Today, continuing in the theme of nourishing sweet treats, I would like to share a delicious and healthy fudge recipe with you. I never thought that I would actually feel good about eating fudge! But this recipe has proved me wrong. It’s full of healthy, nourishing ingredients that I feel good about eating and serving my family. We haven’t talked about fats in our Healthy Eating Series yet, but coconut oil (which is the base of this fudge) is one of the healthiest fats there is. I’ll talk more about it and all of it’s benefits later, but for now you can enjoy this wonderful treat and know that it is actually good for you!
Chocolate – peanut butter is one of my absolute favorite flavor combinations, so, of course, I LOVE this fudge. I also LOVE anything coconut, and the coconut oil gives it just a slight coconut flavor, which I find to be wonderful! It couldn’t be any easier to make. There is no cooking involved, and (not counting the chilling time) it takes less than five minutes to make. Now that’s my kind of recipe!
This fudge is adapted from Kimi’s Chocolate Fudge recipe at The Nourishing Gourmet. She adapted her recipe from Sally Fallon’s recipe in Nourishing Traditions, which uses butter instead of coconut oil. So if you don’t have coconut oil or really don’t like the slight coconut flavor that it leaves, you can try substituting butter (which is also a healthy fat!).
Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (slightly melted, but not hot)
- 1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder (such as Scharffen Berger)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used my homemade peanut butter)
- 1/4 cup mild raw honey
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I use my homemade vanilla – Only $0.32 an ounce!)
Preparation:
Prepare a muffin pan with 10 muffin liners.
Put all ingredients in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times until everything is smooth and nicely combined. (It will be very liquid-y.) Don’t over-mix.
Pour the liquid fudge into the prepared muffin liners dividing evenly between the ten of them. There will be about a half inch of fudge in each muffin liner.
Place the muffin pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until the fudge has hardened. (Sometimes I use the freezer and it only takes about 10 minutes)
Remove the muffin liners from the pan and enjoy your delicious, healthy fudge! Store in the refrigerator.
UPDATE: You do not have to use a food processor. Using a whisk and a bowl works as well. Just make sure that you whisk until all the lumps are dissolved, and the fudge is very smooth. Elaine pointed this out to me in the comments, so I tried it and it worked great! The food processor is a little faster and gets the fudge a tiny bit smoother; but I think I will probably just use a whisk from now on, because it is easier to wash!
Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Scharffen Berger!
This post has also been shared with Monday Mania, I’m Lovin’ It, Fight Back Friday, Pennywise Platter, Things I Love Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, What’s On Your Plate, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Tasty Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Fat Tuesday and Strictly Homemade Tuesday. Check them out for more recipes and ideas!
Oooo so excited to try this! Funny thing is I own Nourishing Traditions, yet somehow never noticed this recipe? I like the idea of using coconut oil – can’t wait to taste it!
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I wonder if we could hide some black beans in there too??
Hmm…I’m not sure Amanda. This recipe is so good just like it is, that I don’t want to mess with it!
I did see this recipe for bean fudge at Whole New Mom http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/silky-smooth-bean-fudge/, so I am sure that it could work, but I have personally never tried it.
Hi Mindy!
I can verify that my bean fudge recipe is really good! My kids ask for it all the time! Thanks for sharing!
Now I’m going to have to try yours! (I have so many fudge recipes that it’s hard to keep them all straight though! I may have to have a separate section on my website for “fudge”!)
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Yum! I LOVE fudge but I usually find there is too much sugar in it or that there is too much of a cross contamination issues when you try to buy it at a candy store. I’m definitely bookmarking these!
Christine recently posted..Vegan Gluten Free Blueberry Birthday Cupcakes with Raw Cashew Icing
Great recipe! I’m always looking for healthier versions of treats that I love. This looks like one to try.
Janet recently posted..Cajun Chicken Wraps
That looks so good, and I love chocolate and peanut butter. I’ll be trying it soon.
Linda recently posted..Gluten-Free Wednesdays 6-8-11
Mindy, these look amazing! I love chocolate and peanut butter together!
