This healthy chocolate peanut butter fudge couldn’t be any easier! You just melt everything together. Naturally vegan with a paleo and nut-free option. With a video.
Note: I originally posted this fudge recipe back in 2012 but decided to make some changes to the recipe to make it a little more allergy and dietary-friendly by testing it with sunflower seed butter and maple instead of honey!
I’ve gotten a lot of comments over the past few months about sunflower seed butter that made me curious. I know a lot of you have peanut allergies, can’t send peanuts to school or are paleo so I thought I’d try it out (here’s a recipe for homemade sunflower seed butter). You can also buy SunButter on Amazon!
This fudge, by the way, can’t be sent to school! It needs to be kept refrigerated or frozen.
One thing you don’t want to skip on is the salt. It just calls for “salt to taste” because I think I like things a lot saltier than most people. It really intensifies the peanut butter taste!
If you don’t have a mini muffin pan or a silicone mold, you can pour the mixture into a small parchment-lined tupperware container or the like. I just went with a mini muffin pan because it seemed the least messy.
This chocolate peanut butter fudge doesn’t taste exactly like traditional fudge – the texture isn’t the same and obviously it’s not as sweet, but if I had to choose between the two, I would pick this.
I just feel better eating it. And I love the taste and texture although it’s not the same as the really unhealthy stuff.
I’ve also tried this healthy peanut butter chocolate fudge with hazelnut butter and it was tasty but it’s hard to beat chocolate + peanut butter, right? ;)
If you prefer some peanut butter fudge without the chocolate, I highly recommend this maple peanut butter caramel fudge! It’s also vegan (but not paleo because of the peanut butter). :)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (vegan, gluten-free, grain-free with paleo and nut-free options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12-16 pieces of fudge
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) refined coconut oil1
- 1/2 cup (128 grams) natural peanut butter or sunflower seed butter for paleo / nut-free (use the kind with just nuts / seeds and salt)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (72 grams) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- salt to taste (be sure to add this! It really brings out the peanut flavor)
- 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- if using sunflower seed butter: coconut sugar to taste (I used 5 teaspoons)
Directions
- Melt the coconut oil in a small pot or pan over low heat. Add the nut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt and stir together. When it’s completely smooth, take it off the heat and add the maple syrup and stir until well combined.
- If using sunflower seed butter, add coconut sugar to taste. Put the pot back on the burner and set to the lowest setting. Stir until the coconut sugar is dissolved.
- If using peanut butter, you don't need additional sugar. Once the maple syrup is combined, immediately pour the fudge into a silicone mold or into the liners.
- Place in the refrigerator until set. Mine took a few hours. If you’re in a hurry, stick them in the freezer. If using a silicone mold, remove the set candy from the mold so that the fudge doesn't take on the taste of the mold.
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
- I updated this recipe on 6/9/16. Here's the original recipe (in case you've made it in the past): 6 tablespoons (84 grams) refined coconut oil, 1/2 cup (128 grams) natural peanut butter, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (72 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
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103 comments on “Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (vegan, paleo options)” — Add one!
2 comments are awaiting moderation!
Just made these & wanted to echo the rave reviews. I followed the super easy recipe to the letter & OMG! THE most scrumptious fudge ever! Healthy too!!🙏🙏
Yay! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
Wonderful recipe. I only used 1/3 cup maple syrup, added some fleur de sel, a bunch of whole peanuts and skipped the vanilla. Such great texture and flavour.
Your version sounds delicious! It’s great to know that it works with less maple. Thanks for your comment and sorry for my slow reply!
Just made these as my husband wanted something tasty and protein packed. I used a mixture of maple syrup, agave syrup and date syrup as my maple syrup finished. They turned out beautifully! My son ate a whole one in less than a minute! I also made the peanut butter fudge (halved both recipes) and put the peanut fudge on the bottom and topped the liner with this mix. The result is amazing! Thank you for your wonderful recipes. They never disappoint!!
I’m really glad to hear that they never disappoint! And wow, your idea of mixing the two fudges sounds super delicious. I’ll have to try that! Thanks for your comment and sorry for my super slow reply.
Thanks for an awesome recipe! I’ve made these lots of times now and they are wonderful! I’m avoiding sweeteners right now, so I made a batch with mashed banana instead of maple syrup and it worked fine. Just be sure the banana is very ripe and sweet. I always make them in metal muffin tins and keep them in the freezer. You do need to grease the muffin tins or use liners.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy that you like them. And wow. Mashed banana! How much did you use? Such a great idea! Thanks for the tip and your comment. :)
I used about 1/3 cup of mashed banana (1 medium banana). One time I was out of bananas and made it with 1/3 cup of applesauce, which worked too but wasn’t as good as the banana. It’s wonderful to be able to make such a delicious treat sweetened only with real fruit!
