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This Vegan Fudge is quick & easy to prepare, using just 6 ingredients you may already have in your pantry. It’s a healthier option compared to the traditional version I grew up eating, but it totally satisfies my sweet tooth. And I love how it melts in your mouth!
How to Make Vegan Fudge
Making this Vegan Fudge is as easy as it gets. All you need to do is mix 6 simple ingredients in a bowl, pour it into a square pan, and freeze until firm. I like to use homemade almond butter to make it, but you can also use sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version.
Once it’s firm to the touch, you can cut it into small squares and eat it right away! Just keep in mind that it melts relatively quickly at room temperature, so don’t leave it out of the fridge or freezer for too long.
Does fudge contain dairy?
The fudge I grew up making called for a whole stick of butter and melted chocolate chips, so it’s loaded with dairy. This vegan fudge gets its firm texture from the use of coconut oil, which is solid when chilled.
Don’t be tempted to use an alternative oil that remains liquid, like olive oil, because the fudge won’t firm up in that case. However, if you have another vegan butter option that is solid when chilled, feel free to use that.
Does fudge have gluten?
This vegan fudge is naturally gluten-free and is a great dessert for those dealing with Celiac disease or a food intolerance. I love that it’s also naturally-sweetened, so it won’t spike my blood sugar as much the traditional version.
What Other Types of Sweets Can Vegans Eat?
If you’re looking for other vegan dessert ideas, try one of the following recipes! They are some of my favorites, and will totally satisfy your sweet tooth.
- Vegan Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Gluten-Free Brownies
- Vegan Hot Chocolate
- Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (gluten-free!)
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can find all of my vegan recipes in my recipe index!
How to Make Vegan Fudge (1-Minute Video):
Vegan Fudge (with 6 ingredients!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil , melted
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the almond butter and coconut oil until smooth. (This works best if the ingredients are at room temperature or slightly warm. If using almond butter from the fridge, make sure it sits out on the counter first so that the coconut oil won't solidify instantly when mixed together.)
- Add in the cocoa powder, maple syrup, sea salt and vanilla, and stir until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch square dish, lined with parchment paper for easy removal, and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Place the dish in the freezer, and allow the fudge to set for at least an hour before slicing and serving. Thanks to the coconut oil, this raw fudge will melt quickly if left to sit in a warm room, so it's best served directly from the freezer.
- Store the leftovers in a sealed container in the freezer. For a softer fudge, store it in the fridge. This fudge lasts up to a month when stored in the fridge, and up to 3 months when stored in the freezer, but we usually eat it all before then!
Video
Nutrition
Per Square: Calories: 97, Fat: 8g, Carbohydrates: 4g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 2g
Recipe Notes:
- If you’d rather not use almond butter, cashew butter also works well in this recipe. For a nut-free vegan fudge, try using tahini or sunflower seed butter instead.
Since you can taste this recipe as you go, feel free to adjust any of the ingredients to your taste. And please be sure to leave a comment below if you try something new! We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s are your best vegan dessert recipes? Feel free to share your favorites in the comments below!
Barbara
so I did not have any cashew butter made but I recently made cashew cream and mixed up a lovely chocolate mouse pudding ….basically same ingredients just cut in half so I don’t indulge too much. 😉
andrea
These seem quite simple and delicious! I would use Stevia or rice malt syrup as sweetener, but not sure how to measure that. Might add some decaf coffee to it as well. Chocolate or anything mocha is such a weakness!
Minu
Love this recipe. My toddler loves this fudge
ck
This was DELICIOUS but it does have a taste of coconut. I tasted it before adding the maple syrup for the last ingredient, and it was VERY coconutty but after adding the maple syrup it was less so. But if you don’t like even the hint of coconut, you need to substitute it with something else. Otherwise this is so quick to make and so great!
Gorgoose
This may be the best fudge I have ever tasted! And with ingredients I usually have at home anyway! Thank you!
Tammy
I just made this and it was awesome. I made a couple of changes do to what I had. I used honey instead of maple syrup , and it still tasted amazing!! I will be making this again. 🙂 Thank for the recipe.
Adrienne
Just made these after running out of Almond Butter Freezer Fudge, very tasty! I used almond butter instead of cashew as it’s what I had on hand. I may have accidentally used 1/3 of a cup of cocoa instead of 1/4, but a little extra richness never hurt anyone!
Colleen
Quick, easy, and satisfying, thank you. I found the cutest little Pyrex glass dishes with lids and they were perfect for this amount.
E Sylvia Simpson
I am tweaking the recipe too.
Here are a few options:
Reducing the amount of coconut oil slightly, substituting peanut butter for cashew butter, adding in 1/2 cup peanuts, and exchanging maple syrup for fresh chopped dates soaked in an equal amount of water.
The flavor is very strong with peanut butter, so it masks the taste of almost anything you might want to add, such as powdered nutritional supplements. I’ve also tried soaking chia seeds, which changes the texture to a less fudgy consistency, but it’s still a very good dessert.
Meredith Huffman
Hi- can you please give me an estimate as to how many calories would be in this entire recipe? I made it for a healthy potluck and MANY people are asking….
thank you! They are delish!
elizabeth
this went fine until I added salt–then the oil separated from everything else and is floating on top–what the heck. expensive almond butter–might have to toss it any ideas
Megan Gilmore
How strange! The salt shouldn’t have caused separation, but sometimes oil can be released from the nut butter if you over-mix it. I’d just drain the oil off the top and freeze it anyway.
Jessica
Hello, do you have a nutritional value for this recipe? Like how many carbs per serving, etc.?