Awesome! I used virgin coconut oil, and its flavor complimented the chocolate and peanut butter very well. I actually didn’t need to use a food processor; a spoon and a whisk worked just fine.
I agree Elaine – the virgin coconut oil goes perfectly with the chocolate and peanut butter!
Thanks for the tip about just using a spoon and a whisk – I’ll definitely try that next time I make it.
I tried the whisk method, and it worked great! Thanks again for the tip. I updated the post to include this option also.
Pinned this so I can try when I get some sunflower seed butter (no nuts or peanuts here). This is one of the best “healthy” fudge recipes I’ve seen around, definitely want to try.
Thanks Anne! I have actually never even tried sunflower seed butter, but it sounds delicious. I would love to hear if you try it with that substitution and how it turns out for you.
I tried this with the sunflower seed butter and it was delicious. I ended up adding some crushed walnuts. I also added some crushed chocolate espresso covered beans to two and it was so good!
I want to try this chocolate with some coconut flakes and almonds for some almond joys!
Mindy – Thanks for sharing this recipe! Loved it!
The fudge looks divine and your pic of it…WOW. I’ll be interested to hear about the health benefits of coconut oil, because I thought that coconut oil (and the other “tropical” types of oil like palm) was one of the saturated types that isn’t heart healthy?
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Hi Mindy,
Wonderful creamy fudge in pretty little papers. What a great idea and a fabulous recipe. I wish I could have a piece, well maybe two, right now. Yummy! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday, have a great week end and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Miz Helen recently posted..Full Plate Thursday 6-9-11
You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter and the muffin liners make a perfect just-enough size.
jill conyers recently posted..Im Lovin It – Protein Smoothie Favorites
That chocolate is making me hungry. I love that it is healthy. I think maybe I need to whip some up- for health’s sake of course
Thanks for coming by to share your recipe at These Chicks Cooked Recipe Spotlight. Have a great weekend!
Katie
YUM! Looks great! Thank you for sharing at Simple Lives Thursday
)
That is an amazing recipe! I will try it soon. Thank you!
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I use coconut oil in all my homemade protein bars. The last ones I made were peanut butter chocolate (also my favorite flavor combo). I’m really looking forward to making this fudge. What a great idea and very flexible once the base has been acquired.
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Thanks for sharing! I made this yesterday and we loved it! The guys did mention they could hardly taste the peanut butter, I was thinking I might cut back a little on the cocoa. I’ll just have to play with it a bit but it definitely was yummy! Oh, I also used the small candy papers, so they came out about the size of mini-Reese’s. Thanks for the recipe!
Mindy- this is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing this at Strictly Homemade Tuesday. I am featuring this tomorrow!!
Do you happen to know the nutrition facts (mainly calories and fat content) of this recipe? It sounds delicious, but I want to know exactly how much I’m putting in when I eat one (or 2)!
Hi Julie! I am not sure what the calorie and fat content of this recipe is. It is definitely not a low-fat recipe with the coconut oil and peanut butter, but it is full of healthy fats that are very good for you. If you want to know the exact fat and calorie content you could use a recipe nutrition calculator (which are available for free online). Hope this helps!
Julie, it might be worthwhile to change perspectives about fat and calories? The food industry makes millions selling “food” that we can hardly digest. It might be lower in calories, but may not provide the fuel we need to keep our bodies running well. I have personally found that the “high fat” foods I’m eating (coconut oil, even red palm oil, plus cacao nibs, full of chocolatey-richness, etc.) keep my metabolism going, but don’t make me fat! I get lots of energy, and not the dull feeling of having eaten something that I now have to “work” at burning off…
(I may sub almond butter for the peanut butter, as it’s a notch healthier in the healthy-fats-department, according to some research…)
Just a thought!
Aha! Thanks Mindy for the complete recipe. I’m very intrigued and want to try making it because sometimes you just need some chocolate
I’d love to wait until I have some raw honey so that I can make the peanut butter from scratch as well and make it as healthy as possible.
