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How to Make Healthy Fudge
This is for fudge and brownie lovers out there who want to enjoy their decadent squares sans flour and refined sugar.
For a look at this recipe without pictures, view:
Start by adding about two cups of almond butter to a large mixing bowl. Today, I used about 500 grams of almond butter - every last bit that I could get out of a small jar.
You can use raw almond butter or roasted almond butter. I find that roasted almond butter is a better choice for this recipe, as it mixes more easily than the raw form, and roasted almond butter also has this great aroma and flavor that can't be matched by any other nut butter.
Be sure to add all of the naturally occurring almond oil that sits at the top of the jar - this oil is essential to getting a good mix. Use a fork to bring the almond butter and oil together and to smooth out any clumps that might come out of the jar.
This is about what the consistently should look like:
Next, add a quarter cup of raw cocoa powder to the almond butter. A tasty way to get heart-healthy flavonoids into your system.
Give things a good mix with a fork until the chocolate is well incorporated with the almond butter. Here's about what it should look like:
Next, add about half a cup of raw honey.
Give it another loving mix until the honey is evenly distributed.
Now if you have it, you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the mix. If your coconut oil isn't soft and close to being in liquid form, heat it up before adding it.
Adding coconut oil improves the healthy fatty acid content of this recipe, and also adds a bit of silkiness to the final product, but we've enjoyed these fudge squares without coconut oil on several occasions, so no worries if you don't have easy access to coconut oil.
Next, if you have a cured vanilla bean, open her up, scrape out as many fresh vanilla bean specks as you can, and add them to the mix. If you don't have a vanilla bean lying around but still want some vanilla flavor, it's fine to add a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract. We've gone without any vanilla altogether, so no worries if you don't have the real thing or some extract.
Here's what your edible "batter" should look like once the vanilla and coconut oil are mixed in with a fork:
And now for the final ingredient, just a modest teaspoon of sea salt to add an extra kick of flavor and to help enhance the flavors of all of the other ingredients:
After giving things a good mix to evenly distribute the sea salt, transfer your batter into a casserole dish or baking pan - just anything that's about the size of a regular pie plate.
Now use a spatula - or in a pinch, the back of a spoon - to spread the batter out until it lies relatively flat in the dish, about half an inch to a full inch in height. It's fine to leave it a bit higher, but not too much, as you want to be able to easily cut through it after it's spent some time in the freezer.
Here's about what it should look like when you're done:
Now try to get it in the freezer before a little munchkin comes along looking to make a fine mess out of your creation.
Well, if someone must have a taste right away, know that the batter is healthy and safe to eat straight away.
After all the taste testing is done, put the fudge/brownies away in the freezer and let things sit for a good 24 hours.
Once the batter hardens, you can cut off one-inch squares as needed. We find that the texture continues to harden as the days go by, and we like these fudge squares best after about the second or third day of sitting in the freezer.
Just one thing: they begin to melt slowly after a few seconds of being in contact with your fingers, so bring out only what you need and devour them up at an efficient pace.
Hope this pictorial proves to be helpful. Don't forget that you can access this recipe without the pictures for printing purposes here:
Bon appetite!
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Comments
fudge brownies
So Sweet!!! And the recipe looks good too. Thanks, and looking forward to more authentic Korean dishes.
your fudge recipe
dear dr. kim,
the recipe looks like a great idea, but unfortunately, some of us live in places where almond butter is frightfully expensive. In my health food store it is over $10 a jar, which means that to make the recipe would cost me more than $20.
I suggest substituting at least some of the almond butter with cooked mashed aduki beans. I make my brownies with aduki beans and without any flour.
fudge
Thanks for the great aduki bean suggestion. I googled aduki and discovered the many uses. This is one recipe I will do the following AM. Great!
Carob Fudge
I have made this recipe a few times with some modifications that, unfortunately, make it even more expensive; however, I only eat a one inch square per day, so the cost per serving is still reasonable.