Oh boy! :D I’m totally going to try this! Thanks a ton for coming back to let me know how you did it!
This was sooooo super easy and quick! And i love easy and quick
It’s a good Reeses cup replacement for me. I can pronounced all the ingredients too. LOL
I’m so very sorry for just now seeing your comment! I’m really happy that you enjoyed the fudge and that you thought it was a good Reese’s replacement. :) And hooray for sweets without any nasty stuff in them! ;) Thanks for your feedback and sorry again for just now replying!
Hi. I made these with honey (maple syrup is not really acessible where I live), but it seems to have somehow sank to the bottom of the cups? They’ve been in the freezer overnight, and the tops are solid, but the bottoms are sticky – as if the honey has accumulated and now won’t freeze.
Any idea what could have gone wrong? Thank you.
Hi there! Sorry for just now seeing this. I’ve made this recipe several times but have never had that happen. Did you follow the directions or do something slightly different? If you mix the ingredients in a different order or all together, that could happen.
I just made this with peanut butter powder in place of the peanut butter. I reconstituted it with water first. Such a delicious recipe, thank you!!
You’re welcome! I’m happy that you enjoyed it and that it worked well with your sub. Thanks for sharing!
Followed the recipe exactly with peanut butter and I did find myself adding a 1/4 cup coconut sugar, as the cocoa I used was pretty dark. It was amazing! I added a little more salt to compliment the peanut butter. I’m thinking of trying it with almond butter, I love almond butter!
I’m happy to hear that it came out well! I’ve tried it with almond butter and it’s great that way, too. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
Hi there! My daughter is raising money for a trip to Haiti and I wanted to know if we could have permission to make and sell these and use the picture you have above? Thanks so much for your time! They look delicious.
Hi! That’d be fine as long as you don’t remove the watermark. :) But did you read that they have to be kept refrigerated? Just want to make sure! Good luck with the fundraiser.
do you have a suggestion to substitute the maple syrup? what if i just omit it from the recipe? thanks =)
If you just omit it it’d probably be inedible. ;) It’d just be peanut butter + cocoa powder (which makes things very bitter if you don’t add sweetener) and fat. Honey works great! I think brown rice syrup would also work,
What about agave nectar?
I’m sorry for just now seeing your comment! (my son and I have been sick for weeks) I haven’t tried it but I think that should work. Sorry again for my slow reply!
Is there anyway to substitute something for the coconut oil? I’m allergic.
I’m guessing butter or ghee would work but I haven’t tried it.
Hi do you know how many calories would be in each one of these?
I don’t but you could use this recipe analyzer if you’d like for that info. :)
Do you think I could use date syrup instead of maple? :)
I’ve never actually used date syrup so I have no idea. Sorry about that! I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it out. :)
I’ll see if it works and let you know!! Wish me luck
This is late (sorry!) but good luck. :)
Hi! I just tried to make these and the flavor is super delicious! However, I am curious about something that happened with mine. I made mine and then put them just into a glass pan with wax paper, since I didn’t have molds, and after a couple of hours in the fridge, some of the coconut oil separated from the rest of it. This only happened on about 1/3 of the pan and not the rest. It was just a very thin, but clear white layer of coconut oil. Any thoughts as to what I might have done to cause this? Thank you so much!
Hi there! I’m happy that you thought they were delicious. :) I’ve had that issue with lots of homemade chocolate and fudge recipes (although not with this one). Normally when it’s not combined in the right order or when I just don’t combine it well enough. Did you add the maple at the end like the instructions say? I believe I had to write it that way because of that very issue! I hope you can still enjoy them. :)
Thanks for getting back to me! I did combine the maple at the end, like the instructions say. I guess i didn’t combine them well enough though. I thought that it looked completely smooth, but maybe I just got a little to excited about it. I will have to try again!
I made another no-bake fudge recipe yesterday and I either heated it up for too long or overheated it. The oil separated. That could also be it! I hope it’ll work better the second time. :)
I just made this and think it’s fantastic! The only thing I added was 1/3 cup of sugar – it was nowhere near sweet enough for us and our tastes (maybe because I used a really great cacoa powder? I don’t know), and the sugar addition made it fantastic. I love how this is relatively healthy!!!
Wow! I bet you’re right about the cacao powder. I’ve found that when I use the raw stuff, goodies aren’t nearly as sweet. I really only like milk chocolate and still found the fudge sweet enough. I’m happy you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for your feedback. :)