What could I substiute for the coconut oil.. we have coconut allergies in our household>
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Hi Angie! You could try substituting butter for the coconut oil. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Have you tried just making it in a pan? I don’t have any muffin liners, so I’m wondering if I could just pour it into a pan and then cut it.
Yes, Jacqueline, that would definitely work.
I made this today and it was delicious! I used a mini muffin pan so they came out looking like Reese’s Cups!
Just tried pouring it into an ice cube tray and freezing it for a liner-less method. They pop right out when frozen through! Such a delicious recipe; thank you!
That is a great idea, Amanda! I’ll will definitely try this next time I make these!
Wow,these look good! Just wondering if you can taste the coconut from the oil. I’m not fond of the flavor. Also, I won a bottle of coconut oil and it is pure white and looks almost solid. When you melt it, does it turn clear?
You can taste a slight coconut taste from the coconut oil (which I really like!) Since you are not fond of the flavor though, you could either use refined coconut oil or you could try using butter. I have never tried butter, but the original recipe used butter so I am sure that it would work. It would just have a slightly different flavor than the coconut oil version. Let me know how they turn out for you!
Oh, and coconut oil does turn clear when it is in its melted state.
Thank you so much for your time that you put in to sharing your wonderful ideas. This was amazing, just finished making a batch, used the mini cupcake holders and got 22.5 cups filled. I used organic raw cocao powder and I think next time I will have to add a bit less, but none the less, it was AMAZING! thanks again
I am telling you, with tremendous excitement, that this is WONDERFUL!!!! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about a recipe before! This tops Reese’s any day, and what a great way to sneak more coconut oil into my kids (and myself)! You should have seen me licking the bowl and impatiently waiting for the 10 min. freezer time to be over!
I definitely thought it was fabulous, but didn’t do the exact same measurements, I did a third cup of cocoa instead of a half, and probably around the same in pb, and possibly upped the honey a little. I did forget the vanilla and excited to taste the second batch I make with it. I’m sure I’ll feel a lot better after eating these too vs Reese’s, which makes me feel pretty icky.
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Hey Kristina, Thanks for letting me know how much you liked these! We like them way better than Reeses also (which definitely make me feel icky too
) I’m glad that you made the recipe work for you and tweaked it to your tastes. 
Thanks so much for sharing at FAT TUESDAY! This looks like a winner! Hope to see you next week!
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/08/fat-tuesday-august-23-2011/
These were excellent! I think that I will make them in a the mini cups next time as some of your followers did. I love that idea.
After I poured the fudge mixture into the muffin liners I added about 1/2 tsp. more peanut butter on top. That was wonderful. It added a little more peanut butter flavor and it almost reminds you of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
Thanks for sharing such an easy and nutritious recipe to help my sweet tooth.
I thought you must be kidding boasting a “Healthy Fudge”, but I am so impressed with the ingredients and can’t wait to try this recipe!
Mercedes@Satisfy My Sweet Tooth recently posted..Soft and Chewy Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
These look absolutely fantastic! I need to pick up some coconut oil and give them a try. Thanks so much for linking them up in the Holiday Recipe Exchange!
Jamie | My Baking Addiction recently posted..Giveaway: Jacob Bromwell Cookware Set
And thank you for hosting the Holiday Recipe Exchange
I found some really great looking recipes there!
Thank you for this recipe! I’m on a strict candida diet at the moment, so I haven’t had any goodies at all. With your recipe, I used carob in place of cocoa (not allowed on the diet), almond butter in place of peanut butter (also not allowed on the diet), and liquid stevia in place of the honey – it’s perfect! THANK YOU!
Mindy – This peanut butter fudge is “out of this world” wonderful! So smooth and creamy and delicious! Thank you for sharing it! I love your site and have tried several of your recipes so far (ricotta cheese, spinach pie, etc.) and plan to try many more!
You said they need to be stored in the refrigerator. I guess that rules out shipping them to my college boy?
