This Healthy Holiday Fudge recipe is probably the healthiest version of fudge you will ever find.
In fact, there are only 4 clean ingredients needed to make it.
It’s the perfect holiday treat to be able to enjoy and share, especially since it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare.
Here are the typical ingredients in store-bought fudge and homemade fudge recipes:
Russell Stover Walnut Fudge Candy
Ingredients: Sugar, Cream Dairy, Walnuts, Corn Syrup, Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate Processed with Alkali, Cocoa Butter, Butter Fat, Soy Lecithin, An Emulsifier, Vanilla, Vanillin, An Artificial Flavor), Sugar Brown, Palm Kernel Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Sorbitol, Salt, Potassium Sorbate, Flavors Natural (source)
FoodFacts.com Rating: “F”
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Traditional Homemade Fudge Recipe
Ingredients: 2 3/4 cups sugar, 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 3 tablespoons butter, 1 cup half-and-half, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
I’ve even seen versions using an entire jar of marshmallow cream (corn syrup, sugar, water, egg whites, artificial flavor, cream of tartar, xanthan gum, artificial color blue 1) (source) and even margarine (liquid and partially hydrogenated soybean oil, water, buttermilk, contains less than 2% of salt, soy lecithin, potassium sorbate (preservative), mono and diglycerides (emulsifier), lactic acid, natural and artificial flavor, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene color) (source).
Do people really still use margarine?
These are highly processed ingredients full of GMO’s, preservatives and food colorings and they are loaded with refined sugar and GMO-dairy.
Plus, you have to heat, cook, boil, use a candy thermometer, etc. to make traditional fudge.
This healthy version is full of clean, unprocessed ingredients and is raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo-friendly and no refined sugars.
Want more healthy dessert recipes? Check out Clean Eating Chocolate Crunch Bars, Healthy Peanut Butter Cups, Raw Snickers Bars or my Clean Eating eCookbook with an entire chapter of 20 healthy, clean eating recipes just like this one that you will love!
5 Fast Facts About Raw Cacao Powder:*
- contains over 300 compounds including protein, calcium, copper, zinc and iron
- super high in anti-oxidants
- promotes cardiovascular health
- contains essential fats
- can help to decrease blood pressure
5 Fast Facts About Coconut Oil:*
- super high in lauric acid
- rich in antioxidants
- contains natural microbial and anti-bacterial agents
- helps to improve metabolism
- improves cholesterol levels
5 Fast Facts Maple Syrup:*
- contains manganese and zinc
- super high in anti-oxidants
- helps with inflammation
- 1/4 cup contains more calcium than the same amount of milk
- 1/4 cup contains more potassium than a banana
5 Fast Facts About Almonds (Almond Butter):*
- helps to regulate cholesterol and blood pressure
- energy booster
- loaded with calcium and fiber
- 1/4 cup contains 8 grams of vegan protein
- high in anti-oxidants
*These statements have not been evaluated by Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Where to Buy: If you have any trouble finding the ingredients to make this recipe, you can order online from Amazon and have them delivered straight to your door!
Tip #1: The only sacrifice you will have to make to enjoy this healthy version instead of the evil traditional version is they will need to be kept refrigerated until they are ready to be served. They can’t be left out at room temperature because they will become soft because of the coconut oil. This could make a challenge if you were traveling with them or were going to be somewhere that you couldn’t refrigerate them so just keep that in mind.
Tip #2: This recipe will make approximately 18 – 20 small, thick squares using a 5 x 9 glass dish. You can get more servings if you use an 8 x 8 glass dish but they will be thinner.
Tip #3: This is basic fudge recipe, you can also add walnuts, other nuts or even mint.
Tip #4: This would be a good recipe to use with homemade almond butter. I buy my raw, organic unpasteurized almonds in bulk from Terrasoul.
Healthy Holiday Fudge (Raw, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo-Friendly, No Refined Sugar)
Print recipe
| www.thehealthyfamilyandhome.com | The Healthy Family and Home |
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)
- 1/4 cup organic raw cacao powder
- 1/4 cup homemade almond butter
- 1/4 cup organic maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
Directions
| Step 1 | Put all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and stir until well combined. Pour into a 5 x 9 glass bread pan (for thicker pieces) or an 8 x 8 glass baking dish (for thinner pieces and more servings). Put in freezer for approximately 1 hour or until hard and firm. Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve because they will become soft and lose their shape if left out at room temperature. Enjoy! |
Note
This recipe will make approximately 18 - 20 small pieces.
The recipe and photographs for "Healthy Holiday Fudge" by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License and cannot be used without my written permission.