I replace the cocoa with raw carob powder (at least twice the quantity of carob to cocoa because it's less potent). I also add 1/2 cup shredded coconut and a small handfull of raw cocao nibs.
coconut powder
Great idea for the coconut, I?m addicted to the stuff! I bet adding coconut powder/flour would help solidify the fudge a little too. I buy it at a Vietnamese grocery for a great price. Amazon too.
In some parts of the world cashew and macadamia nuts are available and would make a good substitute for almond.
Be careful of US grown almonds, I read a few years ago that ?raw? almonds grown in California were going to be exposed to radiation to ?kill organisms? -- and likely the almonds nutritive value -- not to mention eating a food with low radioactive levels. Raw, organic almonds with radiation exposure may be something you want to be aware of.
Thanks for the recipe!
Wow - Great Fudge Pics
We can't wait to try these. I wonder if we can place them in ice trays and put sticks in them. I'll let you know how it works out. What a cutie taste tester.
Thanks Dr. Kim!
brownies, yum!
What a great recipe to add to a chocolate and almond butter fan's cookbook! Your little guy is sooo cute! thanks, Dr. Kim
finally a person in your
finally a person in your pictures.. i wouldn't mind seeing a hand or person in them.. the human touch!
what a cute little one!
Amazing Recipe
This fudge looks divine! Definitely going to try making it! Can we have some pictures of chopped up squares of the finished product? I want to get some idea of the final texture.
That looks so yummy!
What a sweet taste tester too! hehe
Sorry Jenny, they're a
Sorry Jenny, they're a little hard to cut up and have sit around long enough to snap a decent photo. We had family over the day after, so the whole lot was gone in about 24 hours! Hope you enjoy.
Brownies....
sooooo cute.. your helper...
brownies of fudge
The best part was not the brownie, but the pictures of the bebe!!! Oh my gosh! how adorable!!! Just a little smallie with big cheeks facinated by the fudge treat. Priceless. WE WANT MORE PICTURES!! thank you, can't wait to make the treat.
Hola Dr. Ben. I am allergic
Hola Dr. Ben. I am allergic to almonds. May you please offer substitute ingredients for the almond butter? Gracias.
Nut free substitute
You can try making your own sunflower seed butter out of nut-free sunflower seeds (buy them online - my supermarket only sells seeds tainted by nuts) that you have roasted yourself in the oven with a little oil on 180C. Try using an electric coffee bean grinder or even better yet, a Thermomix for the task of grinding them into a paste.
Best of luck.
: )
LOVED seeing your little one
LOVED seeing your little one in the picture. He looks precious! =) I look forward to making this for my teacher friends during our holiday parties. Finally something good and good for you.
Too cute!
Just had to say your helper is way too cute (brownies look good too)!! What a blessing. By the way, how do you cut his hair? (My 14 mo. old cries at the slightest thought of an oncoming haircut!) Love your website--inspirational on so many levels.
:) We actually take both of
:) We actually take both of our boys to a Korean hair stylist in Toronto - she does a super fast and fabulous job for all of the men in our family for a reasonable fee.
Fudge Brownies
The pictures are really great but the best are the last two with your cute cuddly adorable baby boy! Makes me want to reach out and hug him. He brought back happy memories of when my boys were the same age. Thanks very much for posting these and thanks too for all your helpful informative newsletters, Dr. Kim.
Substitute ingredients
Would peanut butter be a good substitute for almond butter? I make my own in a Vita-Mix.
How about raw cacao nibs in place of raw cocoa powder?
Thanks--love your website and your newsletter! I'm listening to EarthRain as we speak! :)
Many blessings,
Suzi
Thanks for all the great
Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone. I'm glad that this recipe is a hit - it's really one of our favorite desserts, especially when we're feeling like something rich and chocolaty.
I haven't tried this recipe with peanut butter or other popular nut butters, but I have made similar things with cashew butter. So definitely be creative and have fun experimenting with various substitutes if almond butter doesn't suit you.