Thanks,
Melisa
Melisa, the main reason that they need to be stored in the refrigerator is because the coconut oil will stay hard in there. It’s melting point is 76 degrees F, so if you’re going to be shipping it in cooler weather than that I don’t think it would be a problem. Hope this helps
I made this yesterday! Wow and thank you! I used butter, because I didn’t have enough coconut oil on hand, and it is so much like the peanut butter meltaways we used to get as kids. This was just the test batch. We will need at least one more before Christmas!
Hi Mindy! I just found your blog site while hunting for ice cream recipes that use natural sweeteners. I can’t wait to try this fudge recipe!!! It looks divine and I have all the ingredients at home already! FUDGE for dessert tonight!
I hope it turned out well, Stephanie
It is one of my husband’s very favorite treats. Let me know how y’all liked it!
Utter genius! I just made a 1/2 batch to “try” this. Oh my heavenly chocolately-peanut-butter goodness! My hubby just went hog wild licking the bowl. I can only imagine what he’s going to do when they come out of the freezer in a few minutes. Thanks so much & here’s to a fabulous 2012!!!
I’ve tried “pinning” this recipe, but Pinterest said it can’t find any usable images. Any chance you can fix that? I’d love to share on my healthful foods board!
Healthy and yum?!?!? wow thanks.
http://www.ordinaryinspirations.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-favorite-valentines-day-ideas.html
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My granddaughter and I made this recipe for our valentines. We used (organic)Zylitol instead of honey for the low-glycemic index. Our whole family really liked them, even our children who often make fun of healthy treats : ).
I am going to make these on a regular basis for the daily health benefits with the almonds, cocoa & wonderful organic coconut oil!
Thank you again!
God’s abundant blessings to you,
Suzie Wilkins
These turned out great! So tasty! I made it with my homemade vanilla too. Thanks.
Yum! Homemade vanilla is the best, isn’t it?
Just made these tonight and they were excellent! Super easy, fast, and of course, delicious! I will definitely be making these again! Thank you!
I’m so glad you liked them Michelle!
Wow is all I can say! I love so many things about these, especially that I always have all of these ingredients on hand and that my 12yo can make them! I used to love Reeses before I cut out all the junk and I swear these are so much better than those were! I am in heaven!! Yumm!! Thanks for sharing
Made a half-batch of these tonight to try them out.. Love that they are a quick, easy way to make a treat with no processed foods! I just used a bowl and whisk (didn’t feel like cleaning anything more complicated than that) and they turned out wonderfully silky and smooth. They definitely have a dark chocolate type flavor. I will play around with the recipe to try to make it a little sweeter with a milder chocolate flavor so my husband will enjoy them too.. Because if I don’t get him eating them then I will be consuming too much fudge! Great recipe though!
I have made these three times already! Theyre delicious! I have now figured that I let half set, put peanut butter in the middle and put the other half on top and have homemade peanut butter cups. Kid approved
Oh that sounds so good, Elizabeth! I need to try it that way next time I make them. Great idea!
haha! I should have just read the last comment above the one I was about to make to see that someone HAD tried the peanut butter cups! Aren’t they so good??
Just made this- YUMMY!!! I LOVE desserts so I love using healthy ingredients for them. It makes me feel so much better about eating sweets
I made these and they were a hit. I did do a few minor changes but have had such an enormous response I linked this blog post to my blog. Thanks for the inspiration.
Juanita recently posted..Healthy Peanut Butter Reese Cups
Hi! Just made these last night and they were quick, easy to whisk and delicious! Thank you for sharing. I did want to ask you – they get oily fast when you take them out of the fridge to eat. I’m assuming that is bc of the coconut oil. Have you experienced this too? Not that they’re going to sit around long but it seemed like they needed to go straight from fridge to mouth and I would love your feedback on this. Can you store them in the freezer instead? I love the variations and think I’ll try them next time in layers.
I’m not sure if anyone has tried this yet-as I haven’t read through all the comments-but I made these in mini-muffin pans with the liners and filled them half way, froze them for about 3 minutes and then took the back of a teaspoon and formed a hole in the center. Then I filled the hole in with peanut butter and poured the rest of the fudge on top of that. Peanut butter cups!!!!! Soooooooooooooooo good!
