Chocolate Mendiants Recipe (Pecan and Sea Salt)
- Preparation 5 min
- Refrigeration 1 h
- Cooking 3 min
- Servings 20 to 24
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍫 Three ingredients, three minutes in the oven!
Dark chocolate, a pecan, flaky sea salt. That is all it takes to make mendiants, those little nut-topped chocolate bites you always want to buy at the chocolate shop. The chocolate snaps clean, the pecan crunches, and the salt shows up at the end to wake everything up. It is the kind of bite you set on the table and it is gone before you have had time to sit down!
🔥 The squares go in the oven as they are
I saw the idea go by online and thought it was a good one. You break the bar into squares, set them on a sheet and slide them into a low oven. They soften, the tops turn glossy, and all that is left is to press a pecan in. The shape is already made, it is the shape of the bar. Honestly, it is easy this way.
☕ As a starter, for dessert or with coffee
I serve them cold, straight out of the fridge, because I love cold chocolate. They fit anywhere: as a starter, for dessert, or as an after-dinner bite next to the coffee. And they make a gift, no question. This version is pecan and sea salt. I will most likely make others.
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⏱️ Three minutes, not two and a half
The first time, I pulled the sheet after two and a half minutes. It was just a touch under: I could still see the lines and the lettering of the bar on top of the squares. It worked anyway, but now I leave them for three minutes. What you want to see is a properly glossy top. Ovens do not all run the same, so trust that more than the timer.
🌰 The pecan, flat side on the chocolate
I lay the pecan half flat and press just a little, enough for it to sink into the chocolate. No need to push it all the way down. The square flattens a bit under your finger, that is normal, and it is what holds the pecan once the chocolate sets again.
🧂 Salt right away
As soon as the pecan is on, I salt. The chocolate is still soft and the flakes stick to it. If you wait until everything has cooled, the salt rolls onto the parchment and none of it stays on the bites.
🧊 An hour in the fridge and they are perfect
Mine came out half glossy, half matte. It changes nothing to the taste, and they snapped hard under the tooth. I take them out when it is time to serve, not before.
🍫 Count your squares before you get the pecans out
The number of bites depends on your bar: they are not all scored the same from one brand to the next. Count your squares, then pull out one pecan half for each.
📅 Make-ahead prep
This is a make-ahead recipe by definition. The mendiants keep for about a week in the fridge, in an airtight container. They freeze too. For a party, make them a few days ahead and leave them in the cold until it is time to serve.
🎁 As a gift, they win
A small box of homemade mendiants makes a host gift or a Christmas gift that looks the part. Keep them in the fridge until you are heading out the door.
✅ What to serve with my chocolate mendiants
With coffee, plain and simple. On a tray of little treats, set them next to my Tia Maria and hazelnut truffles and my chocolate bacon fudge, and people will help themselves. If you like chocolate with salt, try my chocolate covered bacon and my double chocolate sea salt cookies.
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Ingrédients
- 7 oz (200 g) 70% dark chocolate, in bars
- 20 to 24 pecan halves, one per chocolate square
- Flaky sea salt (fleur de sel)
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Preparation
- Set the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 230°F (110°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Break the chocolate bars into squares and set them on the sheet, well spaced.
- Bake for 3 minutes, until the chocolate is well melted and the tops of the squares are glossy.
- As soon as they come out, set a pecan half on each square, flat side on the chocolate, and press lightly, just enough for it to sink into the chocolate.
- Sprinkle each bite right away with a little flaky sea salt.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour, until the chocolate is fully set. Serve cold, straight from the fridge.
They are small chocolate bites topped with nuts or dried fruit. The classic version is a disc of chocolate with raisins, hazelnuts, figs and almonds. Mine are square, because I keep the shape of the bar, and they carry a single topping: a pecan half, with flaky sea salt.
I do not. Tempering means melting and cooling chocolate to precise temperatures, with a thermometer, so it comes out glossy from edge to edge. Here, the squares spend only three minutes in the oven. Mine came out of the fridge half glossy, half matte, and they snapped clean.
Three minutes, in a preheated low oven. The cue is the top of the squares: it should be properly glossy. At two and a half minutes, I could still see the lines and the lettering of the bar, and the chocolate was not quite melted enough.
In the fridge, in an airtight container, for about a week. They freeze too. I serve them cold, straight out of the fridge.
Coffee, for dessert or at the end of a meal. For a tray of treats, add my Tia Maria and hazelnut truffles and my chocolate bacon fudge.
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