The 2-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse I Love and My Kids Double Love

Most chocolate mousse recipes call for some resilience—you have to whip cream or egg whites just so, or temper egg yolks without unwittingly scrambling them. I'm here to tell you that you don't need to possess this personal quality (nor the cream and eggs) to make an impossibly creamy chocolate and peanut butter mousse using just two ingredients: chocolate, peanut butter, and water (a freebie ingredient).

The idea behind this recipe was born after writer Jennifer Zyman shared a one-ingredient chocolate mousse that calls for chocolate, water, and absolutely no funny business. To make the mousse, you simply whisk melted chocolate with water over an ice bath until it becomes airy and silky.

Since my kids love peanut butter (you can see the 48-ounce jar we buy from Costco in the image below), I started whisking some in. It's a magical flavor combo my kids go wild for—a Reese's peanut butter cup in pudding form. It's an easy and forgiving dessert I can whip up on the spur of the moment.

Be warned: This mousse is for hardcore fans of chocolate and peanut butter since there isn't any dairy or eggs to cut through the cocoa and peanut flavors. That's why my kids prefer it when I use semisweet chocolate since it's not as bitter as dark or bittersweet.

How To Make My 2-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse

To make about four small servings, you'll need:

• 4 ounces dark, bittersweet, or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (not natural)
• 1/2 cup water

Add the chocolate, peanut butter, and water into a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring well with a small whisk after each time, until the chocolate is fully melted. In my 900-watt microwave set to high power, it takes three intervals, or 1 minute 30 seconds total, to get the mixture silky smooth.

Set the bowl on top of a larger bowl of ice water, making sure that there isn't so much water that it'll splash into your chocolate.

Whisk, whisk, whisk! Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with your whisk occasionally. You want to stop whisking when the mixture is loose and a tad runny. It'll firm up a little more on its own as it sits. In about two minutes, you'll have an ethereal cloud of mousse.

Spoon the mousse into cute cups or bowls, and sprinkle with flaky salt, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, or crushed salted peanuts.

3 Important Tips for Making This Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse

1. Don't use chocolate chips: Chocolate chips contain stabilizers like soy or sunflower lecithin to help them hold their shape. Also, they have less cocoa butter than chocolate bars or chunks. This means chocolate chips melt more slowly, not as smoothly, and solidify more quickly. Baking chocolate bars or chunks are better for melting and what you should use for this recipe—just make sure that they don't contain soy or sunflower lecithin.
2. Chop the chocolate bar into small, uniform pieces so that they melt evenly and quickly. Use whatever kind you prefer—dark, bittersweet, or semisweet. I would avoid milk or white chocolate because they have a lower melting point and will scorch if you're not careful.
3. Don't use natural peanut butter: For this recipe, you want to use sweetened peanut butter (smooth or crunch, your choice) because it contains emulsifiers that prevent it from separating. When you add water, the peanut butter won't seize or separate. Avoid natural peanut butter, which is more likely to separate.