This chocolate ganache tart features a wafer cookie crust and crisp peanut brittle below a decadent ganache filling with a decorative peanut butter swirl.
Elevate your dessert game with a decadent no-bake chocolate ganache tart. This tart is a chocolate lover’s dream come true, made with smooth and creamy chocolate ganache filling and a buttery wafer cookie crust. The best part? It requires no baking, making it a simple and hassle-free dessert option for any occasion.
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Ganache Tart
There are numerous reasons to fall hard for this chocolate ganache tart. It checks all the boxes on the list of perfect desserts. The tart is:
- Effortless – This has to be one of the easiest (and most impressive) desserts I’ve ever made. Since no baking is required, you don’t have to worry about overbaking the crust or anything similar. The only steps that involve heat are making the ganache and bringing the brittle ingredients to a boil.
- Easy to prep – You can either make it ahead or prepare the tart in stages. Start with the crust and keep it in the fridge. Prepare the brittle and set that aside, then assemble and add the filling when ready.
- Features varying textures – The crust is crisp, the filling is fudgy, and the brittle below the filling is crispy and crunchy.
- Balanced – This chocolate ganache tart has a nice chocolate peanut butter balance, and since the chocolate and peanut layers are alternating, there’s an even distribution of everything.
No-Bake Chocolate Ganache Tart Ingredients Notes
- Oreos: Chocolate wafer cookies make an exceptional no-bake crust.
- Butter: Unsalted butter helps form the crust and is used in the brittle.
- Semi-sweet chocolate: Semi-sweet chocolate is used in traditional ganache because the sweetness is just right. It is 35–45% cacao, so it isn’t overly sweet like milk (chocolate) but doesn’t come across as bitter like chocolate with a higher cacao percentage.
- Peanut butter: Creamy works best for this tart since it is used as decoration and piped on the crust below the brittle, so there’s no need for the added texture of crunchy peanut butter.
- Sugar: You can’t make brittle without it!
- Corn syrup: Corn syrup is required in candies like brittle because it prevents sugar from crystalizing resulting in a smooth texture. No one wants grainy peanut brittle.
- Baking soda: Baking soda makes the brittle lighter and airier with a nice crisp crunch.
How to Make This No-Bake Chocolate Ganache Tart
- Make the crust: Pulse cookies in a food processor until you have fine crumbs, mix in the butter, press into a pan, and freeze for half an hour. So simple!
- Here comes the peanut butter: Briefly heat the peanut butter in the microwave, then pipe some on the tart crust.
- Add the brittle: Sprinkle crushed brittle on the peanut butter drizzle. For quick, easy assembly of the no-bake chocolate ganache tart, consider making the brittle in advance to give it time to cool thoroughly. To make the brittle, bring sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water to a boil, cook until brown, stirring in the baking soda, salt, and peanuts, then spread on a nonstick mat.
- Fill: Bring heavy cream to a boil and add the chocolate to a bowl, then pour the hot cream over the chocolate. After a few minutes, whisk until you have a creamy ganache to add to the tart shell.
- Decorate: Pipe the remaining peanut butter on top, then use a toothpick to create swirls on the surface.
- Chill: Pop the tart in the fridge to chill for an hour before serving to give it time to set.
Variations, Substitutions, and Cooking Tips
Use another nut – Cashew butter (and cashew brittle) would be delicious in this dessert, as would almond.
Use another cookie for the crust – Golden Oreos would be great for those who want a little less chocolate, or you can go for a graham cracker crust.
Scale down the sweetness – Those who appreciate the complexity of bittersweet chocolate can use chocolate with a higher cacao percentage.
Make it nut-free – Those with a nut allergy can replace nuts with seeds; sunflower butter would work well. There is also the option to forgo the nut butter and add something like oats to the candy mixture for a nut-free brittle.
What to Serve with No-Bake Chocolate Ganache Tart
You can’t go wrong with ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, a side of fresh fruit, or a glass of milk.
Make Ahead
This chocolate ganache tart is a great make-ahead dessert. As mentioned, you can make the brittle in advance as well as the crust. Moreover, the tart needs at least an hour to chill and firm up, meaning the completed tart can be ready and waiting in the fridge until dessert time rolls around the next day or the day after that.
- Crust:
- 30 Oreos
- 5 TBS unsalted butter
- Filling:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate (I used Guittard)
- About 1 cup peanut butter to pipe onto the bottom of the tart and for decoration
- Brittle:
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tbs light corn syrup
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 1/s cup cocktail peanuts (finely ground)
- 2 TBS unsalted butter
- 2 TBS water
- ¾ tsp salt
- Crust:
- Pulse the Oreos in a blender until finely ground.
- Add to a medium-sized bowl along with the melted butter and mix until well combined.
- Pour into the tart pan and press into the base and fluted edges.
- Place in the freezer for 30 min to harden.
- Brittle:
- Set aside a non-stick mat for pouring the prepared brittle mixture.
- Bring sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to brown. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until golden brown. Stir in baking soda, salt, and peanuts until well combined (mixture should be the color of peanut butter). Immediately pour onto a nonstick baking mat, spreading out as thinly as possible with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Finely chop half the brittle with a heavy knife to yield ½ cup. Reserve remainder for another use.
- Filling:
- Warm the peanut butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds and add to a Ziploc or pasty bag. Pipe diagonal lines onto the base of the tart crust then top with the crushed peanut brittle.
- (press the brittle into the peanut butter).
- For the ganache, bring the heavy cream to a boil then add to a heat-proof bowl along with the semi-sweet chocolate chips and let sit for about 3-5 minutes.
- Once whisked and creamy, pour on top of the peanut & brittle base.
- Top with peanut butter (I like to draw zigzag lines in a diagonal pattern then use a toothpick to make swirls).
- Place in the fridge to firm up for at least an hour, then serve!
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