Thanks again.
My recipe for healthy fudge
I would just like to share pictures of my healthy fudge. It is made from roasted cashew nuts, channa dal (a pulse) and jaggery, which is unrefined cane sugar. It also contains some spices. It is very easy to make and a good alternative to less healthy sweets. Please see pictures on my blog, if you are interested: http://mangosoup.blogspot.com/2009/08/channa-dal-and-cashew-fudge.html
These look and sound
These look and sound amazing. My only concern (and really it's pretty minor when you consider these are a treat and so much better than the usual alternative) is the phytic acid in nuts. I know it's very high in peanuts, my favorite, not sure about the levels in almonds. I know that it's possible to soak them and grind yourself, but how many of us do that consistently? Oh well, I'll probably make this and enjoy it immensely anyway :)
phytic acid
We soak 5 lbs of almonds at a time and then dry a dehydrator full. That way we can grind 2 lbs at a time for almond butter (weekly), and we always have almonds on hand for almond mylk as well without the worry of sprout inhibitors (i.e. phytic acid).
almond butter
Cindi, you said you grind 2lbs of almonds at a time. Do you mean you grind them in a blender?
I think you can grind dry almonds to make flour but I'm not sure
phytic acid
Hi Rachel--Phytic acid is a valid concern because it makes digestion harder (some have even gone so far as to call it toxic) and it also binds up the wonderful minerals in the nuts so our bodies can't access them! I read (perhaps on Chris Kresser's website) that we can tolerate 100-400mg phytic acid per day. To lower the phytic acid content in our nuts and beans we can (1) soak them, which I am too lazy to do, (2) roast them (it's easy to find cocoa that isn't raw, and roasted nuts & nut butters!), (3) eat nuts without skins as the most of the phytic acid is found in the skin, and (4)take probiotics as they help release the minerals in the nuts so they are available to our bodies. :)
Thanks for the great recipe.
Thanks for the great recipe. Being Vegan the only thing I will need to substitute is the honey.
Just a note for Jackie on
Just a note for Jackie on wanting to replace honey. You are probably already aware Jackie but I use rice syrup instead of honey. It is very close to honey in both taste and consistency.
Blessings, Karina
Ooh!, how cute!....you've
Ooh!, how cute!....you've got to have another one...a baby that is! Baby looks sooooo pinchable! Love that baby fat!
Yummmmmm!
Just made this a few minutes ago (been waiting for weeks to do this!) and tasted the batter before I put in the freezer...it is scrumptious! Thank you so much for sharing this simple, healthy, delicious sweet recipe. Look forward to more future postings like this for my sweet tooth...as I'm sure the little one will agree :D
brownies recipe/fudge
AWESOME,Beatiful pictures as always, I will buy everything I need maybe by next week to do this lovely and healty recipe,Thanks,thanks and Thankssssssssssss,for your kiddness,God Bless you always,Hope you doing wonderful in the new house,maggie,ormond beach,Fl
YUM
Hi -
I just wanted to let you know that I made this for a superbowl party with a theme. The theme was that everyone brought an item that follows the paleo eating plan. This recipe is paleo, so I brought it. It was a BIG hit. Much better frozen as you suggest. Once they sat out awhile, they were still good, but frozen is so much better.
Thanks for your newsletters and great products. I drink your green drink every morning and pretty sure it keeps me from getting sick.
Thanks again for the recipe - it was a big hit with my friends!
Melinda
fudge brownies
hello!! can't wait to try this!! although i would suggest freezing in ice cube trays...that way you do not have to cut them up....i am going to grease an ice cube tray with a little coconut oil before putting the batter in it, & hopefully they will just slide right out after being frozen....blessings!!!
WARNING!
Warning - - this stuff can be addicting!
Easy healthy fudge recipe
Delicious and very easy to make. I am thinking of trying it with maple syrup instead of honey.....