Vanilla Bean Almond Butter Vegan Fudge (dairy-free, gluten-free)

As promised in my 12 days of Christmas Cookies post, today you can enjoy (and gift) that Vanilla Bean Almond Butter Vegan Fudge.

Before you scroll down, I must mention that until creating this recipe I’d never made a vegan fudge. :-O

“Dreena, that’s crazy-talk!”, you say.

I know! My sweet tooth is lecturing me.

While I’ve always loved sweets, fudge has never been on my recipe radar. I love the idea of fudge – something dense and sweetly-satisfying – but it’s always been too sweet.

You know what I mean? Too sugary, gritty, and sickly and yet not a lot of flavor. Almost makes that sweet tooth hurt! So, I didn’t have much interest in creating vegan fudge recipes. Until now.

I was thinking about the frostings for my raw brownies and raw chai squares. With a few switch ups, I knew I could create a dense, sweet fudge-like square. Like fudge, but using whole-foods ingredients and healthier, lesser processed sweeteners.

On to the vegan fudge recipe! I hope you enjoy it, and also enjoy gifting it.

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Vanilla Bean Almond Butter Fudge

I’ve always loved the idea of fudge, yet always find it too intensely sugary. This fudge is dense, satisfying, and sweet, but not sickly - and is made with much healthier ingredients than traditional fudge. The addition of vanilla powder is divine - try to use it if you can! Makes 14-18 bars/squares.

Course Dessert

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw almond butter see note
• 1/2 cup coconut butter not oil, you want the whole-foods coconut butter such as Artisana or Coconut Manna
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/4 tsp rounded sea salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder can use vanilla bean or extract, see note (I use Organic Traditions, but found this one on amazon, fyi)
• 1/2 tsp roughly extra vanilla bean powder for dusting top

Instructions

• Set a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water to create a double-boiler. Add all ingredients except that extra vanilla for dusting. Stir through gently until the coconut butter melts and the ingredients come together smoothly. Transfer mixture to a glass loaf dish (lined with a broad strip of parchment for easy removal - also helps to wipe a little extra coconut butter or oil around the inside surface for easier removal). Use a non-stick spatula to gently smooth/even out the mixture. Then, take pinches of the remaining vanilla powder and dust it over the top of the mixture. Refrigerate until completely firm. Cut into bars or squares and enjoy! Keep chilled until serving.

Notes

 

Almond Butter Note: Raw almond butter really tastes best in this fudge. You can substitute regular (roasted) almond butter, but be sure it’s unsalted - or you will want to reduce/omit the salt used in the fudge. Raw cashew butter would also work well.

Vanilla Note: If you don’t have vanilla powder, use 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract in the mixture. You can omit the vanilla dusting for the top - or, if you have a vanilla bean you can remove the seeds and dust some of those on top. They won’t distribute evenly, and that’s ok! It’s looks lovely when the vanilla seeds are somewhat patchy over the top. Vanilla powder is pricey, but it goes a long, long way. It’s much more convenient than removing seeds from a vanilla bean too.

Note: These squares will hold at room temperature, but will soften. So, it’s best to keep chilled until just before serving. You can also freeze extras to enjoy later.

 

Photos credit: Emma Potts