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Is the mixture pure liquid before you freeze it? Mine is…
Hi Jen! Yes, it will be liquid after mixing everything together, but after you put it in the freezer, the coconut oil will harden and it will become solid, just like regular fudge.
Just be careful not to leave it out at room temperature because it will get soft and lose it’s shape (once the coconut oil starts to melt) so keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it.
Hope you enjoy it! 😉
I made these tonight and followed the recipe but when they came out of the freezer the coconut oil had separated out and left a white layer on top. Any thoughts on what I might have done??
Hi Kristen! I’m not sure what could have happened…I’ve made this many times and have never had that happen 🙁
I’m trying to troubleshoot…was the coconut oil completely liquid before you mixed it in? (sometimes I have made them and was too impatient to wait for it to melt completely and it left tiny tiny chucks of solid coconut oil, but never a complete layer on top). Did you use coconut oil? (there is also coconut butter, not sure how that would have worked though). Was all the ingredients mixed together well until it had a creamy texture? (sometimes I’ve used raw honey instead of maple syrup and it isn’t as easy to mix in as the maple syrup. Maybe if everything wasn’t mixed well/completely it might have caused it to separate?). Did you put them into the freezer immediately after mixing everything together? (If the coconut oil solidified before it was put into the freezer, that could have been what happened. Coconut oil will become liquid around 75 degrees or so and will harden at lower temps. Maybe it was liquid when mixed, then if it sat for a little bit could have hardened and separated before it froze?).
If you have a chance, let me know what kind/brand of coconut oil, almond butter, cacao, etc that you used and I’ll try to see if it made a difference.
I’m thinking it had something to do with the coconut oil because with only 5 ingredients, there isn’t too much else that could go wrong.
I hate they didn’t come out right but hopefully you were still able to enjoy them. Let me know if any of the ideas above could have been the reason.
Thanks for trying them out 😉
Hi Karielyn,
Thanks for the reply! I was at my mom’s for Christmas when I tried to make them so I don’t have all that info. I know the coconut oil was completely melted but I mised it all by hand instead of with a mixer, perhaps that is why. I’m going to try them now that I’m home and I’ll use a mixer to see if that was it. I’ll let you know!
Hi Kristen! Hmmmm…I don’t think mixing by hand would have done it and that’s how I mix mine up when I make them.
I just don’t know what else it could be but I do hope you try them again and have better results…and let me know 😉
Hi Karielyn and Kristen
I love this recipe and made it a week or so ago with no problem. I tried to make it again today, and the same thing happened to me, the coconut oil separated and came to the top.
The only difference in the way I made them was the brand of coconut oil. Perhaps try a different brand for better results? The brands I used won’t be of any use to you as I am in Australia and used local brands.
A question for Karielyn – should the oil be virgin, extra virgin etc?
Hi there Audra! Thanks for sharing your tips! The brand of coconut oil was one of the possibilities I came up with so that may be the culprit.
I, too, alternate between brands of coconut oil, but the brand I used in this recipe was from Vitacost and it was “organic” and “extra virgin”.
Hope that helps and thanks so much for giving us your feedback to help solve the mystery 😉
Can you taste the coconut in this recipe? Or is it overpowered?
Thanks
Hi there Kim! I am used to the flavor of coconut in all the coconut products I use, so I don’t really notice an overpowering coconut flavor, but it does have a little coconut taste to it.
If you don’t care for that, you can adjust the coconut and peanut butter amounts. Try 3/4 cup of coconut oil and 1/2 cup of almond butter. You could also increase the amount of cacao by a couple of tablespoons. I haven’t tried these adjustments before but if I were trying to reduce the coconut flavor, that’s what I would do.
The recipe really needs the coconut oil because it’s what “holds” everything together.
I hope that helps and that you enjoy the recipe if you decide to make it 😉
Hi Karielyn, could this recipe work with normal butter?
Hi there Emily! I’m thinking it wouldn’t because the coconut oil in the recipe is what “holds” everything together once it hardens in the freezer. Regular butter doesn’t harden/melt the same way coconut oil does.
If you prefer to use regular butter instead of coconut oil, you may want to find a traditional fudge recipe which will use butter as an ingredient.
Thanks for the question and I hope that helps 🙂
Follow the recipe exactly as it says and 99.9 5 of the time it comes out great. I just can’t make it look as nice as yours.lol.
Hi there Thomas! You get a better success ratio than I do most of the time lol! I usually will have to make something 2 – 3 times to get it just right.
I glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked it…I really appreciate it 🙂