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First of all, if you missed my post on Silky Smooth Bean Fudge, you’ll want to go back and check it out– for two reasons:
1. The recipe is the base for the one that I am sharing today.
2. It’s got a fun video clip of Bill Cosby that will give you a nice afternoon “pick me up” if you need one. And who doesn’t sometimes? (Especially with this massive heat wave hitting the Midwest here 
.
3. You can make it without the nuts for those with allergy concerns.
Just when I thought that we had the Bean Fudge thing perfected, I got my recipe out and worked on it again.
I must say that while the other recipe sure got rave reviews, this one will pass the test of any “non-whole-foodie”.
I made up a whole bunch of Bean Fudge yesterday in an attempt to perfect my recipe and to work on a few variations. And believe me, you do not want to see how much fudge I have now in my fridge. Good thing it freezes well 
!
Well, it all turned out well and even some of it got eaten by friends whom we visited last night, both the ones who were off of sugar and those who were not.
But I thought I still needed to work on it some more and well –here is the result of today’s reworking.
And boy is it good. The changes?:
- More cocoa (or in my case, carob) and
- a bit more sweetener, and
- the cruchyness of almonds!!
Yum!
Dairy-Free Chocolate Almond Fudge (with Sugar-Free option)
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups beans (See notes on beans below.)*
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted (ghee or palm shortening would work as well.)**
1 1/2 cups cocoa or carob powder (or any mix of the two)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sweetener of choice (if using granulated sweetener, you will need to add a bit of water. I added 2 Tbsp.)***
6 scoops of pure stevia extract (not the kind with fillers). (One great brand is KAL.) Stevia extract typically comes with a small scoop that measures 1/32 tsp. So 6 scoops = 3/16 tsp. You may substitute an additional 6 -12 Tbsp other sweetener if you prefer.)
1/8 tsp salt (I recommend Real Salt)
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds (soaked and dehydrated preferable)****
Method
1. Put all ingredients except almonds in high-powered blender (like a Vitamix) or food processor and process until totally smooth. Adjust sweetener to taste at this point.
2. Add almonds, or other nut/seed of choice. You can either mix these in by pulsing the food processor carefully, or put the fudge base into a bowl (or your pan) and mix the nuts in by hand.
3. Spread the mixture in an 8×8 pan, pressing down firmly. Top with additional almonds if desired. Lick fingers and spatula . If there is any left , place in refrigerator , for at least one hour or until firm. Slice into squares and serve.
4. Store in the refrigerator or in the freezer for longer storage or for a frozen fudgey treat. It defrosts nicely on the counter or in the refrigerator. Do not use the microwave (you’re backing off using that anyway, aren’t you?) or you will have fudge sauce. Then again, fudge sauce sounds quite nice, eh?
Notes and Tips
*Beans: First, make sure that you read How to De-Gas Beans. Almost any bean variety will work, but darker varieties like pinto, red kidney, cranberry, adzuki, will obviously result in a darker finished product making the fudge darker in appearance. I do not recommend using epazote for beans that will be used for sweet desserts as the flavor might be a bit strong.
**Oils: In warmer weather, I have found that melting is not necessary. Just make sure that you aren’t working your food processor too hard !) I recommend expeller-pressed coconut oil as this will cut down on coconut flavor. With a lot of chocolate or carob, however, this might not be an issue.
***Sweeteners: I recommend healthier sweeteners and avoiding sugar whenever possible. For a healthier choice than regular granulated sugar, I recommend Sucanat or honey. If you are avoiding sugar, I recommend stevia, vegetable glycerine, xylitol and/or erythritol. (I know that the last two are not typical recommendations from “whole foodies” but I am having some problems with stevia apparently and while I am sorting this out, this is what I have to work with as I am off sugars completely.) Also, if you are using cocoa powder alone, you may need additional sweetener as carob has an inherent sweetness.
****Nuts: Please feel free to substitute any tolerated nuts or seeds. I think that macadamias, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts would be particularly nice.)
Time Saving Tip: Shape the fudge “free-form” on a baking stone or cookie sheet. Just make sure that it can fit in your fridge first . Clean up will be easier this way.
Well, there you have it. Rich, creamy and great for you.
Do you have a favorite recipe that you would like remade into a healthier version?
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Shared at Wellness Weekend, Feed Me Tweet Me Follow Me Home Friday, Food on Fridays, Fresh Bites Friday, Friday Food Fight, Finer Things Friday, Fight Back Friday, Food Trip Friday, Farmgirl Friday, Allergy Friendly Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Simply Delish Saturday, Menu Plan Monday, Homemaker Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Mouth Watering Monday, Monday Mania, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday(Laura), Made From Scratch Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays At The Table, Hearth and Soul Hop, Show Me What Ya Got, The Mommy Club, These Chicks Cooked, What’s Cooking Wednesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday (King’s), Real Food Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Ultimate Recipe Swap, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link-Up, Real Food Weekly, Things I Love Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, It’s a Keeper Thursday, Frugal Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Gluten Free Homemaker, Alli ‘N Sons, and Friday Potluck.
Thanks for this recipe. It sounds so yummy. I can’t wait to make it. I have a question. Your basic fudge recipe called for 3/4 cup cocoa powder, but this one has 1-1/2 cups. Is this correct? 2hmz
Yes, it is. That was one of the modifications that I made. It turns out to be much more like true fudge. Let me know how it works!