Teresa
I just made this with sunflower seed butter. I may have not bothered to let it freeze before digging in. Deeeelish! Thanks once again, Megan!
Shirley
Made this fudge with almond n sunflower seed butter ,,,both recipes are absolutely beyond delicious, ,my family fights over it. Figuratively of course.. but it is that good and so easy to make. I’m going to try it with all natural peanut butter for family that’s not paleo.
Micheddy
Ran out of maple syrup so only 1/2 of it and 1/2 agave. It turned out awesome.
Maria
This was amazing! My new after dinner treat. Made a few adjustments: reduced it to 3/4c cashew butter, slightly less maple syrup (3T instead of 4T) and a 1/4t salt.
Next time I think I’ll add 1/2c rice crisp cereal (for texture). Also – given that cacao powder sometimes keep me up at night I may try carob powder.
Thanks Detoxinista!!!
Lora
I just made this recipe and I love it. It is so, so good! Thank you!
Ronda Giovangelo
Renting in Fla can it go in a blender
Olga
I’ve made this several times now. The texture is great. My kids love it. Not too sweet and very rich and satisfying. I have tried it with both cashew butter and almond butter. I prefer cashew butter (the almond butter is fairly pronounced)but they are
both good. Thanks!
Karen Anderson
Love this fudge!! I have a question, I have always made a peanut butter fudge (the kind with the marshmallow fluff – but peanut butter instead of chocolate chips).
If i were to try adapting this recipe to a plain nut butter fudge would tapioca flour or something like that work in place of the cocoa powder to help solidify the nut oils and if so about how much do you think?
Thanks for sharing your awesome recipes.
Trisha
I’m interested in trying this but I have natural peanut butter and agave (both from Costco) on hand. Can I substitute them for the almond butter and maple syrup? Thanks
Megan Gilmore
It’s worth a shot! Agave might be sweeter than maple syrup, so I’d use less and just add it to taste as needed. I love that you can taste as you go with this one before you freeze it!
amy
what brand almond butter do you prefer?
Skye
Can Baking Cocoa powder be used in place of cocoa powder?
Megan Gilmore
I would think so, as long as it’s 100% cocoa powder without added sugar.
Thierry
How many grams of sugar
Kristen
This recipe is delicious! I only had regular peanut butter (Skippy) to use and it turned out so wonderfully.
Megan Gilmore
I’m glad to hear that! Thank you for letting me know, Kristen.
Crystal Bright
I think this turned out wrong for us but it is not sweet enough, can I warm it up and add more sugar and try to set it in the freezer again?
Megan Gilmore
Yes, the batter will be liquidy again when it’s warm, so you can definitely add to it!
Katie
Can you use peanut butter instead of almond butter?
Megan Gilmore
Sure, that should work!
Deb LewiS
Just made the fudge.
Had high hopes but this did not hit the mark for me. All I could taste was coconut oil and almond butter. No where near what fudge should be.
Dorie
I made this, it was easy, the fudge is creamy and luxurious. And I’m not even a vegan! I love it. Will definitely make it again and share the recipe with friends.
Suzi collyer
Have made this a few times now and love it. I am not vegan and have no allergies so technically need to make but it is so nice can’t believe it’s better for you than chocolate. I have made with both peanut and almond butter and often with mixture of both. I don’t add the salt and it is enough but guess this is down to brand of nut butters we use. So easy to make as well.
Tracy Stuberg
WOW this is def my fav fudge – I used peanut butter instead of almond butter since that is what I had on hand — YUM melts in your mouth !!! Quick & easy !
Thank you for another delicious recipe !
Amanda
These were simply amazing! I pretty much gave up sweets when I went vegan because cookies, cakes, brownies, fudge, etc. are so rarely vegan – even though it’s SO easy to make them plant-based. Such a treat to have an easy delicious dessert!
Ruth fitzpatrIck
Absolutely love this!! Made it for the first time and not only is it incredibly easy to make, its delicious too!
Lorissa
Delicious, easy & a great substitute for baked goods!
Lorissa
SOOOOO good! A healthy sweet indulgence that actually seems to curbs cravings.
Claudia
Do you think this recipe would work with honey instead of maple syrup?
Megan Gilmore
I think it will be thicker to stir with honey, and the flavor will be more prominent, so you might want to use a little less when compared to maple syrup.
Pat
Excellent! Tasty and so easy to make!
Stefanie
Expensive to make given the almond butter, but very smooth and delicious…and reasonable cost when compared to purchasing chocolate bars/chips. Great quarantine sweet 😉
Kookie Costa
This was AMAZING!!! I used cashews to make the butter. I made that first and then just threw the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and was careful not to overblend…
IVAN
Hello!
Please, can I use cocoa butter insted nut r sunflower butter?
Thank you!
Megan Gilmore
I haven’t tested that myself, so I can’t say for sure, but cacao butter might work! I’d love to hear if you try it.
Jenny Evans
Absolutely loved!! Made with peanut butter and dates, then topped with a layer of peanut butter and I am still obsessed !! My new favourite treat <3
Nancy
I use chocolate hazelnut butter that I can get at Kroger’s. This fudge recipe is absolutely delicious.
Taika
Can i use sunflower oil as a substitute for the coconut oil?
Megan Gilmore
I don’t think that would work, since sunflower oil doesn’t turn solid when chilled. A vegan butter or shortening would most likely work best, or real butter would work, if you don’t need a vegan recipe.
Julia
I made this today and it was really fudge and creamy. Worked well. My complaint is that it isn’t chocolaty enough. It tastes like almond butter-not chocolate. I’m wondering if either less almond butter, more cocoa powder or add chocolate chips?