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
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Thank you for this recipe. I love chocolate, ok I’m addicted to it. lol I’m sharing this recipe with my readers. With a link back to your blog of course.
Absolutely in love with these!! Thank you, thank you so much for sharing! Super easy to make and so delicious! Reese’s better watch out!
I love this. I just made it and it tastes great! The only suggestion I would make is…ADD MORE PEANUT BUTTER! (Only because I like it a lot.
(It’s a no sugar diet.) More for me, I guess!! 
My mom asked me to make this for her. But she’s on a diet. So she won’t eat it.
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Maybe try some with stevia, if she can have that.
Hi, I made these and they are AMAZING! But wondering if I can freeze them? Any idea?
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Wow, this is incredible! I just made it for the first time an hour ago, and it’s taking all my willpower to avoid ploughing through the entire muffin tin. I’m thrilled to have found such a decadent, flavorful, easy treat that fits in well with my newly adopted gluten free diet. Thanks for posting the recipe! I can’t wait to explore the rest of your blog.
Incidentally, all I had was all natural chunky peanut butter, and the food processor made easy work of eliminating any lumps.
I am in love….just made these but added some unsweetened coconut on the top. can you say…YUMMY! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
These were SO good! I added cinnamon and stuck candles in them! Thanks so much!
Hey… I have never seen fudge without chocolate chips or chocolate squares or anything! Cocoa Powder.. would have never tried it! Thanks!
This is so good!!!!!!!!!! I’ve made multiple batches and I love it!!! I’ve been adding shredded toasted coconut (homemade) to it too and that is awesome too! YUM! hanks for this!!
Just Absolutely delicious!!! Thanks for sharing!!! I am a weight watcher and this is a welcome recipe for a guilt free chocolate fix! I used mini muffin tins and made 15 of them. Calculated to be about 3 points each. Yum mm my!
Yum! Definitely worth 3 points, huh?
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! I made these for Christmas, they are wonderful, and so easy!!!
You’re welcome! I’m glad that you enjoyed them
I tried this recipe a couple of months ago and it turned out amazingly delicious! The texture is especially surprising – just like regular fudge. I’ve made this recipe many times since first trying it and will continue to make this one as a fave!
Does anyone know about how many calories are in one “fudge cup”?
Thanks for the inspiration with these. They are so delicious and I don’t feel guilty making, serving, or eating them. I tried a few varieties on your recipe that you might be interested in: http://www.creativesimplelife.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-truffles/. I’m so glad that I’ve found your blog!
Hello
How many calories does your healthy chocolate peanut butter fudge have?
Just made them! I have to say that they are “To Die For” ! I used my stick blender which worked great! My kids, who mostly dread when I make “sweets” for them, devoured these! I used my mini muffin pan and put about 1 Tbs. of mixture in each. Came out just perfect for my son who has juvenile diabetes. With less than 8 grams of Carbs for each one, he does not have to feel guilty having this healthier treat every once in awhile. Thanks for sharing this!!!
So good! I made these tonight and used almond butter instead of pb. It tasted like an almond joy! Next time i might add some shredded coconut…or not mess with a good thing
Thanks for the great recipe
Oh, I think adding some shredded coconut sounds amazing
I just made a batch and used agave nectar instead of honey. I put then by teaspoonfuls into mini muffin tins, with liners in them. I went to Spark people to calculate the calories, and found that in the 20 that I made, they were 102 calories each. Love these, will make again, for when I just have to have a chocolate fix. Thanks for the recipe
Could the ingredient be mixed in a blender?
Yes, I would think so Michelle. Just be careful not to overmix. You can also just stir everything together in a bowl with a whisk.
I made using the blender and it worked great@
Do you think low fa margarine like Smart Balance Light would give similar results?
Just put mine in the fridge!! I didn’t have good quality cocoa or pb on hand.. but I didn’t want to wait till I could get to the store. My daughter has severe pb allergies, so I will make some with sunbutter for her too! This is so great, and so easy!! Thanks for sharing!