While honeymooning in Paris we spent a number of mornings at a little neighborhood restaurant, Café du Marché. It became a wonderful habit, and one that we wish was conducive to our current lifestyle. Who wouldn’t want to spend every morning in a café?
One weekday morning at the café we sat a few tables down from a lone French woman. She was young – maybe mid to late twenties – with a slim figure, pulled back blonde hair, and a face that was bare save for some lipstick. As she quietly read her French book the waiter dropped off her order: a big mug full of something milky and decadent, and a huge Pain Au Chocolat. Very not vegan, but could easily have been in my dreams.
I remember thinking “Is this what it means to be French??” To be beautiful, slender, simple, well read and full of fat and chocolate is a wonderful aspiration. I think about that lone French woman every time I make these. I do a little internal nod to all women eating chocolate on weekday mornings.
Mini Vegan Pain Au Chocolat – Makes 16
Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of vegan puff pastry (like Pepperidge Farm), thawed
- 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat your oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Take one sheet of puff pastry, and cut it into 4 pieces. Cut each piece in half for 8 strips. Repeat with the other sheet.
3. Place 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips into the middle of each strip, and fold the pastry over the chocolate chips from both sides. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake your mini Pain Au Chocolat for 14-15 minutes until golden.