurt, and some grated dark chocolate. Serve chilled.

Notes

• I often place the finished tarts in the freezer for about half an hour to set the ganache before topping them just to speed things up.

• If the tart shells aren't cooled completely before adding the filling, the bottom tends to get a little soggy. If you want to be absolutely sure to prevent that, place the shells in the freezer for 15 minutes before pouring in the ganache.

* The extract is optional and just brings out the flavour more in the base - but don't be tempted to add extra!

** If you use unsweetened chocolate, you'll likely need all 3 tablespoons of maple syrup to make it sweet enough. Depending on the cocoa content in your chocolate, you'll have to sweeten to taste.