If you're like me, having healthy snacks around is a must to keep you on track with your special diet, and they need to be low carb if you are dealing with candida. Some of our favorites include my Homemade Protein Bars, Green Bean Chips, Almond Joy Bars, and “Dorito®” Popcorn, but this healthy fudge recipe is a fun new addition.
It's an all-natural dairy-free fudge recipe that is colored with a surprise ingredient.
Coloring foods for special occasions is fun, but on a whole foods diet, regular food colorings just do not make the grade.
It's always hard for me to take my kids to the grocery store and see them ogle the multi-colored “foods” and feel like I'd love to make them something fun like that, but I just don't want all those mystery chemicals going into their bodies.
Healthy Fudge–a Naturally Healthy Treat
And we love fudge, but since regular fudge is loaded with white sugar and other things that aren't great for us, they leave me feeling less healthy than I'd like to once I've indulged.
What's the answer?
This Mint Fudge Recipe.
This healthy fudge is:
– loaded with healthy goodness and
– colored naturally.
See–God's provided plenty of colorful options for us creation so we don't need to lean on Aluminum Lake #3, Red No. 40 and the like :-(.
For Saint Patrick's Day this year (or for any day, for that matter), why not have some Dairy-Free Mint Fudge colored with-
parsley (and no, you won't taste it :-)!)
See? When you're a whole foody, you can have festive treats with added nutritional punch.
This mint fudge recipe is one that I adapted from a Grain-Free Foodies' recipe. It is extremely easy as is and if you have a high-powered blender, like the Vitamix, you can make it even easier.
Oh, and for more Healthy & Delicious Fudge Recipes, check out:
Recipe Notes
- Coconut Oil Notes: Use organic expeller-pressed coconut oil if you wish to avoid the coconutty flavor
- Seed / Nut Butter Options: For nut or seed butter, I used pumpkin seed butter as this adds natural green coloring. Substitute coconut butter for AIP (here's how to make Homemade Coconut Butter).
- Sweetener options: Any equivalent sweetener, liquid or granulated to taste, will work instead of xylitol. You do, of course, have to reduce the amount if using stevia extract. One scoop = 1/32 tsp. See this post on How to Use Stevia. Use the healthiest sweetener you can.
- Chocolate Alternative: You can melt my Homemade Chocolate Chips instead of chocolate.
- Trim Healthy Mama: This recipe fits in as an “S” on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.
Secret-Ingredient Mint Fudge - low carb, vegan and sugar free
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups organic coconut oil
- 1 1/5 cups nut or seed butter (soaked and dehydrated, if possible. See Recipe Notes)
- 1/2 cup xylitol (or other sweetener. See recipe notes)
- 1/2 cup dried parsley flakes (or more)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp organic peppermint extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- melted chocolate (for optional drizzle)
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil in small saucepan. Add remaining ingredients to blender, add coconut oil and blend until smooth.
- Pour into an 8x8 baking pan and freeze until solid.
- Store in refrigerator to prevent softening.
Notes
This low-carb fudge is a nice sweet way to celebrate this holiday that is near and dear to my heart.
To find our more about Saint Patrick's life, and to see my connections to the Emerald Isle (I'm 1/2 Irish), read my post on Saint Patrick's Day ~ History and Simple, Healthy Celebrations.
What is your favorite treat for Saint Patrick's Day?
I was just thinking Bout how to food color for my 2.5 yo. Up until now I have always done shades of pinks and purples from berry puree for his big sister, but he is getting old enough that this wont work too much longer. Thanks for the tip. I was also thinking of some powdered stevia. Maybe a combo of the 2 and reduce the other sweetener woukd work!
The stevia & other sweetener combo would almost for sure be fine. It’s a very forgiving recipe. Enjoy!
I don’t have that much parsley on hand can I use 1/2 cup of kale instead?
You can use kale, but kale is a cruciferous veggie and I’ve read quite a bit about cruciferous vegetables eaten raw being bad for your thyroid. I’d just not worry about it for St. Patrick’s Day, but I wouldn’t eat it daily :-). Hope you enjoy it!
How would I adapt this to make green frosting for cupcakes? Not the fudge recipe, but the green color from parsley.
Hi Faith! I would just blend the parsley into your frosting in a good blender. Otherwise, you could powder the parsley in a blender first and then mix it into the frosting gradually until you have the color that you want. Hope that helps! I’ll probably be doing the same with frosting this year for my kiddo’s hockey celebration this year since they are on Team Ireland :-).
Thanks! My baby turns one soon and I would get LOTS of flack from my SAD eating family if his birthday cake did not have colored frosting 🙂
Oh, I sooo hope it turns out well for you! We should exchange photos of the finished product!
Thanks for including the article by Chuck Colson; i should have read this on the 17th ! I will have to try the green treat just to remember this great man.
Oh, if i did want to make it a dairy fudge with raw milk, do you have an idea of whether i need to omit or add anything. I wouldn’t mind raw eggs either. Thanks!
As long as your recipe calls for milk, I don’t think it matters. I do think that most fudge recipes call for evaporated milk though so plain raw milk will not be thick nor sweet enough.
Chuck Colson is another great man too, isn’t he?
I would have never thought to add parsley. Amazing.
I was so pleased to find that it worked! I had heard of using kale before for natural coloring, but not parsley!
…why not just use mint leaves to flavor AND color it?
Very nice idea! I don’t have mint but I was hoping to grow it. Might not be enough color but would be fun to try!