Twitter: rickiheller
says:
Bean-based fudge is one of the snacks I make all the time and just love. I feel very virtuous eating a low glycemic, high fiber sweet! And it’s also saved me many a time when I was faltering on the anti-candida diet.
This looks like a great flavor combo!
wow beans and fudge! i never would have fathomed the two together. awesome recipe
Hubby and son will like that…Happy FTF!
I remember that bean recipe! That was a treat! I hope you link up and share this fabulous fudge recipe too at my Friday Food Fight.
http://deniseisrundmt.com/2011/07/22/crowd-pleasing-chicken-cutlets/
Thanks for this totally divine treat and joining us today at Fight Back Fridays!
Cheers,
~KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
Wow!! This amazing creations looks sinfully delicious!! And it’s actually good for you!! Well done
, Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
wow my kind of guilt food, love it
Yum!
Thanks for sharing with
Simply Delish Saturday
wow, that sounds so great and looks really delicious…love to have a slice! thanks for sharing your recipe! visiting late from FTF, have a great week.
I love this type of fudge and can’t wait to try your recipe! Thanks for the tip that it freezes well, because portion control is a problem!
Yum! Kids would surely love that thick fudge!
I’ve got pintos soaking just screaming to be allowed in this recipe…thanks!
Blessings!
Hi! I’m a new follower and can’t wait to try this. I use xylitol and didn’t know it was considered “bad”. Why is that? I heard it was good for fighting cavities. I buy mine at the whole food store. I guess I need to look up more about it, but if you could let me know, I’d appreciate it.
Hi there and welcome! Well, I think it all depends whom you are listening to. I know of health food “experts” who cite that dogs have kidney failure when they eat xylitol and they cite that to say that it must be bad for use. However, dogs can’t eat chocolate and though I am fully aware of “issues” with chocolate, it by no means makes us as sick as it makes dogs.
It can certainly cause digestive upset in some folks. In our family we find that it we eat too much of it, we get mild stomach aches. Really overdo it and you can get cramping. But nothing like the maltitols, etc.
I wrote what I did because I consider myself to be a “whole foodie.” However, due to having candida and sugar metabolism issues, I just can’t tolerate what I would like to eat (that is raw honey, molasses, and maple syrup and sucanat). I can only eat stevia and the other sweeteners that I mentioned and stevia and I are trying to figure out if we get along. A lot of “traditional foodists” would think that I am going against the “movement” by recommending these sweeteners since they are not “natural”. That is completely not the case, I advocate using the natural sweeteners, but I cannot. Otherwise, I would bake with them freely.
Let me know if that helps or if you need more information – and take care!
This recipe looks really good! It would be great if you came over to Cast Party Wednesday tomorrow and shared some of your recipes.
Thanks,
I hope to see you there!
This looks divine! A definite ‘must try’.
This looks and sounds delicious – and I love that it has the dairy free and also sugar free options! Thank you for sharing it with Feed Me Tweet Me Follow Me Home!
What an interesting idea. I have never thought to use beans in fudge before. Thanks for sharing your recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop.
Oh Yum! What a great afternoon treat to go along with my tea and it’s almost tea time! I can’t wait to try this one. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again real soon. Hope you are having a great week!
Miz Helen
I can’t believe this fudge was made with beans. How awesome is that. Thanks for linking it up to Sweets for a Saturday.
Can I use liquid stevia instead of powdered & if so how much?
Malia
Sure you can! I try to use the extract as it is a lot less expensive, but try 4-7 drops (I’d start w/ 4 and work my way up). Tell me how it works. There are a number of different conversion charts, but that is what one showed. I am thinking you may need more than that.
HELP!! I am confused about the “sugar” (there is no “or” used and you left a space after the first line so I assume the 2nd line is a new line calling for more sweetener??) or is that all one line and just different measurements for different sweeteners? I am wanting to make this for a party tomorrow night.
“1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sweetener of choice (if using granulated sweetener, you will need to add a bit of water. I added 2 Tbsp.)***
6 scoops of pure stevia extract (not the kind with fillers). (One great brand is KAL.) Stevia extract typically comes with a small scoop that measures 1/32 tsp. So 6 scoops = 3/16 tsp.”
Mindy, yes the stevia is additional sweetener. I tried to make that more clear just now.
I hope your fudge is a hit! There’s a man at my church who keeps asking me to make it for him, but we keep eating it all whenever we make it
.
Ok I’m sorry I want to make sure I understand that it’s 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp PLUS 6 scoops of pure stevia extract???
I would have to use only sugar (unless you have have a sub for Agave Nectar,that is what I use at home)
For agave, you can use my tips in Substituting Sweeteners in Baking and Cooking. Agave is sweeter than sugar, but the degree will vary so you will need to try and see (but it’s probably about 2/3 to 4/5 as sweet). I don’t think you need to be too concerned about it though. I think they’ll taste great either way! Let me know if that doesn’t make sense!
Hi Adrienne,
Can you de-gas canned beans? I know it is cheaper to cook your own, but in a pinch, canned might be helpful (but not if they produce gas). Thanks for any info you can share.
All I know of is rinsing them. The best thing to do is cook them from dried. Plus you avoid the BPA and the extra packaging.
.
Sorry I asked this on the first recipe.
What would you guesstimate the shelf life is if this is NOT put in the fridge?
Thank you
I answered your other inquiry. No worries!